Part Two
‘Everything is perceived through the medium of the mind and, like a child, one's mind should be pure and not fickle. If water is pure and colorless, we can see down to its depths.’
In every spiritual path, purity of mind and heart are emphasized in order that God may be perceived within the seeker. Puja, japa, and meditation are practices which help to achieve this. Babaji often mentioned puja as a preliminary step to purifying the mind.
Puja and japa are means to focus the mind. What lies beyond them is meditation. As we ourselves are, so we see God. A buffalo probably thinks that God looks like itself! Two horns, four feet, and a tail. Dogs and goats must think along similar lines! That is why in our Hindu religion God is perceived in all forms. Buffaloes, dogs, cows, boars. a fish and even trees. Trees, too, must think, 'There must be one enormous tree with many branches and many leaves. That is our God!’
We humans cannot immediately grasp that which has no qualities - the formless. Actually, God is formless but only by fixing your mind on the form can you gradually arrive at the formless. It is reached by totally absorbing yourself in a form. Take a flower. Some people practice this. Stare at it fixedly and it will eventually disappear. If you really concentrate on a person, the same thing will happen. Actually, a person is formless in essence, but he or comprehend it.
However, if one talks about God with attributes, people have something they can grasp, upon which to pin their faith and devotion. Then they will walk in justice, righteousness, and order. But the statues and symbols themselves have no real life. The worship goes to God, not to them. It is only because our minds cannot grasp the Absolute that we use images.
The truth is that the Divine Mother is within us pervading head to toe, but we cannot perceive Her. That is why we objectify Her, the reality, as a statue or yantra, something we can see with the physical senses. Whatever a person thinks and concentrates on, so he becomes.
The Prostitute and the Holy Man
Once a sadhu (holy man) and a prostitute lived opposite each other on a street. The sadhu wore beautiful ochre clothes, gave fine lectures, and had many disciples. The prostitute, on the other hand, carried on her business and supported her two children, fully aware of the lowliness and shamefulness of her situation. Every day she would watch the sadhu through her window and her whole wish was that she could be more like him. The sadhu, on the other day made a mental note of how many customers she got and during his meditation he would think of her sinfulness, whereas the prostitute's mind dwelled on the greatness and holiness and how much she longed for those qualities. Finally they both died, strangely enough on the sam body was buried with great honor by his many disciples and admirers. The prostitute however , was burned unceremoniously and no one gave her a thought. Their souls went to be weighed to find where they would go. Amazingly, the sadhu was sentenced to hell, and the prostitute to heaven.
‘Wait, there must be some mistake,' shouted the sadhu. 'I was a Sadhu and spent my whole life performing spiritual practices and did everything according to the scriptures. This slut spent her time entertaining men, selling her body for money.'
The answer came back, 'Yes, because your body observed fasts and rituals it got an honored burial, whereas her body, because she misused it, got an ignominious end. However, because of her repentance and constant contemplation of your apparent virtues and holiness, her mind has attained great purity. Consequently, she goes to heaven. You, however, spent your time obsessed with her sinfulness and great faults in the eyes of God and so your mind has become dense and sinful. For this reason you will have to go to hell.’
In spite of Babaji's recognition of the validity of puja as a practice, he would always point a seeker beyond blind faith in ritual to the living presence in the heart.
Where there is faith there is God. It is our faith which grants us spiritual fruit.
Once a European had brought a small sandalwood statue of Ganesh for Babaji. In feigned exasperation he said,
I don't want any more Gods! If I accept him, I'll have to do puja to him daily and if I don't he will get angry with me. Look, he has such a big belly. How can I keep him fed? Here, you take him! (handing it back to the European]
I am neither Hindu, Christian, nor Muslim. It is the heart that is important. Indeed, it is because we do not know the heart that we externalize the indweller, God, and create a statue to worship. This is merely a stage in order to learn concentration. In the last phase of spiritual evolution do not use statues. For example, sanyassis do not worship anything external.
Babaji's work here as a teacher was always to draw the listeners attention to the real holy place and temple, the spiritual heart residing within us all. Like every spiritual teacher, he would again and again expose the human tendency to create idols out of religion and encouraged us to avoid the kind of foolish blind faith that gives rise to superstition, ignorance, and fundamentalism.
Akbar and Birbal's Shoe - the True Holy Place
Once Akbar, the great Moghul king, the subject of many amusing stories, and Birbal, his astute minister, were arguing about the value of holy places.
Birbal secretly stole one of the king's shoes, buried it in a certain spot and started doing pradakshina (circumambulating) around it at special times. Some local people noticed and realized that this must be a holy spot so they too, started circumambulating it and even holding prayers there. Soon their faith bore fruit and some of their prayers were answered. Grateful devotees built a small shrine until eventually the place was besieged with pilgrims. At last Akbar himself came to know about this new and famous holy place and he, too, became a pilgrim. Turning to Birbal he inquired as to what was actually there. Perhaps the Samadhi of a great holy man?
'No, your Majesty,' was Birbal's gentle reply, 'the samadhi of your shoe!
Japa
There is no doubt that Babaji was a great advocate of japa, the recitation of a mantra. He stressed that japa was a vital preliminary to meditation, which occurs "beyond" japa often repeated by a seeker spontaneously ceases. However, he emphasized the importance of receiving a mantra from a qualified guru who had himself perfected it (see chapter 9, Guru and Disciple).
Babaji generally initiated seekers into the mantras he himself had used during his own sadhana, which included the nine-syllabled Devi mantra and the guru mantra. There were also daily recitations of the Guru Gita, Shiva Mahimna, as well as various bhajans and chants. However, he also stressed that puja and japa should be accompanied by a genuine sincerity of purpose if they are to bear fruit. Only then can the effort made be called tapasya and the fruits can be used for the welfare of others. We should not be like the brahmin in the following story.
The Brahmin's Three Wishes
There was once a brahmin. Now, brahmins are often a little poor, so to fill his stomach he would do a little astrology for people, in exchange for food. Now, with the passing of time, the brahmin's wife grew old, her teeth all fell out and she grew hunched and gray. On his visits to other houses to make astrological predictions for his clients, he would notice that they often had beautiful wives, unlike his own.
Finally, he decided to do tapasya, recite certain mantras, so that his wife would also become beautiful. He decided to go to a solitary mountain like our Sapta Shringh and perform austerities. But first he told his wife to make some laddoos (sweets) as big as tennis balls! Armed with these, he went to the mountain where there was a cave with a good supply of water and did his penance, in between mouthfuls of laddoo and gulps of water!
This went on for some days until it happened that Shiva and Parvati were traveling overhead in an airplane on their way from Kashi to Bombay!
'Who is that down there?' asked Parvati. "Oh, just a brahmin eating laddoos and saying a mantra,' replied Shankar cautiously.
‘Come on.' said Parvati, 'let's bestow a boon on him.'
Because of her insistence, they descended and approached the brahmin. Reluctantly, Shiva picked up three stones and gave them to the brahmin. 'With these,' he promised, 'you can make any wish you like.'
Overjoyed, the brahmin returned home. The first person he saw his wife. Gums gaping, face all screwed up, she hobbled toward him. The brahmin took a pebble and waved it above her head.
"Oh God, make my wife into the most beautiful woman in the world.' Immediately her hair became black, her teeth reappeared and she stood up straight and beautiful.
'What shall I do now?' wondered the brahmin. 'My wife is so beautiful that if anyone sees her they will abduct her. What shall I do with her?'
'Stay indoors,' he finally told her. 'Don't let anyone see you. A valuable possession must be well-protected.' He gave her some pots.
'Here, you can use these for your ablutions but do not go outside. I'll empty them later.'
So she just stayed indoors eating and lazing until one day a local ruffian saw her through the window. 'Oh ho, so our brahmin's keeping a mistress, is he?' he thought. Breaking open the door, he forcibly abducted her and carried her off to his own dwelling.
When the brahmin found out what had happened he was furious. Grasping his remaining stones, he set out for the ruffian's house. When he found it he started shouting abuses and threats, much to the ruffian's amusement.
'If you don't clear off, I'll come and finish you off,' threatened ruffian.
‘Finish me off, will you,' thought the enraged brahmin. He took the second stone and wished.
'Oh, God, make my wife into a tiger so that she finishes off this rascal.'
Immediately his wife became a tiger. Catching hold of her abductor she struck him dead and joined her husband. When they got home, the brahmin took a look at her. 'Now what can I do? I'm a brahmin and she's a tiger!' he moaned. Taking out the third stone, he wished, 'God, make my wife as she before. Make her an old woman again.'
Babaji smiled. The meaning of this story is that those who do not perform real sadhana receive no real fruit. The brahmin had performed ‘laddoo sadhana' and this was the result.
However, when a person bows to the Divine Mother in sincerity and humility, She will immediately grant the desires of that person's heart. Furthermore, if a noble person asks the Mother for the wellbeing of others, She is eager and pleased to bless them.
Meditation
Japa is greater than puja but dhyana (meditation) is the highest worship and grants knowledge. Knowledge, like love, gives rise to more knowledge. Just as we need a little capital to earn money, similarly we use our knowledge to accumulate more. Meditation is the best means to achieve steadiness. In my opinion it also implies contemplation. Where have I come from? Where am I going? What is this world?
Certainly by using a mantra given by a qualified guru, with correct understanding, a person can achieve peace. “Om Namah Shivayah” (I bow to the Supreme Principle) is not, in fact, a Hindu mantra but universal. "Om Guru” is important. The scriptures say that without guru there can be no knowledge. Guru is not a particular body or person. Mantra itself is guru and has been handed down to us by the ancient sages. Contemplating mantra (japa) leads to meditation.
If we meditate and contemplate God, what happens is that our awareness stays with God and we feel blissful and happy in spite of our particular destiny and karma. That is the greatness of meditation. Even if we cannot avoid our individual karma, at least we can rise above its adverse effects.
What is meditation? Meditation is focusing the mind, making it one-pointed. If you direct your mind to something you learn from it without anyone teaching you [Babaji picks up the large magnifying glass lying beside him]. Take this magnifying glass. Just by looking at it with the full power of the mind you can learn something about it. What does it do? How is it made? What is the principle behind it?
The human birth is the highest. Why? Humans have the capacity for jnana and vijnana. With this power, human beings can visit the moon and other planets. If you want to cultivate jnan and vijnan, you can do it by meditation.
How does one meditate? Meditation is within us, it is not something to be acquired from outside. Just sit resolved and tranquil. Do not worry about anything. Then the willpower grows and the power of knowledge grows. You can do japa until, of its own accord, the repetition stops. What lies beyond japa is meditation.
A meditator should master one asana (posture) for meditation. Truly speaking, if you can sit in one position such as padmasana (lotus position) for three hours, you have mastered it. How can you call it meditation to sit for a few minutes and then start shifting your position because of pain. In true meditation a meditator is not aware if pain is there or not. His mind is merged in God, not in the body.
Once an American complained to Babaji of fear. Babaji took him aside and showed him a light in the space between the eyebrows.
That light is your own atma. It is not something I have given you.
Practice looking at that space and within a few days you will see it effortlessly and your fears will disappear. There are nine different lights perceived in meditation. Sometimes you will see an expanse of blue surrounding something. That "something” is the truth and compared to that the various experiences have little value.
The Blue Bindu
The blue bindu can be seen with eyes open or closed. Just sit and concentrate and a tiny point the size of a tapioca seed will appear. Actually, our bodies are full of them and without them you would not be alive. It comes and goes but finally comes to rest in our vision. My Maharaj (guru) used to say that anyone who has a devotional leaning always has the bindu accompanying him. Actually it is the light of the bindu (manifested light of the supreme soul) that accompanies us throughout our life. But one should go beyond that light and merge in the formless. More than seeing God, become It! Many people see the bindu but their bad actions continue as before. Have they been freed from anything? No. But after merging in God all past sins are destroyed.
You see, the blue bindu is the form emanating from the Absolute. Rays arise from the sun and can be seen. If you reach the sun itself then neither you nor the rays remain. When an individual ray merges with the sun will it be any different from the sun itself? Do you understand? Look at my hand, for example. Here is the sun [Babaji points to his palm) from which "rays” shoot out in all directions. If a ray should return back into the sun, will it still be an individual ray? No! Similarly, the blue bindu will be with you until you merge with the Absolute.
Nada
Sometimes in a quiet place you will hear a sound called nada. Once your mind gets accustomed to listening to it and to perceiving that light, your fears will vanish. There are nine kinds of nada, such as the sounds of: crickets; water thrown onto a hot plate; distant rain; cymbals; a faraway bell; and a flute.
One who regularly hears nada does not take future births. In the early hours of the morning between 3:00 a.m. and 6:00 am we can sit and contemplate it and the light, and then come to understand that which dwells within us. Nada is the sound of consciousness. When you begin to listen, your mind gets absorbed in it. The mind’s exhaustion departs and it becomes fresh again. If you then contemplate a problem your mind will quickly arrive at a decision.
Everything that can be seen, including visions, is, however, still within the realm of the mind and implies duality -subject and object. The true state is when we merge with the object of meditation. We meditate in order to attain No-thing (shunya). Compared to that, the different experiences of meditation have little value. That Nothing is our true home. Some people think that Siddhaloka (a heavenly abode for perfected beings) or some other place (loka) is the goal. Actually, these are just more places. One day everyone has to return to where they have come from. We have come from the ocean of God and return there.
Truth and perfection are one. You cannot perceive them because they are beyond perception. You can, however, become them. From sea comes salt but when salt is immersed in the sea it becomes the sea. Similarly, if a drop enters the ocean, it becomes the ocean. If a drop is removed from the ocean, is not the ocean potential drop?