Take A Look At Your Life

Sat, 25/08/2012 Durban, South Africa

Durban, South Africa

Wisdom can only blossom in a homely atmosphere, where we are informal and at home with each other. Do you all feel at home with each other right now?
Why not we all just take a moment to greet the person next to us, behind us and in front of us? A formal atmosphere is not very congenial for wisdom. You need to be informal with each other for a heart-to-heart talk, and that is what wisdom is. It is not head-to-head.

Now keep everything aside and just look at your own life. What is that you want from your life? Have you ever sat and thought about it, ‘What do I want in my life? ' And, ‘Who am I? ’ Someone told us something and we learnt that. We have studied and gotten educated, but ‘Who am I? What do I want?’ These questions seldom come to our mind.

In a head-to-head communication there can be many arguments. But from heart-to-heart there is only one language - One World Family.

Now keep everything aside and just look at your own life.
What is that you want from your life? Have you ever sat and thought about it, ‘What do I want in my life?'
We seldom get time to do that. And, ‘Who am I?’ – That too we do not think about.
Someone told us something and we learnt that. We have studied and gotten educated, but ‘Who am I? What do I want?’ These questions seldom come to our mind.

If you see your life of 60, 70 or 80 years, do you know how you spend those 80 years?
You spend 40 years of your life sleeping. You spend about eight years of your life in bathrooms and toilets, and about the same numbers of years are spent in eating.
10 to 15 years are spent in traffic, in making journeys, and in working. Hardly two to three years of our life are spent in what we call a ‘happy’ life. Is it not?
And is it not that which you want – Happiness?

All the scriptures of the world, from the ancient times to the recent times; they all talk about great happiness. Is it not? Because the scriptures know that men and women want happiness.

Happiness is not a commodity that you can buy somewhere. It is present where you are, right here and right now. And the way to find that happiness is meditation.
Meditation improves our health, our state of mind and brings more happiness.

Whatever we are seeking here and there, is right here, within us.
My purpose of coming here is to tell you that whatever you are looking for is deep within you, and that Light, that Spirit loves you so much. So do not worry.
Give me all your worries. I have come to carry them away. Drop all the worries here, be happy, and spread happiness.
Shouldn't this be our goal in Life?
What should be our goal?
Shake everyone up and tell them, ‘Hey! Wake up! Laugh and Smile.’
You should make people happy.

You know, when we have, then also we are unhappy, and when we don't have, then also we are unhappy.

I want to tell you a story.
An Indian-African immigrant from Kenya was in London; this was a long time ago when I went there. This gentleman came up to me and said, ‘Gurudev, I wish to own a BMW car. Please bless me’.
I said, ‘Okay, God willing you will get it.’
Six months later he came and met me. He was happy and he said, ‘Gurudev, I got it (the car). But the streets of Birmingham are so small that I find it so inconvenient to park it here and there without it getting a scratch on it. What to do?’
You know, in Birmingham the streets are smaller than they are here.
Few months later, he said, ‘Gurudev, it is becoming a difficult thing for me to have this car. Now I am miserable. I want to sell this car off but there is no buyer’.

You didn’t have it and you were unhappy. Now you have it and you are unhappy.

There is something seriously wrong with the way we look at life. This is where we have to have that wisdom, to turn it around and see that happiness is not related to what we have or what we don’t have. It is simply our state of mind.

Happiness is not related to what we have or what we don’t have. It is simply our state of mind. Happiness is not a commodity that you can buy somewhere. It is present where you are, right here and right now. And the way to find that happiness is meditation. Meditation improves our health, our state of mind and brings more happiness.

Do you know, 30% of Europe is depressed.
This figure is from the census of the last decade, now it is even more. And a small country like Bhutan is known for its happiness. Even Bangladesh has got more happy people.
I don’t know where South Africa comes in this list, but I have a hope that all of you here today will take this determination to be happy and spread happiness.
Is this a good idea? (Audience nod in agreement saying, 'Yes')

A violence-free society, disease-free body, stress-free mind, inhibition-free intellect, trauma-free memory and a sorrow-free soul are the birth-right of every human being.

(Gurudev briefly looks outside and listens to the loud music coming from outside the venue)

Distractions are there to see how keen you are to catch the wisdom.
In Sanskrit there is a saying, ‘Shreyansi Bahu Vighnani’, which means, if there is something very precious then there are many obstacles or distractions that come with it (from the Uddhava Gita. This quote is part of Lord Krishna’s discourse to his devotee Uddhava).
If there are a lot of distractions that come for something, then it must be very precious.
If you want to do something wrong, there will be no obstructions for that. But if you want to do something good or pick up something precious, many distractions may come.

This world is made up of five elements. This is what the scientists today have said, and this is what the Rishis (wise enlightened seers) also said in the ancient days.
The five elements are – Earth, Water, Fire, Air and Ether. That is why it is called Prapancha in Sanskrit. Panch means five, and Prapancha means a specific combination of five elements, of which this Universe is made of.
The same also goes for our body. Our body has 60% water element. The heat in the body represents the Fire element. The physical body itself symbolizes the Earth element, and the empty space represents the Space element. So these five elements make up our whole body, and everything in this Universe.

So we will do a short meditation, and after meditation, we will have a small Yagya.
Yagya means uniting the principles of the Universe.
This universe has got millions of rays coming into it. The macrocosm and the microcosm are connected. Every little butterfly here fluttering its wings has an impact on the clouds. Have you heard about this?
A butterfly in the Amazon forest can have an effect on the entire forest, and on the clouds in China.
If one monkey does something, it has an effect on several other monkeys. Have you heard about this in Africa?
We call it the ‘Big Five’ in Africa; the land of the ‘Big Five’ (a term used in African hunting which refers to the five most difficult animals in Africa to hunt on foot – Lion, African elephant, Cape buffalo, Leopard and Rhinoceros).

Each animal brings with it a certain vibration; a cosmic electromagnetic vibration with it on Earth. They channel this from the Universe to the Earth.
Every animal brings a particular vibration to planet Earth. And that is why every animal is very important.
The ancient Rishis in the Vedic times knew about this. A particular bird, even a particular type of seed has a particular vibration associated with it. So everything is connected from one to another. Like in our body, though we are born of one cell, that cell has 33 different chromosomes. And those different chromosomes in the DNA of the cell are responsible for forming different parts of our body.
This Universe has got so many different types of vibrations that come from its different parts.

Most of all we need to have that inner contentment. If we have inner contentment, we gain a unique ability to bless others. Not only will we be able to fulfil our own desires, but we will also be able to fulfil the wishes of others. The human spirit can possess that gift if it gets into a state of contentment.

So the macrocosm and the microcosm are united in a very unique manner. That is what the ancient people said. So when we go from Ether to Air to Fire to Water and then to Earth element; this is how the Creation has happened.
Therefore they designed Yagyas (to mimic and represent this process in a reversed direction – by offerings of sacred herbs (Earth element) and offerings of ghee (Water element) into the sacrificial fire (Fire element, in presence of the Air element), from where the vibrations are transmitted into space (Space element)) .

Yagyas are designed to bring peace.
What is the purpose of a Yagya? The first is Swasti – good health; then prosperity, peace of mind, happiness, a sense of togetherness with everybody, and to remove negativity from the atmosphere.
Every time you are negative, you transmit those negative vibrations of anger, jealousy, greed, frustration, and hatred. Yagyas are meant to neutralize and nullify all of them. That is why this time I thought that I should take this to South Africa as well.

I heard of the recent unfortunate incident in Africa where so many minors passed away. So, to bring happiness, peace and prosperity to all the population we will do a small Yagya by means of Vedic chanting and by offerings specific herbs, as it was done in the ancient times thousands of years ago. So you will witness that as well.
It is like a short Pooja in which we pray to the One Almighty to give us peace, prosperity, happiness, contentment, a sense of togetherness, a sense of belongingness and care for each other.

Most of all we need that inner contentment. You know, if we have inner contentment, we gain a unique ability to bless others.
Not only will we be able to fulfill our own desires, but we will also be able to fulfill the wishes of others. The human spirit can possess that gift if it gets into a state of contentment.
So we will do a short Yagya in which they will chant the ancient mantras which are 10,000 years old. During the chanting, we just close our eyes, listen and bathe in it chants.

(Gurudev guides everyone into meditation).

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