Anandmurti Gurumaa - The Witness

When you recognize the Self as Pure Consciousness, you become the witness, says ANANDMURTI GURUMAA.

The Self is pure consciousness. Your true self is the purest of pure. It is the witness. How is the Self a witness and when is it that? When are you aware of your pure Self? Just because you are not aware of the Self, it cannot and will not lose its identity in any way. But when identification of the self happens with the body and mind, then the self is in a state of delusion, and this false identification and delusion makes you suffer.

You go to a shop to do your shopping and having bought what you need, you realise that you forgot your wallet at home, so you just walk out without buying what you need. However, when you get to the car and whilst getting the keys of the car out of your pocket some monies also drop out, and which would have been sufficient for what you bought, how would you feel? That money was there all the time — just that you were not aware that money was there, and therefore, you could not buy what you wished to buy.

Awakening Of The Self

Similarly, ‘I’ — the ‘Self’ is sakshi, pure witness. However, if I am not aware of it, I cannot be rich and blissful. To be truly happy, the awakening of the self to Self is required. This knowledge gives you the understanding that you are pure consciousness — the witness. It is only through Brahmngyan, the pure knowledge, that you come to know about your own true Self.

Your body is always changing; in childhood it looked different from what it looks like today. It is only through pure knowledge that you will understand how many different bodies you have had and yet you are the very same existence; how many births you took and all those bodies died but you always remained untouched by death. You may not be able to recall one single body out of those thousands of bodies that you took, but yet you are the same unchangeable purity.

Similarly, the mind too is in flux; it is always changing with plenty of good and bad thoughts lurking in the mind, all the time. Who knows all this? It is you and you only are the one who is witnessing these changes that are happening in the body and the mind continuously. The intellect too behaves differently: sometimes the buddhi or intellect goes crazy and at other times, it acts intelligently.

When I say that ‘the Self is a witness — ‘sakshi swaroop’ can you grasp what I am explaining? The answer can be both ‘yes’ and ‘no’; knowing it with your mind is not enough, the experience has to be there; is that not strange: knowing and yet not knowing. Those who do not realise their Self, does their Self die along with the body? No, even the Self of ignorant people is immortal but they suffer from the fear of death due to their ignorance. However, the one who has realised the purity of the Self simply laughs away when he encounters death.

You are consciousness, pure existence and this body is mortal, jadh — dead. The Self is pure existence and a witness. In awareness of the Self there is immense joy and in not knowing the Self there is a lot of pain and suffering.

So for whom does a person require to have this realisation of the Self? Is it for the sake of others or for his own sake? When the Self has this shell of the body, mind and senses in front of it, then false knowledge arises that I am the body, mind, and we are one.

Self Is Super Consciousness

The Self is chetana or super consciousness, the one who knows, pure existence, truth, ever conscious and in one word known as satchitanand. That ananda or bliss and joy will only come to you not by verbalising and repeating ‘I am satchitanand’ but only through experience, and that too, your very own experience of your Self. When would your pain, suffering, jealousy, hatred take leave of your mind? This will happen only when you understand and realise that the mind also is different from you. No doubt it is close to you but still it is not you.

You just be a watcher, a seer; be aloof from all this paraphernalia of the world and the body. Then only can you really enjoy; otherwise, you will suffer as no scenario is ever going to remain unchanged. Change is bound to happen as it is the very nature of the mind and this whole world. An enlightened being would say: if it is birth that is fine, even if it is death, that is also fine as nothing can happen to the Self.

Anandmurti Gurumaa - Mind Is Good Servant, Bad Master

What does 'watching oneself' mean? When i say watch yourself, then i'm talking not about your body, your senses, your thoughts, your emotions, nor about your imaginations but i'm talking about that being, which is layer after layer hidden within. So, body is the most external layer, then the senses, the mind, conscious, subconscious, unconscious - behind that is the intellect, and then you. When i say watch yourself, i'm asking you to peel all these layers and move within. For this you need deeper understanding and wisdom and viveka, gyana - wisdom and knowledge.

What is willpower? See, for now you do not have any willpower and whatever will you have, is part of the mind, which is already weak. Whatever decision you make, you are unable to fructify your desired goal. At the moment, when you say 'we', then this 'we' is inclusive of your mind, intellect and consciousness and as such if your mind is not being well trained and if you do not have a higher intellect then it is pretty clear that you will not have higher power to make decisions and to follow them.

So how to strengthen willpower? Understanding and wisdom. Wisdom makes you strong, it makes you clear and with wisdom, the choices you make, you will stick with those. See, your ego is pretty big and whenever this ego makes a decision, it sticks with that and if you do not have the right wisdom and intellect, then you will not have the right kind of ego with you. If you do not have the 'shuddha ahankara', the pure ego, then you cannot have the 'shuddha sankalpa' and then no good things happen in your life.

You are unable to go beyond the mind because you are struggling through the mind, to transcend the mind, that wouldn't happen. It is just like, if someone holds his shoelaces, and still wants to stand straight, how would you do that? Either you let go of your shoelaces, or you let go of your desire to stand straight. You can't do two things together. Similarly, the mind which is struggling to transcend the mind, how will it transcend the mind? But how? It's not easy to still the mind. Yes, mind is the biggest enemy but it can also be your best friend.

The Master guides you how to train your mind so that it becomes your friend. Ignorance, there are dark shadows; child gets scared of all these dark shadows and begins to think that there are ghosts in the room. But the mother brings the light and the ghosts disappear. Child doesn't have to struggle; with light, all ghosts go away. Similarly, the Guru works like a mother, brings the light of knowledge that helps you overcome ghosts of lust, greed, prejudice and hatred. With light of knowledge we get a clear insight, and we come to know how this mind is to be used and then you become your own master.

Osho - State Of Ecstasy & Meditation

Dhyan can bring you ecstasy that seems to last an eternity though it might be for a few minutes only, says OSHO.

What is orgasm in reference to meditation and higher levels of consciousness? Isn’t feeling orgasmic in a deep state of meditation nonsexual?

The experience of orgasm itself is always nonsexual. Even though you have achieved it through sex, it itself has no sexuality in it. You can reach orgasm through sex. It is a merger of the negative and positive polarities — such a deep merger that the man is no longer man, the woman is no longer woman. They are not two; there is only one energy surrounding them both. They have melted into that energy.

Biological Experience

It may be for a moment — that does not matter — but the experience itself has nothing to do with sex. The first orgasm is bound to be attained through sex. And my own understanding is that meditation has grown out of the experience of orgasm, because the original founders — particularly Shiva who, in his Vigyan Bhairva Tantra, has spoken of, just like a scientific formula, about 112 meditations; each meditation just in one line or two lines…. Those 112 sutras are just like seeds.

He has condensed everything about the method in them. He is also known as a great lover. Perhaps he was the first man to discover meditation. And it can be scientifically assumed that whoever experienced orgasm, if he had a little intelligence, would have seen that although it has come through sex, it itself is a nonsexual experience.

That gives the insight that there may be possibilities of reaching it through nonsexual means, because it is not sexual itself, so sexuality is not necessarily the only way. Perhaps sexuality created the background, the groundwork in which it happened. But the experience of orgasm itself does not remind you of sex; it is purely spiritual.

Whoever experienced this must have concluded then that there can be other ways to reach it — because sex is not necessarily a part of it. There is no colour, nor any impression of sex left in it. The moment the orgasm happens, time stops, you forget about time. Your mind stops, you do not think anymore. There is tremendous calmness, and awareness.

You have not fallen into a hypnotic sleep. Everything is crystal clear. The mind is no more functioning the way it functions continuously: the thought process has stopped. The sense of time is not there; it seems timeless. Afterwards you will think it lasted only a few seconds, but that is afterwards; in the experience itself, it seems it is eternity. And you are fully aware, as aware as you have ever been: wide-awake.

Any observer going through the experience will naturally think, “If these things can be managed without sex — awareness, thoughtlessness, timelessness — you will reach to the orgasmic state, bypassing sexuality.” And this is how man must have first discovered meditation; otherwise meditation is not something biological or natural, so that in the course of time you have to discover it. But biology has given you an experience; if you try to understand it, you are bound to search for other methods to make it possible. You know it has happened, that there was only pure awareness — so it is possible.

Start With Awareness

You are not groping in the dark, you are not just guessing: you know it is possible. You have known it through the biological route. Then if these three things can be maintained without sex, the orgasm happens. And the difference is that the sexual orgasm is very momentary. Although while it is there, it looks almost eternal, that feeling is just because of its depth. But through meditation you can have it as long as you want, because meditation is not dependent on anybody else — the woman or the man or a certain state of two minds, a certain rhythm of two energies.

Meditation is independent of any other person; only you are to create the situation. And naturally the conclusion will be to start with awareness, because you don’t know how else to stop thoughts. It is not in your hands to stop thoughts or to stop time. Only one thing remains, and that is awareness, that you can be more aware or less aware.

Osho - Revolutionise Education

Ø Intro - The education system we follow in India was started by the British government to create clerks. No government wants intelligent people… then it is easier to exploit them, rule them, to avoid any revolution, and easier for mediocre people to become leaders. The British government managed beautifully.

For 25 years, for almost one third of his life, a person is processed in such a way that he turns out either to be a station master, a head clerk, or a postmaster. These were the needs of the government.

All the gold medallists in the universities disappear — you never hear of them again. In the university they get gold medals, but in life they become head clerks but don’t go further.

Reformation Not Enough

The whole system is wrong. So it is not a question of reforming it; it is a question of revolutionising it. A real educational system will take care of the whole individual; this education system takes care only of the mind. The whole individual means the body, mind, heart and soul. Unless education takes care of all these four in a balanced way, it cannot create a whole individual.

For example, the university does nothing to the body. Much needs to be done with the body because everything else is based on it. It needs not only exercises, yoga, aikido and other systems of training, but it also needs a systematic, scientific approach to food — because what you eat, you become.
We should make it a point that non-vegetarian food is not allowed in the universities because to kill, to do violence just for food, is so ugly and inhuman.... Non-vegetarian food makes you insensitive, it makes you hard. And it creates anger and violence which can be easily avoided.

Couch Potato Syndrome

Taking care of the body means the body should be given adequate exercise. Students are sitting in the universities the whole day and in the night they have to do their homework and they have to go to the movies. They become just sitting idiots.

The body, by nature, is not created just to go on sitting. Students should be walking, running, swimming, climbing trees and mountains. Their bodies should be given a chance to achieve their natural potential. But the body is a neglected part; nobody is interested in it. We live in the body, but we don’t think about what we are eating and whether we exercise.

Scientists say that as far as the body is concerned it seems to have the capacity to go on renewing itself for 300 years. So if people are dying at 70, something is wrong. Nothing is wrong with the body; we are just giving it the wrong food, no exercise or the wrong exercise. My first concern is the body. Experts in diet should be consulted. Taste cannot be the decisive thing; taste can be added to anything. But the basic thing should be the science of the body.

Doubting Is A Good Sign

Professors should give more emphasis to discussion, to doubt, and they should destroy completely any textbook belief system. Those books should be removed; then you would see an explosion of intelligence. But to doubt seems to be doing something evil, and to have faith seems to be spiritual and religious. Just the reverse is the case. To have faith is evil; to doubt is natural. Go on doubting until you come to an indubitable fact.

So universities have to change their whole attitude about doubt and belief. And it is not important that you pass the examination; those five examination questions can be answered by a person who knows nothing else.

I am against examinations because they create a totally wrong approach. The student becomes interested only in passing the examination. So rather than reading the book, he looks for a shorter version or a key. The professor has answered questions which are probable examination questions, so the students read just these and nothing else. It is the examination system that creates a wrong attitude.

My idea is that students should be given credit by each professor, every day, just the way they take attendance. And the credit should be given according to the intelligence shown by the student.

Rote Learning, A Waste

Our whole system depends on how much you can memorise, not on intelligence. But memory is not something great; a computer can do it. And soon there will be no need of any memory; you can just have a small computer in your pocket and any answer you need will be immediately available. Why waste time and life and torture people about memory when memory has nothing to do with intelligence?

Right now, our education system is based on memory. I would like it to be based on intelligence. Every professor should give credits every day, not just at the end of the year, because that creates trouble. Students don’t take any interest for the whole year; just for one month at the end they are torturing themselves trying to learn everything at once.

I would like them to get credits every day, and if somebody is intelligent enough to get enough credit in six months to pass to another class, why make him waste six months more in the same class? The moment he gets the required credits, he moves to the next class. So nobody passes, nobody fails; people simply move.

Then the university becomes a moving phenomenon. People are moving according to their intelligence, and there are no fixed barriers. Instead of memory, reward intelligence. People of good memory need not be people of good intelligence. Memory functions mechanically and intelligence functions non-mechanically.

Enlightenment Just Anywhere

Drop your desires to know the real meaning of life, writes OSHO.

Whatsoever meaning we give to life, we give it to life. And Buddha says, if you want to know the real meaning of life, then you have to drop giving all meanings to it. Then life opens its mysterious doors. You stop giving meaning to it — your desires are giving meaning to it; they are defining the undefinable.

And if you remain clouded with your desires, whatsoever you know is nothing but your own dreaming. That’s why we say that this life, this so-called life lived through desires, is maya, it is a magical thing. You create it, you are the magician. It is your maya, your magic.

Clash Of Two Worlds

We don’t live in the same world, remember. We live in separate worlds, because we don’t live in the same desires. You project your desires, your neighbour projects his desires. That’s why when you meet a person and you want to live with him, difficulties arise. That is a clash of two worlds.

Everybody is good alone. Together, something goes wrong. I have never come across a wrong person, but every day, I see and observe wrong relationships. It seems almost all relationships are wrong. Because two persons live in two desire worlds, they have their own magical worlds. When they come together, those worlds clash.

Tie two persons together — that’s what a marriage is — and see what happens. Suddenly two worlds.... It seems almost impossible to understand the woman you love. It should not be so — you love her — but it seems impossible to understand her. It is impossible to understand the man you love. It should not be so — you love him — but it seems impossible to understand him.

It is very easy to understand strangers, it is very difficult to understand people who are very close. To understand your mother, father, brother, sister, friend, is very difficult. The closer you are, the more difficult — because the worlds are clashing.

Don’t Fight Your Desires

These worlds surround you like a subtle aura. Unless you drop this magical creation that you go on feeding, you will remain in conflict. You have to drop your private mentation. Dropping mentation is what meditation is all about.
You have to drop your thinking, desiring. You have just to be, and suddenly everything falls into an organic whole, becomes a harmony.

And these desires are the root of the darkness that is surrounding you. These desires are the support, the foundation of the darkness that surrounds you. These desires are the hindrances that don’t allow you to become alert.

Beware of these desires. And remember — the word ‘beware’ means be aware. That is the only way. If you really want to get rid of these desires, don’t start fighting them. Otherwise you will miss again. Because if you start fighting with your desires, that means you have created a new desire — to be desireless. Now this desire will clash with other desires. This is changing the language; you remain the same.

Don’t start fighting with the desires. Because you can fight only if there is a prize, if you are going to attain something. Then again a desire has arisen — a new shape, a new form, but the same old desire. Don’t fight, just be aware.

Be Watchful

Beware of desires. Become more watchful, more alert. And you will see — the more alert you are, the less desires are there. Ripples start subsiding, waves start disappearing. And one day, suddenly... any moment it (enlightenment) can happen, because all moments are as potential as any other.

There is no auspicious moment for it to happen. It can happen in any ordinary moment, because all ordinary moments are auspicious. There is no need for it to happen under a Bodhi tree. It can happen under any tree, or even without a tree. It can happen under the roof of your house. It can happen anywhere.

Never Give Up

One day I decided to quit. I quit my job, my relationship, my spirituality...
I wanted to quit my life.
I went to the woods to have one last talk with God.

"God", I said. "Can you give me one good reason not to quit?"

His answer surprised me...

"Look around", He said. "Do you see the fern and the bamboo?"

"Yes", I replied.

"When I planted the fern and the bamboo seeds, I took very good care of them. I gave them light. I gave them Water.

The fern quickly grew from the earth. Its brilliant green covered the floor. Yet nothing came from the bamboo seed.

But I did not quit on the bamboo. In the second year the Fern grew more vibrant and plentiful.

And again, nothing came from the bamboo seed. But I did not quit on the bamboo. He said.
"In year three there was still nothing from the bamboo seed. But I would not quit.

In year four, again, there was nothing from the bamboo see.
I would not quit." He said.

"Then in the fifth year a tiny sprout emerged from the earth.

Compared to the fern it was seemingly small and insignificant...But just 6 months later the bamboo rose to over 100 feet tall.

It had spent the five years growing roots. Those roots made it strong and gave it what it needed to survive.

I would not give any of my creations a challenge it/they can not handle.

He said to me. "Did you know, my child, that all this time you have been struggling, you have actually been growing roots"

"I would not quit on the bamboo. I will never quit on you."

"Don't compare yourself to others." He said. "The bamboo had a different purpose than the fern. Yet they both make the forest beautiful."

"Your time will come", God said to me. "You will rise high"

"How high should I rise" I asked.

"How high will the bamboo rise" He asked in return.

"As high as it can" I questioned.

"Yes." He said, "Give me glory by rising as high as you can."

I hope these words can help you see that God will never
give up on you.

Never Give up.

SMS Chat With God

God: Hello, you called me.

I, Me, Myself: Called you? No, who is this?

G: This is God. I heard your prayers. So thought I will chat with you.

IMM: Sure, I pray. Just makes me feel good. Actually am busy now. In the midst of something, you know.

G: What are you busy with? Ants are busy too.

IMM: Don’t know but I can’t find free time. Life has become hectic. It’s rush hour all the time.

G: Sure activity gets you busy. But productivity gets you results. Activity consumes time. Productivity frees it.

IMM: But I still can’t figure it out. By the way I was not expecting YOU to buzz me on instant messaging chat.

G: Well, I wanted to help you resolve your fight for time by giving you some clarity. I wanted to reach you through the medium you are comfortable with.

IMM: Tell me, why has life become so complicated?

G: Stop analysing life. Just live it. Analysis is what makes it complicated.

IMM: Why are we then constantly unhappy?

G: Your today is the tomorrow that you worried about yesterday. You are worrying because the act of worrying has become a habit. That’s why you are not happy.

IMM: But how can we not worry when there is so much uncertainty?

G: Uncertainty is inevitable, but worrying is optional.

IMM: But then, there is so much pain due to uncertainty.

G: Pain is inevitable, but suffering is optional.

IMM: If suffering is optional, why do good people always suffer?

G: Diamonds cannot be polished without friction. Gold cannot be purified without fire. Good people go through trials. With that experience their life becomes better not bitter.

IMM: You mean to say such experience is useful?

G: Yes. Experience is a hard teacher, though. She gives the test first and the lessons afterwards.

IMM: But still, why should we go through such tests? Why can’t we be free from problems?

G: Problems are Purposeful Roadblocks Offering Beneficial Lessons to Enhance Mental Strength. Inner strength comes from struggle and endurance, not when you are free from problems.

IMM: Frankly in the midst of so many problems, we don’t know where we are heading.

G: If you look outside you will not know where you are heading. Look inside. Looking outside, you dream. Looking inside, you awaken. Eyes provide sight. Heart provides insight.

IMM: Sometimes not succeeding fast seems to hurt more than moving in the right direction.

G: Success is relative, quantified by others. Satisfaction is absolute, quantified by you. Knowing the road ahead is more satisfying than knowing you rode ahead.

IMM: Sometimes I ask, who am I, why am I here? I don’t know the answers.

G: Seek not to find who you are, but to determine who you want to be. Stop looking for a purpose as to why you are here. Create it. Life is not a process of discovery but a process of creation.

IMM: How can I get the best out of life?

G: Face your past without regret. Handle your present with confidence. Prepare for the future without fear.

IMM: Sometimes my prayers are not answered.

G: There are no unanswered prayers. At times the answer is NO.

IMM: Thankyou for this wonderful chat. I’ll try to be less fearful.

G: Keep the faith and drop the fear. Life is a mystery to solve, not a problem to resolve. Life is wonderful if you know how to live.