|
|
Lecture of Guruji Mohan, Bremen, 14.07.1998:
I want to tell you something about the way of mediation, the process of meditation, which is an important part in our life. And if we accept it, we will be totally changed. …
I will give you a definition of meditation. This is a most difficult thing to define:
Meditation is experience, we draw certain influences (…) What is love? Through words I’ll try to define what meditation is so that it comes into your minds and hearts.
Meditation is to stop seeing dreams, if we stop seeing dreams, to create our own world. Every person has his own world, not geographically, but every mind has its own world and its own way of thinking. This is the basic function. It is a level of “No Mind”. This is not the same as insane people who have no thinking. The physical body contains the mind, and the functioning of the mind is to think. The mind creates its own world, its own way of life. Every person, every normal person sees dreams. Dreams are important. At night-time activities are stopped, and in your mind you create your own world: friendship, light, wind, and you identify with the dream. If it’s love or hate - you identify with it. This is your own creation Activities stopped. This is the reason for the dreams. And also in daytime, when you sit in an armchair and relax, dreams are there. Stars are also there in the sky and at night they are shining. At daytime they are also there, but because of the light at daytime we cannot see the stars.
Dreams are there, day and night. Because of activity they are not visible, but they are there. You look dreams 24 hours, all the time. Say to yourself: “I am away”, close your eyes and you will see dreams. This is the most important thing. Buddha and the Upanishad say that people are sleeping. Pretending myself that I am awake is the assumption that I am awake. That is stopping your way of meditation.
Meditation is if you stop all your dreams. (You will follow the happening way if all dreams are stopped?) If there is no dream it is what happens. This is the stage of enlightenment. Buddha, Jesus cannot see dreams any more.
Meditation is if you stop all your dreams. E.g. if you watch a film and forget about the subject, who is watching this film? Nobody knows. Who are you?
There is an Indian philosophy that says that the world is “maya”, it is an illusion. “Shankara says, the world is an illusion. But when it was translated into German there was a translation mistake. Shankara is not a philosopher but a technique. (It is not the hypothesis if this world is an illusion or not.) To realize yourself in this world is also “maya”.
There was a Western philosopher in the 18th century, Berkeley. He said this world is a dream. And there was Dr. Johnson, a staunch realistic man. One day they were walking together and Berkeley said that this world is an illusion. So Dr. Johnson took a stone and hit Berkeley’s leg. The result was that he was bleeding and Dr. Johnson was asking if this blood was also an illusion. Berkeley says yes.
So Berkeley was a hypothesis-philosopher. But Shankara is a technique of meditation. That’s the basic difference. Shankara says if you want to, you can know.
Berkeley made this hypothesis that the world is a dream. This may be true or false. He was a philosopher. He had no experience in life. He knows in his head that the world is a dream.. He has no experience, only thought.
Shankara never claims like this. It never has hypothesis of true or false but you can realize yourself if this world is an illusion or not – you’ll find out.
Shankara makes four stages:
1st stage is “Jágrati”:
You get up, brush your teeth, have breakfast, read the newspaper, go to work, return at evening time. You are seeing dreams but because of activities the dreams are suppressed. The dreams are there (Slow poisoning way?)
2nd stage is “Swap’na”:
This is the actual meaning of dream. At night you go to bed and see a dream. If you kill a person in this dream, is this sin? If you create violence in this dream, is this sin? It is illusion. It is illusion. You create something. You are the creator, you can kill, love, hate. Shankara says at this second stage everybody sees his own creation. When you are relaxed, dreams are there and you are identifying with dreams. If you see sex in your dreams you have the same sexual feelings in your body.
3rd stage is “Susúpti”:
Every night you see dreams. Everybody dies after two or three dreams. This is the situation in your mind and your body. For some seconds you are dead. Then there is no dream, no world, no creation, every creation is stopped and your body is regenerated at that moment. You get a lot of energy and in the morning you are fresh. This freshness is due to Susúpti, not to dreams. This third stage is equal to death. If there is no Susúpti, you feel tired in the morning. This is not very good. Night sleep equals death. Every night you learn this thing but you are not aware of it. …Your problem is that you identify with this. You do not want to go to stage three.
4th stage is “Duriá”:
This is if somebody is awakened like Buddha or Jesus, is enlightened. This means that you know all the three stages.
There are four stages and a person who knows all the four stages, this is meant by “Duriá”. Everything is “maya”, is illusion. There is one technique, it is very important. Try at home, this is very good for you.
You will start to think that everything is dream. Shankara never gave any kind of mantra. Mantra means to repeat something without awareness. People go to sleep by using mantras. This is how a mantra works: e.g. a little child in the womb of the mother is sleeping nicely and the child hears the mother’s heartbeat, that noise, and the child listens “tip-tip-tip”. When the child is born and outside it starts to weep. Then the mother takes the baby in her arms, hugs it and takes it near her heart. The child hears this “tip-tip-tip” again and falls asleep. This is the child’s sleep-mantra.
Shankara has no mantra. The use of mantras may be false like a drug to go to sleep. You do not know the meaning but you chant the mantra, claiming to be spiritual. Shankara says: If you want to get real knowledge of the world, then start to think “This world is a dream.” And everything we do, we do in this dream. This is an individual exercise. We are talking, listening, eating in a dream – without any mantra. What will happen? This is not so difficult. This is not Hatha-Yoga. You simply remember “This is a dream.” And you will go to dreams at night-time and you will remember that this is a dream and you will awake and automatically you will find that this world is “maya”. Go on repeating that this world is a dream with awareness. Shankara says: Within three weeks when you are dreaming you will awake and find, o.k., this is a dream. You will realize the difference between dream and you will see your own heaven.
The 2nd Shankara says if you cannot realize that the world is “maya”, then the second thing is you are centralized in your “ego”. As an ego-full man you see the world rotating round yourself.
There are two types of persons:
1st: Every person has ego, this must be, if there is no ego, there is no use to sit here.
2nd: But some persons try to control other persons, dictate. This is more ego. I speak to a person with love and this person tries to possess me because I am a very sweet person, tries to interfere with the other person’s world.
I also have ego, but I use my ego for your welfare, not to misuse my ego. And because of my ego I eat food, go to the toilet, listen to your problems.
But some persons have much more ego. They try to control, rule, dictate, control your friends. They are ego-full.
So there is one more technique: You say “I am”. Repeat all the time, in every activity. “I am the doer; I am the man; because of me this happens..” And do this with awareness. This is also a mantra, but in a different way. Consequences will automatically follow after some days: “I am” will come and your dreams at night will disappear. Dreams disappear – this is meditation. There is a gap between dream and your awareness. You will be awakened without any guru.
And the 2nd technique: “I am the responsible one; I am the doer” At night: “ I am”. Do something for meditation. Find something and then write a letter to me. Find your own way. Many people look for their task in life….
Questions & Answers:
Frage: Wenn Shankara keine Person ist, sondern eine Technik, wer hat sie erfunden? Wie kann man das ergründen? Ist es so, dass diese vier Phasen, dies Duriá, für uns westliche Menschen ausgeschlossen ist und nur etwas ist für Erleuchtete aus dem östlichen Kulturraum? (.........)
No, this is not a question of belief or not belief. Shankara propounded many ways, practical ways of life to turn the mind towards meditation. It is not related with India but with mankind in general. Indians are not looking different dreams. It is not that man dreams of crocodiles there and vice versa….
The factor is that we have three bodies, the physical, mental and spiritual body. Every mental body looks dreams, this is the function of the mental body. If the mental body is not functioning, then there are two possibilities: 1st: you become mad – 2nd: this is a transcendent mind.
This is my main aim: How to transcendent dreams? If you transcendent dreams you will be automatically awakened.
Shankara says, Vivekachudamani, and Bhaghavad Gita say: The mind will be turned into the present. But you can catch a man through his dreams easier. In these dreams you e.g. see an elephant and it turns into a beautiful woman and the dreamer makes love to this woman etc. A dreaming mind is not an argumenting mind. You can catch a man through his dreams, this is easier. This is an authentic technique, everybody can follow this technique.
Frage: Ich war vor einem Jahr mal da und das Healing von Guruji hat gut geklappt, meine Krankheit ist nicht wieder aufgetreten, und ich bin dankbar dafür. In diesem Jahr ging in Rajastan im Mai, bei Vollmond, die erste indische Atombombe hoch. Die Menschen riefen „Oh Shiva, oh Shakti! Was denkt Guruji darüber?
This is a political question. This is not my work, but I will try to give an answer. I’m a spiritual man. This is happening around me and I don’t think is this a wrong thing or a good thing. Atom bombs may be wrong for others or good for others. But I never believe in duality. My mind is transcending good and bad. On the third stage peace and war are the same, this is essential and we act according to the situation.((happening events)). If the situation is forcing to go to war, I go to war, if the situation is forcing to go to peace, I go to peace. There is no controversy, no criticizing, no good or bad. I do not believe in good. This is the third force.
Frage: Kann nicht die Erfahrung, dass alles auf der Welt Illusion ist, Angst machen?
You are going directly to the conclusion. If you follow the hypothesis, your mind will be conditioned. Don’t think about the result. But you, but you will have to if you think the world is ” maya” or not. But this is according to your dream. Find the gap. The truth is that next time you will see dream, you will awaken between two dreams. Push your mind to transcendent during your dreams. You identify with dream so much, so the thought to lose your dream causes fear. But you awake at night and you will see: This is a dream. See the gap between the dreams. This is - thinking of the three stages - Susúpti, you will get energy.
Eine Frage über Mantren: Das Benutzen von Mantren ist doch in Indien eine authentische Tradition, und eine Person benötigt viel, zu verstehen und viel wird bewirkt durch Mantren. Ist es nicht ein Missverständnis anzunehmen, Mantren seien falsch oder schädlich? Es ist doch eine Methode, den Geist zur Ruhe zu bringen.
The mediation I have been talking about is not a worldly affair. A good sleep through mantra may be possible. If there is no wealth, no money, then chant mantra. If you are helpless, you can do these things. But I am talking about the last climax point, about meditation. May aim is to awaken you, not to push you. Cross the boundary of this world.(…)
My main aim is to transcendent dreams, not to push you towards dreams. You can receive a lot through mantras. But I am talking about the ultimate goal. What is the hidden treasure? Then you can find peace and rest there. Through a mantra you can receive many things, but not the ultimate goal.(…)There is the physical mind and the spiritual body. If you chant mantra there is a condensed sound. When electricity is condensed it becomes material. Chant “ OM “, this is sound (…) How to control your mind …. I’m not against mantra. But these are worldly things. How to awaken you?
Copyright: Guruji Mohan, Abhimanyu Dhyan Yog Kendra, Nandeshwar Dham, P.O.Box No. 118, Udaipur (Raj.) 313 031, India
live-recording by: Gunda Drews.