When everything goes right, everybody smiles anyway. When things go wrong, if you still can smile, then you have lived The Art of Living course.
Things are falling apart, things are going wrong, then also you smile, because you know things are going to be right for you.
For how many of you, what you want happens? Raise your hands (Audience raise their hands). That is it! That is the power of this path.
Before you need, those things start happening (if it is right for us). Nature is so kind to you and people are better than what you think they are. Society is much more compassionate then what you think.
How many of you felt very good and energetic as soon as you came into the Ashram? (Many raise hands)
All your tiredness left, isn’t it? The whole universe is just vibrations. When the vibration is positive, you feel good. Naturally you feel uplifted. Your energy goes up.
We can create that wherever we are. That’s what we need to do in the world, create a positive atmosphere, create positive energy, create waves of happiness.
You have some idea in your mind, and you are asking an indirect question and expecting a direct answer from me. When I give you a direct answer, you will apply it indirectly. I am not going to get caught.
Why you should not do something wrong? Let us understand this first.
If you do something wrong, it will take away your sleep, you peace of mind and it will destroy your health. Something will prick the mind.
When something keeps pricking the mind, then you are unable to do anything creative, and you become unhappy.
Why you should not cheat others? It is because you don’t want anyone to cheat you, isn’t it? Anything which you do to someone comes back to you. This is the karma principle. Very simple.
Don’t worry what Ram was born with, or not born with. All these great men have said some wonderful things, and the essence of it all is, honor nature, honor yourself and honor people around you. The essence of all the teachings in the world is love. Just Love!
Narada has said, 'Sa tva asmin parama prema rupa', unconditional love!
Sri Ram’s love for the people, for dharma; his love for his brothers, and his ability to make everyone a part of him, that is what is most inspiring.
You know what Vishnu means? That which is in every atom of creation. One who is present in every atom, in every particle of the universe. Vishnu a conch, disc, flower and a gada (golden mace), it symbolizes the four elements. The sudarsan chakra (disc) symbolizes the fire element, conch symbolizes water element, flower symbolizes the air element, and then the gada symbolizes the earth element. Vishnu is depicted in blue color, that is space element.
When you say Vishnu, it means that power that is present in all the five elements. This world is called prapancha. Prapancha means permutations and combinations of five things. What are they? Earth, Water, Fire, Air and Ether, and everything here is an avatar, or born out of these five elements.
Set some goal and keep moving in that direction. An aimless life will lead to depression. But when you have a goal, ‘I have to do this. I have to learn this. I have to do this service', then that aim will move life in the right direction.
Expectations reduced joy. You must understand that I don’t mean that you should never expect. Expecting is part of life. We simply need to know, surprises give us more joy.
No, it is not committing suicide. Ramayana, Mahabharata are all written as poems. Also, the only materia medica (medical substance) that is written in poetry form is Ayurveda.
In Ayurveda all the formulas are written as poems.
In the same way, Ramayana and Mahabharata are written as poems. In poetic language we must know that, when it says that they became one with the Earth, it means, they have completed their journey on this planet; they became one with the linga.
When someone dies here in Karnataka, they say, they became one with the linga. So poetic language is very different.
Recently they have discovered a new Bible written some 1500-1800 years ago. It’s written in gold on a copper plate. They found it near Turkey. It is a very different version that will shock the world. What they have written is much different than the belief that people have today. Scholars are still doing research on it.
Similarly, originally when Mahabharata was written, it was only 25,000 verses. It was called Jaya. Jaya was the name of the Mahabharata. Today, we have 1,25,000 verses. We don’t know how these 1,00,000 words were added to it.
Interpolation happened sometime in the Middle Ages. They started putting things into it.
All that we need to do is take pride of the past and move ahead into the future. The heart longs for the past, but the mind always want new things.
Mind says, something new, the latest. What is the latest model? What is the latest design? What is the latest food? What is the latest fashion? What is the latest technology? Mind wants something that is new, but heart wants something old. You don't say, ‘This is my latest friend.’ You take pride in saying, ‘This is my old friend’. The heart wants to take pride in the old, ‘My old friend.’
When people fall in love with someone, they say, ‘May be we have been in love for many births'.
You take pride in old friendship. The heart longs for the old, mind goes for new and life is a combination of both, old and new.
Well, I have no idea!
I tell you, they have left some beautiful knowledge. Take the knowledge and move on.
If you’re interested in doing some research, there are archeological departments.
Hema and D.K Hari are here. They are doing a lot of research. You can talk to them. They have also made a book called, ‘Historical Rama’, which is about how the Ram Setu was built and who the engineers were. He has done a lot of research. So you read and get to know.
Remember one thing, life is so beautiful! If you heart has opened up and inside if it is clear, there is purity in your heart, you’ll see life is beautiful.
If there is clarity in the mind, you will see that life has a lot of opportunity. If there is sincerity in action, you will see success is simply coming your way, even when unasked for. Sincerity in action brings such deep satisfaction.
So, purity in heart, clarity of mind, sincerity in action. That’s the formula.