Transcription
What are we for? Why are we even alive? That should be considered the final word, after which there should be no more debate. This is advice from Shri Krishna to consciousness. Even Shri Krishna cannot suggest any solution beyond this. The human condition, the innate unavoidable state of humanity, from there spirituality arises. Who are we? Are we able to understand our definition? Then we are a mismatched alliance, we who can never walk together. But when they are bound together, that state is called a body. The one who asked this question, because of whom the entire Gita exists, because of whom today's session is happening, if separated, that one will suffer more. So, there is a special kind of experience, suffering, which when we experience, we ask, why did I come? Oh, how long will I have to stay? This is that there is something else too. We will remain trapped until death. We will remain trapped even after death. Life means such suffering that cannot be removed. Whoever has known life, whoever has asked questions of life, has ultimately stopped here. Okay? We will come to that. That is the matter of today's verse. It is a very common question, what is life for? What is the purpose of life? Many kinds of things are said about that. As many mouths, so many opinions, especially in the field of religion, one can say that nothing happens besides talk. Worldly religion, worldly religion, meaning words, talk. The Gita is authoritatively stating the final word. After this, there should be no need for any further talk. Who are we? Light is continuously shed on this. What are we for? What are we for? Why are we even alive? Regarding that, today's statement of Shri Krishna should be considered. The final word, after which there should be no more debate. What is that final word? What does it mean for us to be born? This is a body. Okay. That body did not exist before. It is visible. We call it a soul or a creature. We call it a child or a human. Okay? How do we say that a creature has now come into the world? We speak in this language, don't we? Look, a new creature has come into the world. How do we say that? Because its body has a specific shape. So, just as we can tell by looking at a mango that this is a mango, even though all mangoes are slightly different from each other, yet we see a mango and say it is a mango. Similarly, a new child has been born. A girl. By looking at her, we will immediately say that this is the offspring of a human. Another one has been born. We will tell. So, this is the beginning. So, what is the meaning of beginning itself? The body. Right? The existence of a substance with a specific outline and structure. And there is also a fixed process for its existence. Nothing else can happen. The medium for its coming into the world. The union of two humans of opposite sexes occurs. Then its mother carries it in her womb for 9 months. And after that, there is a predetermined process. Then we know. It is fixed just like that. Just as we know that if a human is born, it will be born with two hands and two legs. All this is certain. So, this thing that is born, I am deliberately calling it a thing because it is a substance. Okay? This physical substance, you can touch it. So, the properties of this thing that is born become fixed by its structure. Right? Just like when you eat something, you say that its quality is determined by what ingredients have been put into it. Some things are made with mustard oil, and some things are made with olive oil. They become different. So, similarly, what is inside it determines what kind of behavior this thing that has come into existence will exhibit. Right? If you make something with coconut oil and the same thing with kerosene, will its behavior not be different? Will it not be different? Will it not be different? It will be, right? So, similarly, what is put inside it determines its behavior. It's a very simple matter because it is a thing, a substance, and what is put inside it, because it is a substance, it will behave in its own predetermined ways, or you cannot change it. There is no way to change it. Okay? It does not change, but there is something else in humans that makes them different from substances to a certain extent. We are also substance, and this is also substance. And if you look from above, from a transcendental perspective, both are exactly the same. Atoms and molecules are moving here, and they are moving here too. There is nothing. This is made of earth, and we are made of earth. There is nothing. But when you come down a bit, from a practical perspective, you make distinctions. You say this is inert, and this is conscious. Right? From a transcendental perspective, both are the same. From a practical perspective, you will not say that. If someone picks this up and breaks it, and if someone breaks my head, you will not say that the same event has occurred. If this breaks, you will feel a little regret. If its head breaks, you will feel a little more regret. Because you make distinctions. You say this is conscious. So, whatever consciousness is, from a transcendental perspective, consciousness is also a by-product of substance. It can be said this way, and in other ways too. Okay? Just as we are saying that consciousness is a product of substance, similarly, its complete opposite is also true, that substance is a by-product of consciousness. Say it however you like, but it is certain that on a practical level, there is a slight difference between the two. There is a difference between consciousness and inertia. So, this creature that is born, it has inertia, of course. The ingredients put inside it, the taste, behavior, function, quality, and essence of anything are determined by what ingredients are in it. So, the ingredients put inside it largely determine its behavior, and it becomes completely predetermined. But it also has something else, which we can call consciousness. That consciousness is not actually different from inertia. If you consider consciousness and inertia as different, you will reach duality. Then you will say the seen is separate, the seer is separate, all that. Okay? But it is a very high truth that inert and conscious are one, that the seen and the seer are one. In the very practical sense, we do make distinctions between them. So, this consciousness, it is this that determines the quality of your life. You cannot tamper with your inertia. Can anyone change the shape of their nose? No, apart from surgery, etc., that's a different matter. You cannot change the color of your hair. Even with some external intervention, that's a different matter. You cannot change anything. You cannot change the color of your skin. You cannot change your height. You cannot change your gender. Many things. Many people are born with illnesses. What can they do? And many people have genetic misfortune that they will get heart disease, diabetes, or cancer because it is embedded in their genetic lineage. Everyone in their family gets it, so they have a high probability of getting it too. You cannot change all that. But there is something else that we can change. Which we have called consciousness. Consciousness. Consciousness. Now, why are we talking about this consciousness? On one hand, we are saying that on a transcendental level, consciousness and inertia are the same. So, why are we talking about it? We are talking about it for a very practical reason. The reason is that it is consciousness that experiences suffering, isn't it? The practical reason is that this question, why is there life? This creature will never ask it. I and this can be one. But have you ever seen this? That it opens its own lid and asks questions. Why do I exist? Who created me? Why did I come? Will the ingredients of others keep being put in my life forever? Will there be something of mine too? Will this cycle continue, is there any liberation from coming and going? This does not ask. We ask. So, to whom is the suffering? To consciousness. And who is curious? So, the purpose of life is also for consciousness. This is a very small matter. I would have told you in the first sentence. But it is necessary to reach this with the entire process and the entire derivation. The purpose of life is not for your nose. Not for your lips, not for your ears, not for your fingers. They have no purpose. So, life has no purpose for the body. The purpose of the body was established on that very day. Yes. It was established even before birth. It was established even before birth. So, the purpose of the body is very fixed. But because consciousness asked the question, why do I exist? Why am I suffering? So, all the purpose and so on will be for consciousness. The purpose of consciousness. Okay? Now, consciousness asked the question precisely because it is experiencing a special experience, which we call suffering. What is suffering? It is a type of experience, isn't it? So, it is a special type of experience, suffering, which when we experience, we ask, why did I come? Oh, how long will I have to stay? This is that there is something else too. We will remain trapped until death. We will remain trapped even after death. You ask all these questions only when you are suffering. So, suffering is the central problem. It is very important to understand this. The central problem behind all questions is suffering. And therefore, liberation and joy are always spoken in the same breath. Liberation and joy will never be written in two separate contexts. And if they are, then it is a matter of misunderstanding. Liberation and joy will always be spoken in the same breath. And similarly, suffering and bondage will be spoken in the same breath. I am trapped. When you are trapped, only then do you ask how to get out? Only then do you ask how to get out? A monkey is sitting happily on a branch. Does it have any curiosity? Tell me. It is happily sitting. And if you trap a mouse in a mousetrap, then see its condition. What is it doing? It is constantly curious. It cannot be verbally curious. So, how does it express curiosity? It pushes each wire and keeps spinning around. This is its curiosity. This is it asking a question because it is in bondage. So, because we are in bondage, we have questions. Bondage is suffering. And curiosity is the way to go beyond that suffering. Now, let's explore this suffering a bit more. What is the matter? So, this thing that has been born, we said it is entirely substance, but still, there are two types of elements within it, from a practical perspective: inert and conscious. Now, the directions or planes of both are completely different. Look at the inert. Leave it here and come back after 2 years. Where will you find it? You will find it here. It will be found dead, in dust, but it will be found here. Inert matter has nowhere to go. It has nothing to do. It is where it is, as it is. And even if it has to go somewhere, even if it moves, that movement is also bound by laws. For example, one such movement could be that you leave something inside it and come back to find it badly rotten. It's not just rotten. It has already vaporized. You will come back after two years. If you left something in it, you will find nothing. It will have decayed. So, movement did happen. But that movement also happened according to predetermined laws. This is inert matter. Okay? And the nature of consciousness is completely different. What we call human nature is actually us talking about the nature of consciousness. So, what are we? We are inert. Write it like this: we are inert one and inert two. We are two types of inertia. The first type of inertia we simply call inertia. And the second type, a special inertia, we call consciousness. So, we will start by saying that this box that is born is an inert box, like something produced from a factory, a finished product, and it is born with two types of inertia, so that we don't make any mistakes, so that we don't forget that on a transcendental level, inert and conscious are one, that's why we are writing consciousness as inert two. So, we will start by saying inert one, inert two. Below that, we will say inert one, and then we start calling it inertia. And inert two, we start calling it consciousness. Consciousness. Now, inertia also has its own nature, and consciousness also has its own nature. So, write the nature of inertia. Below that, write the nature of inertia, and below consciousness, write the nature of consciousness. And then the conversation proceeds in such a way that the nature of inertia, we start calling it simply nature. And the nature of consciousness, we start calling it disposition. What you call human disposition, etc., Sachchidananda, etc., is also actually nature. It is also the nature of consciousness. But what is consciousness? It is all nature. The whole game is of nature. So that we don't forget that all the things we are talking about are within the realm of the mind. If you don't remember that it's all nature, it's all nature, then you reach somewhere else, some world. You have to remember that these things, they are all physical. Natural means physical, earthly matters. It's all the same. So, we start calling it disposition. So, we have these two words: nature and disposition. I could have started from here, but we have reached here through a process. That process is very important to remember. Okay? So, now we have, we have, I mean, not just us, but every creature that is born, now it has two things: nature and disposition. Look carefully at what you have written for nature once more, so that you don't get confused between them later. Yes, that conscious, when you made the distinction there, inert one, inert two, inert one, inert two, there you put the seen in inert one and the seer in inert two, right? Now, this whole outline we have drawn, this table, is Maya, because from a transcendental perspective, this is not true. From a transcendental perspective, there is only one element. Why are you even dividing it into two parts? But if we want to understand, we are going through this process. We have broken it down for now. We have made parts, and then we will come back. We will close the box. Okay? So, we have two things related to us: nature and disposition. These are with everyone. If there is any creature, it will have these two things: its nature and its disposition. Okay? Whose nature is it? The body's. And whose disposition is it? Consciousness's. This consciousness, which has a disposition, at its center, who is sitting, who calls himself the seer, etc., what do we call him? Ego. Ego. He says, I am seeing. So, this is ego. I am seeing. If someone asks, from an essential perspective, is ego inert or not, what will you say? It is inert. The entire consciousness is inert. The entire consciousness is inert. But if you say it like that, then there will be no solution to suffering. Or, if there is such a discerning person, to whom you just say that all consciousness is inert and follows chemical laws, and he becomes free from suffering just by understanding that, then it's a different matter. Otherwise, the central problem we are struggling with, whose problem is it? The problem of bondage and suffering. Just saying that ego is inert, it is a chemical. If someone's suffering is removed by this, then it's very good. But usually, it doesn't happen. It doesn't happen, that's why a verse takes two hours. Right? Do you understand? Otherwise, the verse itself is actually sufficient. If you are such that you can reach its essence in one glance, touch its depth. But that usually doesn't happen. So, this is the "I" that sits at the center of consciousness. This is the one who experiences all joy and sorrow. This is why it is in bondage and therefore curious like a mouse, asking how to get out? How to get out? I am trapped. Everywhere there is a mousetrap. How do I get out? This is the "I". Right? The entire process began with the curiosity of this "I". If this "I" had not shown restlessness, we would not be sitting here doing all this. So, spirituality begins with that honest being who first accepts that they are troubled, in suffering. For whom who does not accept that they are troubled, in bondage, trapped, in suffering, for them, spirituality becomes a very useless thing. It becomes a secondary thing. Perhaps they will not openly say it is useless. So, they will not say it is useless, but they will give it a very low priority. That is also the same thing. If you give something the 20th priority in your life, then you have already said that it is useless. If you give something the 20th priority in your life. Then you have already said that it is useless. Yes. You don't even have the courage to say it openly that I consider this useless. Usually, worldly people do not have the courage to say directly that they consider something useless. So, they don't say it is useless. They say, no, it's okay. It's necessary. It has importance. But we have 8-10 other tasks to complete before this. We will do this too, but we will do 20 other tasks before this. You are practically defective. You are saying that you consider it useless. For those for whom the problem of suffering is not primary, spirituality does not even begin. Those for whom their suffering and liberation are not primary, they also keep spirituality, the Gita, and sessions at the back. Brother, if my illness is not important to me, then why would medicine be important? Tell me. A person who has no concern for their illness, no awareness, how much respect will that person give to medicine, or will they give it at all? Even if you bring medicine to them and chase them, they will say, yes, we'll see later, we'll see. No, it's not right now. There's no time. We are doing something else. The medicine is very expensive. The medicine is bitter. They will say anything. It starts with suffering. This entire process begins with our suffering. And there is suffering because the one who is taking birth is taking birth in a very strange, peculiar situation. That situation itself is called suffering. So, birth itself is suffering. How is birth suffering? Birth is suffering in this way: the body is called the place where nature and disposition are bound together. This is suffering. Nature and disposition are things of completely different dimensions. And the body is that place, that site, where these two are bound in such a way that they cannot be separated. The only way to separate them now is
What? May you just die. Is the matter understood? It is a terrible kind of mismatched marriage of the body, where two such people are bound that they cannot separate. And in marriage, it is still that you get married when you are young, so at least the first 25 years are saved. What I am saying about the body is that it is received from the very first moment. There is no scope in it for the first few years to be saved. It is received from the first moment, and in it, two such people have been bound who can never be bound together. Therefore, those who understood, having understood this much, said that son, life is not just suffering. Birth itself is suffering. It is not just a little suffering. Birth itself is suffering. Who are we? Can you understand your definition? We are a mismatched alliance of two such people who can never walk together. But when they are bound together, the name of that state is the body. Body means a state where a very illusory union of two incongruities is happening. This is Maya. The body itself is Maya. The first Maya is the body itself. This is something that cannot happen, but it exists. Nature and temperament cannot walk together because we ourselves said that, brother, the inert and the conscious are separate. Here is the inert, it has its own accounting, and here is the conscious, it has its own separate accounting. The body is that place, but where the inert and the conscious are not just bound. They are so intertwined, like salt in flour. Show them separated. Like show sugar separated from water. Is there anyone who can show their consciousness separated from their inert body? Wait a minute. I am going into that room and closing the door. Like clothes are shown separated. Then after a while, come out and show. See, this is a shirt. I have shown it to you separately. So do the same. Go inside and bring your consciousness out separately, hanging it in your hand like this. The Baba can do all this. You will not be able to. We are stuck now. Terribly stuck. Sugar can still be separated from water, and salt can also be separated from flour. But if consciousness is separated from this, it is called death. And there, the experiment is going on, so if you separate sugar from water, you can mix it again. But this is such that once the matter is separated, then we, separated now, will not meet again, even if we are far apart. All this is foolish talk that if we are separated now, there will be a reunion. Here, it is one and it is the last. So this is a strange situation. Two have been bound together who cannot stay together. And if you separate them, the one who suffers, who asked this question, because of whom the entire Gita is there, because of whom today's session is there, if you separate them, he will suffer more. You came to me and said you have a lot of bondage, so I said, okay, die, all suffering will end, then you will say, this little suffering, this foolish person is telling a bigger suffering. Where are we stuck? So, therefore, symbolically, the wise have repeatedly said not to come again. Do you understand? It's done. We got stuck once. This place is not good. They are mad who say, let's get more, let's get more. The wise have always said this. Whatever debt is currently on our heads, just clear it. After that, we want to have no connection left. Even if we want to walk, it is only until the debt is on our heads. We say, like maternal debt, paternal debt. So mother and father are the real earth. This is a big debt on all of us that our greatest mother is in so much trouble? So, maternal debt has to be repaid, right? So before that, how can we say bye-bye? We have to wait that long. But the wise say, I will wait only as long as the debt has to be repaid. I will not wait because I have to suffer more. I am working because there is a debt on my head, so I go and repay the borrowed money. I am not working because I will go and enjoy myself with the money that comes. This is the word of the wise. I am in the world so that I can become debt-free. And after becoming debt-free, it is a different matter that you became debt-free because being wise means you don't just clear your own debt. You take on the debt of the whole world. Now tell me, how will you repay? The more you repay, the more Jhunnu Dhaniya will add to it. So the wise person keeps searching, just let it be cleared quickly now. Then let us depart, let us depart. He comes again and sees it has increased. Who increased this? When he gets very troubled, he says, who told you to take the whole world upon yourself? Repay your personal one. Why did you go? He said, I don't have to repay personal debt. It is the personal one that has to be repaid. And if the personal one is not repaid, then what is the benefit of repaying the personal debt? Is the point settling in now? Now this consciousness has its own separate nature, temperament, and it desires liberation, and what does it need? Rules, and rules mean bondage. Therefore, there are laws of matter, there are no laws of consciousness. What does it need? All the laws of physics are whose laws? Yes, its laws. Have you ever heard of laws of consciousness? And if laws of consciousness were to emerge, what was that? That was inertia. Laws of consciousness can also be derived. For example, if you abuse someone, they will become angry. This is a kind of law of consciousness. But this is not a law of consciousness. This is a law of inertia. So it is almost its law. This is gross matter. Whoever gets angry is subtle matter. But if it can also be governed by rules, then it is matter. If you have adopted a certain pattern about someone. Meaning, you have found a rule for it, sniffed it out, detected it, that it operates on a certain pattern, a pattern, a law. Then it is proven by this that what you are talking about is inert. Rules apply only to the inert. Brother, it's a matter of nature. We are not claiming this. We are observing and telling that this happens. This is just a matter of observation. Okay? So this has to move, and it should never feel any suffering, and if the conscious gets stuck in rules, then this is its suffering. It has to remain within limits, and if you give limits to the conscious, then this is its suffering. And tell me about it, whatever you say about it, consciousness will turn out to be very different. It doesn't matter. It is value-neutral. Its work is value-independent. If I fill it with nectar, what will be its color? If I fill it with poison, what will be its color? If I save someone's life with it, what will be its color? And if I smash someone's skull with it, what will be its color? So it is value-neutral, and consciousness values. What does it value? Matter. What does consciousness value? Oh, you've been saying it for so long. It values liberation. Consciousness is value-relative. And this is value-neutral. And say more. It only knows attraction, and consciousness knows love. What is the difference between attraction and love? Can you tell the laws of attraction? You can tell the laws of attraction 2 hours in advance. You get dressed up and go to a party. You don't know 2 hours in advance that you are going to be very attracted today. You are getting ready. Someone comes and says, you will be a lightning strike today. You know 2 hours in advance that many will fall today. What does this tell us? That this is governed by rules. This is governed by rules. Otherwise, how would you know in advance? And love does not follow any rules. If someone asks for the difference between love and attraction, it can be explained very easily, then you get 10/10. The difference can be explained in many ways. But this is also a good way. You can predict this attraction in advance because it is like iron and a magnet. It's a matter of rules. You are taking iron near a magnet. You know it will pull. Iron doesn't have the capacity not to be pulled. You cannot say anything like that about love. It does not follow any rules. This, it takes so much care of its own survival, so much care, that even if you change it, it remains. Right? You can put it in any form. It will remain matter, which we call conservation of mass. In a way, it is called indestructibility of matter. It will become energy, something will happen, but it will remain. You cannot bury it somewhere. And consciousness, when it is in love, it also seeks its own dissolution. When consciousness seeks liberation, it is also saying that I should not exist. This can never want to not exist, nor is it ever possible for it not to exist. And consciousness constantly says one thing. Enough is enough. I should not exist. Let me find something in which I can dissolve, and not dissolve like sugar in water, because even if sugar dissolves in water, sugar still remains. Consciousness wants to dissolve like that, wants to perish like a river in the ocean, that now you cannot separate. Now you cannot be separate. Its individuality, you cannot bring it back now. The final union has happened, or you can say death has occurred. In every case, these two turn out to be different. You can find five or six more ways. As activities, how consciousness and inertia behave differently. They behave so differently. Oh my god. And what is in the body? What has the body done? It has bound them both so much, so much, that every fiber of yours is conscious. Fiber means inert, and fiber is conscious. We say, no, our cells are conscious. What you call consciousness also runs on neuronal circuits. So inertia and consciousness are so intertwined in this being that they cannot be separated, and its path is separate, and the path of consciousness is separate. Who will suffer from this union? It doesn't matter to it. Put it anywhere. Did it say anything? Did it ask who I am? Where did I come from? What is the purpose of life? It didn't say. It suffers so much with inertia. In this way, being bound, being bound, the purpose of life means the purpose of consciousness, because life is for whom? Inert matter never said, I am alive. It doesn't say, I am a being. So what will be the purpose of consciousness? We started today's session with this question, what is the purpose of life? So to understand the purpose of life, first we defined the being, what is a being? Because life means the period of the being. The period during which the existence of the being is present is called life. Okay? To understand life, first we understood what a being is. And then we saw what life is. If a being has two mountains, one inert and one conscious, then who among these two asked the question about life? The conscious one. Yes. So the purpose of life is then whose purpose? Consciousness. So what will be the purpose of consciousness? You tell me, liberation. And what is its suffering? Bondage. So the body gives liberation. Let's end it. If your entire problem is why you were born, then that is why existential thinkers said that there is only one question, really, to be or not to be. This has been the biggest question of the last century in the West. Why should man live? And to indicate man's condition, a lot of literature was written, and because it was a matter of suffering, it could not be expressed only in essays and articles. So stories were written, novels were written, poems were written, and plays were written. Such plays that show what our condition is and that we cannot overcome that condition. Waiting for Godot. There are two people, and they keep waiting. They keep waiting. They keep waiting. And if I remember correctly, there is a tree on the stage, and there is one leaf on it, and the color of that leaf keeps changing. Meaning, time is passing. The cycle of time, and these two are standing, waiting. Yes, it's coming. Yes, it's coming. What are they waiting for? Neither of them knows. The play ends while waiting. You are trapped. You are trapped. Similarly, Ionesco's play, The Chairs. There is an old couple in it. They prepare every day that guests will come today, and we will host them. So it is in the play. First, they arrange chairs. The name of the play itself is The Chairs. They arrange chairs, saying guests are coming. Arrange, arrange, arrange. Guests never come. The play ends. You are in a state where you want something to happen, but what you want to happen cannot happen. This is called life. This is called life. And when consciousness realizes that it is inevitably bound to inertia, it sometimes makes a very astonishing, tragic decision. It says, since we are bound, let us become inert ourselves. Because maintaining a difference with it causes great suffering. So let us become like it. I am different from someone. Very different. For example, you have a shared room. You have gone to a hostel, and your roommate smokes a lot, a lot of cigarettes. And you are saying, I am smoking day and night, so I might as well do it. You have opposed yourself a lot. Okay? You even complained to the warden. You did everything. You even applied to change the room. You did everything. You even went out. Whatever you could do, you did. You even fought, and you got beaten up. Everything happened. What happens when you fight with the body? Yes. Whoever talks about leaving, gets slapped a lot, so even if you fight with him, then inert consciousness sometimes makes a very dirty surrender, saying we will not remain conscious, we will also become inert. So Ionesco's play, Rhinoceros, is about this. There is a city where people are turning into rhinoceroses one by one, meaning consciousness is bowing down to inertia. Man is becoming an animal. Rhinoceros is a symbol of inertia. A symbol of becoming unconscious. Is the point coming? Similarly, you people often discuss among yourselves. Camus's The Myth of Sisyphus, he pushes it up, he drops it, he pushes it up, he drops it. Like that old man and old woman sitting and arranging chairs. And they are arranging them every day. They must also be removing them, otherwise, they would arrange them again. Similarly, he pushes the stone up every day, drops it down, pushes the stone up, drops it down. This is life. We are trapped. Existentialism could not find a final solution to this. But Vedanta has already provided a solution. Now, it is not a solution like getting a charm or chanting a mantra to make something happen. There is no solution like karma. The solution, you know, is the solution of realization. Okay? We will come to that. That is the talk of today's verse. So we said the suffering of consciousness is that it is bound within this. There was a famous female thinker. The name escapes me. After this, there is also Rumi's. That is also coming to mind. She said that my problem is that I am consciousness trapped in the body of a woman. Similarly, Rumi once said that I don't know who I am. I don't know this either. I don't know where I have to go. But I know very well that I am neither of this body nor of this world. I am just trapped. I don't know where I came from. I don't know where I will go either. But I know that I am trapped here. Are you understanding? This is the central suffering that all spirituality addresses. Why am I spending so much time on this? I am spending time because you are starting a journey. Without knowing who the traveler is. And what is the path? What is the reason for the journey? And what is the destination? So what kind of journey is this? You are just ringing the bell without knowing why you are ringing it. The human condition, the inherent inevitable state of man, from there spirituality arises. How are we? How? Meaning, not socially or economically. Inherently, what is this thing? Understand it. We don't want to understand it because we see it everywhere. Wherever you look, you see people with hands and feet moving around. So we think that this is all ordinary, normal. Doesn't it seem so? No. A wise person is one who does not consider anything ordinary or normal. He says, one minute. What is this configuration? It is like this in the middle. It is like this, what is this? It is rectangular, and four are hanging from it, two above and two below, and here, something like a gain is placed above. What is this thing? Who are you, brother? What do you mean? And on top of that, it says, it's amazing. And if it were just saying, it would say, I am sad. Then they don't speak. Why don't they speak? Because they have become Ionesco's rhinoceroses. They will not say they are sad. I directed it, and I also acted the central character, Virendra. In it, the whole city has become rhinoceroses. He is somehow saving his girlfriend, saying, you don't become one. We both will be saved, will be saved. So these two have climbed onto a house. From there, they are looking down from the window, and rhinoceroses have surrounded them from all sides. It's a very long play, two and a half to three hours. There were 17 characters. They are calling the police, and a voice is coming from there. Meaning, the policemen have also become rhinoceroses. I didn't know this play would become my life. But it's like that for me. Whatever plays I acted in, somewhere or the other, it was as if I was seeing my own life ahead. There is prescience in it, there was prophecy. All this is going to happen, son. It will happen openly later. Briefly, do it on stage now. So he is holding her, saying, don't run. She says, no. Then she looks, then she says, what muscles they have. What strength they have. And how united they are, and how many there are. Hmm. Then she comes to him and says, even pushing you, what will happen to you? He is stopping her. He is doing everything. In between, he even slaps her very hard. She says, look how much power they have. Power. He says, you want to see power? He slaps her hard too. So all this happens. But ultimately, she also jumps out of the window among them. Now he is left alone. So this is the last scene of the play. He has to decide what to do? Should I remain like this or not? Ionesco leaves the matter hanging here. Just a slight hint. Here he asks you a question, saying, tell me, what should you do now? Okay? I gave some answer to that then. Similarly, there is Badal Sarkar's play, Pagla Ghoda (Mad Horse). Four people are sitting there. A girl's corpse is burning there. And all four are sitting there playing cards and drinking alcohol. A scene from the cremation ground.
A girl's pyre is burning. It is a winter night. It is very cold. There is fog, and these four are sitting and just waiting for this pyre to extinguish so they can go to their respective homes. And they are also warming their hands there. Then they start asking. They don't know each other well. They say, "But why are you here?" They ask, "Why are you here?" Then it is revealed that they all had their own love stories and are sitting there carrying their own pain. So, three of them narrate their own stories, saying what happened, what happened? These are all stories of Indian society and folk dharma, about how love, as a concept, cannot exist here. So, the three tell their own tales. Broken love stories, sad love stories. And the fourth one, that character, is laughing at them very mercilessly. He says, "Love is nothing. You are mad." He mocks whatever story he tells. He mocks. He plays cards. He drinks alcohol and laughs a lot. He laughs loudly. So, well, those three tell their own situations, and one by one, now as the situation starts to cool down, the pyre starts to cool down, they leave one by one. This fourth one, who kept laughing at everyone continuously. Kept laughing. Now he is left alone. When he is left alone, he goes near the pyre, and then, as a symbol, that girl stands up from it. She is his beloved. He was sitting there to burn her pyre, that's why he was laughing at everyone. She comes out and says, "I know what you are going to do. Don't do it." He says, "You are dead. Go back." They have some conversation between them. Here too, the writer has given a little freedom, to see what you will do with life now, because this sorrow is now bound. Life means such sorrow that cannot be removed, the one you loved is gone. What will you do? So, he takes out from his pocket, and his glass of alcohol is now empty. He drank everything. He finished the whole bottle. The glass is empty. There is only a little water in it. He takes something out of his pocket. It is clear to the audience that it is poison. From behind, the pyre is screaming, "No, no, no, don't do this, don't do this, don't do this." So, here too, I had to decide what to do now. If I did something there, then those who have known life, who have questioned life, have ultimately stopped here. To be or not to be. The sorrow is so much, so much. Should we live with it or not? Should we give up our lives? Should we become a rhinoceros? What should we do? They answer, saying, "We will have to live like this. Just live by laughing at your condition. Your condition will not change. What you can do is learn to laugh at your condition. Your condition will not change. It does not give hope. Spirituality will continue. Everything will be like this. We can only say that we have to carry this stone up and bring it down. You just have to take it with laughter the next day and bring it back with laughter. And what are you laughing at? You are laughing at yourself. Be a joke to yourself. Laugh at yourself. Do you understand? Consciousness is trapped. We are consciousness. What relationship should it have with inertia? What are they saying? Shri Krishna sees. He is saying, "The person who, in this life, before the body leaves, meaning in this life itself, he is making it very clear that brother, don't talk about Pandava stories in the name of the Gita. The next birth, the previous birth, he is explaining it very clearly. He is writing it separately. He is not leaving anything to your imagination. He is specifying. That in this life, in this very birth, the person who is capable of enduring natural urges with patience, for natural urges he has said desire and anger. The person who is capable of enduring natural urges with patience, he is liberated. He is liberated in life itself. He is liberated in life itself. He is liberated in life itself. This is the advice of Shri Krishna to consciousness. Inertia will do what it will do. You endure it, endure it. And if you have to endure it, why endure it with a grimace? How to endure it? Endure it with laughter. So, endure it with laughter. There is no other way. Shri Krishna also does not suggest any other way beyond this. This is liberation. The meaning of life liberation is this. Sorrow will remain because the body is there, and this body itself is your central sorrow. This is the first thing. It is there, and as long as it is there, the whole world is there for you. So, the game of sorrow will continue. Liberation means you have started laughing at it. And you can laugh. Laughing is not a ritual. Laughing is not a ritual. Laughing is not a ritual. Making laughing a method, a system, a practice, like many people gather in the morning in parks and laugh. That is not what is being talked about. This is the smile that arises from awareness. This is the smile that arises from awareness. Endure it. It's a big headache. Endure it, whether it's heartless, heartless, whatever it is, however it is. It is like this. Shri Krishna also could not suggest any other way beyond this. So, what can we tell you? And this enduring is not a small thing. This enduring is not a matter of compulsion. It is not an indication of your defeat. He is saying, "The one who endures is liberated in life." And abandon this hope completely that the body's actions, its deeds, will ever stop. It runs according to the laws of nature, and the laws of nature never have any enlightenment. As long as this is there, there is illusion. As long as this is there, the glands, the chemicals within you will remain active, right? When they are active, then desire and anger also arise from there. What are desire and anger? They are not matters of inertia or consciousness. They are products of inertia. The body is there, so these will remain. Desire, all this will remain. So, what will happen by enduring? If desire and anger also remain, then what will happen by enduring? What did we say? You asked the question so loudly. First, lower your voice. Yes. So, what will happen by enduring? We said, not just endure, but understand. Our advice is for those who can be advised. We are not advising the body. We are advising consciousness. And what can consciousness do? It can understand. So, we are telling consciousness, understand. Understand. If something arises, understand. We are not talking about suppressing. Suppression will also become a ritual. The Gita stands in complete opposition to rituals. It does not tell you to do this or that. It only tells you one thing: your nature is to understand. If you remain steadfast in your nature, you will be saved from sorrow. Understand. When desire arises, anger arises, understand. Otherwise, what will happen by understanding? Tell me one thing. When the body is inert, and the laws of inertia cannot change, then what will happen by understanding? By understanding, your center will be saved. When your center is saved, the center of whatever is happening in the body changes. What do you mean? We know that neither desire can go nor anger can go. The summary of what you explained for the last hour is that you have a body, the body is inert, there are glands inside, they are working, and if they are working, then desire will remain, envy will remain, anger will remain, fear will remain, all the six vices will remain. When they will all remain, then what is this hour-long knowledge telling you? When you are established in your center, then anger will also come from your center, right? Inertia has no center, does it? Does inertia have a center? Inertia has laws. Inertia is a flow. Consciousness has a center. Shri Krishna is saying, "You hold your center, hold your ground." Do not waver from your seat. Then you will meet the beloved. You, do not move. So, what will happen? You are talking so much. First, lower your voice. What will happen? By this, anger will also be purified. If Krishna says that anger is bad, then he is not Krishna. Because anger is also a type of behavior. If he says that anger is a bad thing, then he has taught ritual. He has taught that this behavior is good, this behavior is bad. Desire is also a type of action, isn't it? A subtle action. It arises within first, then you act upon it externally. You want to eat bread. So, you extend your hand, you move your mouth. This is external action. But where does the action happen first? When you want to eat bread. It happens here, right? Desire arises here, that is a subtle action. Then, because of it, you picked up the bread, ate it, chewed it. So, desire is action. If Shri Krishna says that desire is bad, then again, he is not Shri Krishna. Because that would also be a ritual. What is the meaning of ritual? Nothing is understood. It is just told that this is good, this is bad. Krishna will not even say that desire is bad. He is saying, "Understand desire, and you will become desireless." He is saying, "Understand anger, and anger will also be purified." Like Krishna's anger when he ran towards Bhishma with the chariot wheel. Meaning, this whole system of yours, inertia, will keep doing its work, and its center will change. Desire will remain, but that desire will no longer be for yourself. Anger will remain, but anger will also not be blind. Everything will remain. Everything will remain. But while remaining, it will change in a very miraculous way. Even envy can remain. Saints have written verses, sung songs, in which they say, "Raghuvar, we are envious of your sandals. We are envious of that sand, that dust that comes under your feet. It received your touch." So, envy will also remain, but its center will change. You cannot fight this. You can change its center. Now, the big question, because young people are sitting here. Will lust also remain? Ask by raising your voice. Why are you asking so fearfully? No. It's okay. As you were asking. Its center will also change. Its center will also change. That too will change. It will not be like then that you are pulled in any direction. Then, even in your physical, material, bodily touch, a divinity will come. If someone sees from afar, they will think that a person is touching another person's body. But something else will have happened. Then it will not be that if I am forming a relationship with someone, it is undoubtedly something very vile. Come, abuse it. No. If you look a little impartially, Mira also worshipped the embodied form of Shri Krishna and clearly said. It is not a matter of our assumption or imagination that he is a husband. She did not even say brother, father, nothing. She boldly said, "Husband." She did not say formless, nor formless, nor father, nor brother. He is embodied, and he is a husband. And we do not find a purer relationship than this, or we say, "Oh, look, a woman is attracted to the image of a man. This is wrong." Do we say that? No. We should not say that. So, the normal, inert attraction from one being to another also reaches the height of the sky, if consciousness does not leave its center. Abandon this hope that the body will change its colors and ways. If you are a man, you will be drawn to a woman. If you are a woman, you will be drawn to a man. You are hungry. A mosquito is biting you. If a mosquito bites and you have no problem, it will not happen. If someone says, "I don't bathe for a month." Bathe for a month, and you don't itch, it will not happen. So, the body runs according to laws, brother. Laws mean laws. A bullet will hit anyone, they will die. Anyone will get sick, they will die. So, this runs according to laws. Then what was special about great souls? They did not let consciousness become a slave to the body's laws. They said, "Tie it up." What we cannot control, we will not try to control. But we, who ask all the questions, who are curious, who suffer all the pain. We can bind ourselves, can't we? So, they say, "Okay, an incompatible relationship has formed. No problem. We will not let that relationship dominate us." The body means an incompatible relationship. No problem. Now, now, like you have gone to a hostel. You didn't want it, but some weird person has become your roommate. You say, "Okay, it has happened." But we will not forget that this person is not the purpose of my life. Why have I come to college? To study. I have not come for this that I should become too engrossed in whatever this person next to me is doing. Let them study in their place, do their work. This is the attitude of the wise. They do not want to assert control over the body. They just do not leave their place. They say to their roommate, "Do whatever you want. You have your own rules. You have your own patterns. They are flowing. I can never dominate you, nor should I. But one thing is certain: because of you, I will not abandon my nature. You follow your nature. I will follow my nature. You do your work. I will do my work." And when the wise person says this, we are saying that something like a miracle is seen, that the center of nature changes. All that inertia displays as behavior remains. But while remaining, it becomes very lovely. Got angry. Got angry. In the path of devotion, in the dualistic path, they say the devotee got angry with God. There is also a sweetness in that. Even anger has reached a height. Crying. Now, generally, grief is a great vice. All the vices that are counted. Grief also happens. If you see someone very grief-stricken, it is not considered good. Now, look, Bharata is grieving for Rama. Rama is grieving for Sita. Later, Rama is grieving for Lav and Kush. Then Sita is grieving for Rama. First, she grieves in Ashoka Vatika. Then she reaches the sage's ashram again. She grieves there. No one even bids farewell with much laughter. She says, "May the earth split open," for she came from the earth. Understand it's a symbol. So, she merges into the earth. They go and take samadhi with their brothers. So, we feel this is not a very happy farewell. They are saying, "See, the conjunctions of life are not in our hands. Did we want anyone in the public to say that Sita is like this, Sita is like that? But they said it. Did we want Ravana to come and do all this? Shurpanakha to come? But Ravana has his own way of life. The first conjunction was that we were born. All that is not in our hands. Let all that happen. We will endure it with our dignity." Krishna is saying, "Endure." And enduring does not mean bearing. Enduring does not mean, like I saw a reel. There is a new game there. Two wrestlers sit opposite each other. They slap each other. Oh my god. This is not that kind of enduring. What kind of enduring is this? This is enduring with understanding. When you endure with understanding, a smile also comes. Otherwise, do not make smiling a ritual. For many people, that also happens. Wherever they sit, they smile even in their sleep. Not that. Understanding. Whatever is happening, remain established in your nature. Your nature is awareness. And this is life liberation. It is not your duty to change what is happening. It is your duty to understand it. The funny thing is, if you understand, then change begins. Then you will not be able to stop the change. What can I do? I feel very sleepy. Sleep comes, it comes. There is no use fighting this. We will not fight. We will understand what the matter is. Gloom, agitation, grief – nothing will happen from these. If you feel sleepy, you start hitting your forehead. It's not like that. Understand what is happening. Even if you are hitting your forehead, understand that too. What is going on? How does this happen? Why understand? Not for any purpose, but by nature. You are like this. If someone asks, "Why do you do this?" If we can call understanding an action, then if someone asks, "Why do you do this action?" then say, "We don't do it. We are like this. This is our nature. It is not in our control to not understand. We have to understand." Even if we are dying, at that moment, we will be understanding death. It is not in our control to not understand. That is why great importance has been given in tradition to whether you can maintain consciousness at the time of death. So, that point was deep, but people have interpreted it to mean that if you are dying and conscious, you will get a good next birth. You will not get a good next birth. There is physical pain at the time of death. Changes are happening in the body. Maintaining consciousness at that time is the most difficult. And even at that time, if a person can remain conscious. Most people, when they are dying, have already become unconscious. You become unconscious a little before dying. For consciousness to remain even at the time of death, it is essential that consciousness remains while living. So, those who said to maintain consciousness even at the time of death, they wanted you to learn to be established in your nature while living. And to be so deeply established in your nature that even when you are dying, your nature does not leave you. That is what they are saying. They are not saying that if you do this at the time of death, it is like a charm. You will become a rich person in the next birth. You were drunk all your life. Completely unconscious. And at the time of death, you are widening your eyes. We will die with our eyes open. One word remains: joyful. Joyful means what? So, you have understood what to be united with? You have to be united with yourself. You have to be united with your nature. The nature of consciousness is also called the soul. So, when the talk is of union, it has no other meaning. This is it. The union of ego with the soul. Becoming united. That is yoga. They say, "We remain joyful." So, what is the meaning of joy? There will be no sorrow. There will be no sorrow. There is sorrow. You are aware of sorrow. This is joy. What is the meaning of joy? There will be no happiness. There will be happiness. There is happiness. You are aware of happiness. This is joy. Whatever can happen in conjunction with this inert body, in conjunction with this inert world, all that will happen. You are aware of it. So, does this mean, let what is happening happen, meaning let it flow? Are there many things that you really want to do, let them happen, let them happen? Is that what is being said? No, it is not being said that. What is being said is that if you start knowing, then what is happening changes on its own, and it changes in a very wonderful way. So, it will not be possible that you are knowing, and yet you are still working in your inertia, in your unconsciousness, as before. That will not happen. Whoever starts knowing, their behavior, their actions, change even without their will. But how they will change cannot be told beforehand. If it is told beforehand how it will change, then it is called a rule, a ritual. And that is not the realm of spirituality. So, change comes in ritual, and change also comes in spirituality. Folk dharma also talks about change, and spirituality also talks about change. But folk dharma will talk about change like this. You have parents. Go and touch their feet. And if you are not touching your parents' feet, then how will you get God's blessings? And you have parents. Look, mother has become old. Go and serve her. Do it with them. There you will find nectar. There you will find heaven. This is folk dharma. It is also saying, change your behavior. It is addressing the son or daughter who is not taking care of their parents. It is telling them to go and take care of their parents. So, it also wants you to change your behavior. But it has already told you what to do. It is not saying, "Change yourself." It is saying, "Change your behavior," and how to change your behavior, it has already told you: go and press their feet, give them medicine, talk sweetly, obey them. It is suggesting such behavior. Spirituality also changes behavior, but in a very uncertain way. It says, "These two people live with you, right? Don't you want to understand them? Do you think you owe them something?" There is a whole process for that debt. Don't you want to know it? Know it. There is a man whom you call your father. You have lived in the same house for 40 years. You have seen his face so much. Since you are living with him so much, then let's get to know him a little. Spirituality will just say, "Know." And after knowing, the change that will come in your relationship will be far beyond what folk dharma tells. Folk dharma just tells you to do certain things, and spirituality says, fulfill those promises that were never made. That were never even told to you that these things should also be done. Then you do those things too. Folk dharma teaches duty. And in spirituality, you say duty is a very small thing. I will go far beyond duty. This is the difference. Folk dharma just says, "Stay as you are. Just go and press your parents' feet. They have become old. That's it. You won't be sinful then. And if you don't press their feet, you will be sinful." Spirituality does not say, "Go and press your parents' feet." It says, "You call them mother. You introduce yourself in their name wherever you go. You have many desires related to their property. You have 50 types of behavior with them. You keep taking money from them. Sometimes this, sometimes that. Don't you want to know who these people are?" Spirituality says, "Understand." It does not suggest any action. Yes, after understanding, a very different, beautiful, loving action happens on its own. But this love is not like the love that is defined beforehand. Folk dharma also defines love beforehand. Meaning, you are sitting, and I come and give you water like this, then this is love. Spirituality says, "What is defined is not love." Then the relationship you will form, even with your parents, if we take their example, will be different. And it will be of a kind that folk dharma cannot even imagine. So, spirituality also wants to bring change. The Gita wants to bring change. But not in a predetermined way. Now, the Gita does not want to bring predetermined change. But sometimes you come to the Gita having already decided what change you want. You say, "I have a lot of anger. I want to reduce my anger." Let's go to the Gita. And the Gita is saying, "I cannot do anything predetermined. Because awareness is not bound by rules." So, nothing can be predetermined. Yes, something will happen. Change will definitely happen. It will change a lot. It will change more than you can imagine. But what picture will emerge after changing, we cannot tell you. Now, if you have the courage, come. That is called faith. That change will undoubtedly happen. But what will happen next and how, we do not know beforehand, nor do we want to know. For us, it is enough that the center of change is awareness. That is enough. Call it faith, call it desirelessness. It's the same thing. Do you understand? The joy is not in this. I am repeating, there is no sorrow. The joy is that there is sorrow, but sorrow has not uprooted me. If you consider sorrow a storm, then there is sorrow. It is roaring like a storm. But I am standing firm in my place. The storm has not uprooted me. This is called joy. So, joy can exist even in the presence of sorrow. Joy can exist even in the presence of sorrow. And honestly, when sorrow is saying, then only do we know, right? Is it joy or a fake thing? The joy that sorrow can uproot, is that joy? So, similarly, it is light and airy. That is why the real test of what is called joy is found only in the depths of sorrow. Both sorrow and happiness. Both uproot us. When great sorrow comes, you also become unconscious. Have you seen? If you experience great sorrow. People say, "Oh God," and fall down, become unconscious. Splash water. Such great sorrow. And in your moment of extreme happiness, you also become completely unconscious. Don't you? When it is the moment of extreme pleasure, consciousness completely disappears. And if it doesn't disappear, then they say, "Man, let's make rings." Otherwise, why is happiness so much related to alcohol? And sorrow too. Because both are related to unconsciousness. Joy means that whether sorrow is roaring, or happiness is chirping, we are established in our place. And we are not going to stop happiness, nor are we going to stop sorrow. We are just sitting in our place. Our job is to be in our place. Yes, by just being in our place, the world changes. Namaste. My name is Nidhi Tiwari, and I have been listening to Acharya Ji for the past three years and have been associated with the Gita sessions for the past year and a half. When we listen to Gita sessions, we feel that there will be some verse recitation, some big talk. But Acharya Ji explains things to us here, like I myself am in a teaching profession. So, he simplifies things so much for us. The various texts from around the world. Shrimad Bhagavad Gita, which we hear changes people's lives completely. He explains it to us in a very easy way, and how it is effective in our personal lives. In what way can it change our lives, or how he explains its different distorted meanings very differently. Now, coming to me, what changes have happened in my life, perhaps I won't be able to tell by saying it, or there are still many things in which I have to work on myself. But at least I am understanding that the possibility of me being who I can be, my best possible self, is visible to me. I understand that I can be much more than what I am right now. Thank you. [Music]