A very happy Vijaya Dasami to all those who have joined us on the webcast from many different cities.
After nine days of a grand divine party all over the country, today is the day of victory (Vijaya Dasami). Today we celebrate the victory of grandness over pettiness, of the big mind over the small mind, of good over the evil.
Normally, when the mind is taken over by negative tendencies we keep fighting with it. This is when we surrender it to the divinity to take care of it. We say, 'I can’t fight with my own mind so you take care of it and you show me the path'. This is what the nine days of Navratri signifies, i.e., the victory of the spiritual power, the higher self over pettiness and small things.
Let us all take a sankalpa to make the best use of all that we have been given for the welfare of the world.
Let us expand our vision.
Today is also the day of gratefulness. A day to feel grateful for all that we have received in life.
In this universe there is nothing significant or everything is significant (including the small things). Just imagine, you are riding on a bike and you don’t have buttons on your shirt, what would happen? The shirt will fly and go onto your face. So the small buttons are very significant.
Something as small as a needle also has a purpose. Without a needle you can’t even wear the clothes you are wearing, isn't it? So tiny things also add meaning to our lives. And today is the day to honor and feel grateful for all the instruments that add meaning to our life.
All instruments are created by the mind and our mind is created by the divine. In fact the mind is divine. And all the thoughts that came to the mind to create an aeroplane, a camera, a mike, has all come from the same source, i.e., Devi.
This is what we chant in the Chandi Homa, 'Ya devi sarva bhuteshu buddhi rupena samsthita' (to the divine goddess who resides in all existence in the form of intelligence). Through this prayer we see that the intellect in all beings is the manifestation of nothing but the one divinity.
It is the one divinity which manifests itself as the intellect in all beings. It is the same divinity that is present in all human beings as hunger and as sleep. And it is the same divinity which is also present as agitation or restlessness. This realization, that everything is a manifestation of the one divine brings rest to the mind.
So you don’t have to say, 'What should I do with this mind?' Don't try to do anything with your mind, just relax. Do whatever service you can do and just relax.
If you want to think, then think about what you can do for the world and not what you should do about your mind. There is a (higher) power to take care of the mind.
On this day (Vijaya Dasami), let us all take a sankalpa to make the best use of all that we have been given for the welfare of the world. Let us expand our vision.
Forget about how you feel, feelings keep changing. One minute it is good, next minute it is not good, so what! Move with valour and courage.
Winning over the small mind is Vijaya Dasami.
There are many situations or states of mind, but generally you can categorize them into three kinds:
1. When there is craving or longing. Longing for worldly or spiritual experiences
2. When there is dullness. There is neither longing nor there is any interest in anything. a sense of inertia in our mind. You just go on with inertia. This situation can set now and then in life
3. When there is contentment, happiness and joy
The purpose of all this celebration is to move from inertia to joy, to move from longing to contentment. It’s so beautiful.
There are those who do not even look at their mind, they just keep working and working. Then there are others who keep looking at their own mind. Both are not good, take the middle path. Sometimes take a look at the mind, but not all the time. Do you see what I’m saying? Otherwise you will become self-centred, all the time thinking, 'What do I want?' Or 'I am feeling like this'.
Forget about how you feel, feelings keep changing. One minute it is good, next minute it is not good, so what! Move with valour and courage. Winning over the small mind is Vijaya Dasami.
In the small mind there is bickering, judgements and all kinds of noise that goes on. Navratri is a time to overcome these tendencies and unite with the source.
During Navratri this year we have distributed 9000 solar lamps to villages where there is no electricity.
I also thank all the cooks and kitchen staff. They have worked day and night with a smile and have done a good job.
