Take time every day.....

If you want something you shall have it. But you can also detach from the desire by your own will. You see, mankind desires many things, but when they have them they get attached to them. This attachment brings unhappiness. The more you are attached to things which are limited or not eternal, the more you feel miserable. You lose this inner freedom. You become limited in the mind. You become limited with your body, which in turn makes your soul limited. So, to free one’s self, one must surrender the body, mind and soul to God, to the Unlimited.It’s true that everybody can’t renounce the world and live only for God, but you can continuously try to remember God wherever you are. Remember that the soul inside you is the light of God. The more you think of yourself being part of this light of God, this great love, the more you will reflect this love. But the more you think that you are just a normal human being, the more you will just be a normal human being with all of its limited qualities and you cover all of your divine qualities. Take time every day, just five minutes, to be with your Self. Forget about the world outside, forget everything. Forget about your husband or wife; forget about all your relationships with the outside. Only think of the relationship with your Self.Do you know what treasure you will find? You will find the biggest treasure of all, a treasure that nobody can steal from you. And that is love. Love is such a big gift. We feel it with our heart, we know it with our mind, but to realise it, to become one with this love, to spread this love, unconditionally – this is the aim of mankind. The more you spread it, the more you reflect it, the more you will discover your Self.

The way you give yourself to Him, He will give Himself to you......

The Lord can’t see any one of His children suffering, so even if you are falling down, He will always be there to help you get up. So, by calling Him, by chanting His Divine Name, you get more and more accustomed to Him. What is the Divine Name? It’s the name of God. So, the more you chant God’s name, what happens? All this negativity, which is in your mind, gets dissolved. Of course, it doesn’t happen just like that! It happens through practice, through years and years of practice. Some people, after practicing a year or two, say “Ok, I don’t see any result” and then they let go. Well, these people will not go anywhere, because they will move from one practice to the other, from this other to yet another one. This is how their life will carry on. It’s like digging many holes trying to look for water, instead of digging just one hole and attaining the water. But if you dig ten holes, you will never get the water. So, in the same way, when you start chanting the Divine Names, for the Lord to reveal Himself to you, you have to prove yourself, also. Of course, everything happens through His grace, nothing happens through your grace. Even moving, even for me to talk, it is only through His grace that this is possible. But, as man has a mind, you have to prove that you really want to let go of this mind. So, by chanting His Divine Names, you start to call Him. So, the more you call Him, the more you are tuning yourself into His tune and the old you becomes less and less, until only His grace starts to shine through. It’s very simple. For example, when you start chanting Krishna’s name, at the beginning you will feel tired about it, you know. You will feel “Oh, what is happening? Why is He not listening?” But actually, these are all different qualities that awaken, you see, even to be angry with Him, because you wish for Him. In the same way that you wish for Him, He wishes for you much more. Let’s say you get depressed or you say “Ok, I’m praying, all this, you know, but He’s not listening,” and it happens, you know, but actually, this is Maya, His game. When He doesn’t show Himself, it is for you to long for Him even more. Of course, we can talk about it, you can think about it in the mind, but when you are in it, it is completely different. For you, it’s like the world is going upside down. I was talking with somebody yesterday, actually. This person said to me “Swamiji, I would love to see Krishna!” And then he reminded me of something that happened about twelve years ago, when he had the wish to see and I, well, He showed Himself to him, but because at that time he was not ready, I took this grace away from him. Then he said to me “Look, what happened twelve years ago, you took it away. I would love to see Krishna and I want it back!” And I said “What would you do to get this?” Well, he said “Anything!” And I said to him “Are you sure?” You see, it’s easy to talk about, but when it comes to the act, when it comes to practise, it’s difficult. Many people say “Yes, we love God”, but how many really do everything so that this love may grow? Very few do. Like the Lord said “I can count them on my hand.” Well, His hand, His hands are not like a human hand, you know. He has not only one; He has many. So, in the same way, the more you chant the Divine Names, the more you tune yourself into this Divine Name, the more He starts to shine through you and the more He starts to act through you. But of course, not Him, only His qualities do. To get Him fully, you have to go deeper and deeper. It’s the same as when you dig the hole. First you get a little bit of water, which is muddy, but the more you dig you have more water, which is clearer. It’s the same with the qualities of Him. Because, you see, when people reach a certain degree of spirituality, they develop certain qualities. He gives them certain qualities, but the sad thing is that people get stuck to these qualities. They think they have already reached a very high level of spirituality, you know, and they think of themselves as being everything. Then, of course, nothing further happens. But whereas, when you forget about these qualities, don’t give them too much importance, but go for Him, He will not be able to deny you His presence. He will even not be able to deny you Himself. The way you give yourself to Him, He will give Himself to you.

“From the form to the formless, from the name to the nameless.”

Sit quietly and start the conversation with the Divine within yourself. Because it’s only in silence that you will be able to control the thought. Talk less – because people who keep talking and talking – they are just running away. They are just scared of seeing the truth, that’s why they talk and talk. They talk without knowing what they are talking about. If you want to start the communication with the Divine within yourself, be as much silent as possible. But if you want to start the communication with man, then keep talking! You know how beautiful it is to listen to the Divine inside you? It’s the most beautiful thing; I can’t even express it with words, because words are still limited. Like I said yesterday, “From the form to the formless, from the name to the nameless.” This is the Divine in each one of you. And to be always in this place, to be always in this awareness and find that you are not separate from the Divine…it’s so beautiful, it’s so filling! Whenever you do something there is always a gap, something that is unsatisfied. But whereas – when you have discovered the reality in you – whatever you do – the satisfaction will be complete!

When there is complete trust in God.......

Knowledge will bring you to a certain level, but for the rest you will have to surrender yourself completely to the Love of God. Firstly, you have to surrender your mind completely, then you have to surrender your body and then you have to surrender your soul. The power of chanting the Name of God doesn’t purify only the mind, it purifies the body and it purifies, also, the soul.When there is complete trust in God, complete trust in yourself, when you ask God for Himself, will He give Himself to you. Trust that whatever He does is right. Even if the mind doesn’t understand it, it is right. Once there was a king. This king was very generous and very loving, but he had one fault: he was short-tempered. For that, many people were afraid of him. But in his kingdom there was one minister that he loved very much. This minister used to pray every day and he had great trust in God. One day the king went hunting in the forest and, on the way, there was a cobra in front of the king´s horse. The horse panicked and threw the king up in the air and the king landed down near the cobra. The cobra bit the king´s index finger. The king knew that if he didn’t cut off his finger, the poison would kill him. So he pulled his dagger and chopped off his finger. He was in very much pain, so the minister rushed to him, took a piece of cloth and bandaged the king´s finger. As he was doing the bandage, he said to the king “King, don’t worry, it’s God´s Will that you cut your finger and it’s God´s Will that you have pain.” The king bore this for some time, but the minister was going on and on and on. The king could not handle it anymore, so he said to his soldiers “Take this man and put him in the prison. I can’t bear him. I can’t listen to him. He is keeping on saying ‘it’s God’s Will, God’s Will. I’m in pain and he’s saying that it’s God’s Will.’” So they took the minister to the prison and locked him inside, but he was happy and said “Thank you God, I am here, now, quiet and I can chant Your Name. In the world where I’m so busy, I chant Your Name only when I have a little bit of time, but, now, I’m here and have time to chant Your Name all the time.” A few days later, the king went out hunting again, but this time he was attacked by a group of tribesmen. They captured the king and brought him to the chief. The chief was very happy to see the king tied up and said “King, you are so lucky. Today we will sacrifice you to the Goddess Kali.” The King thought “Well, I’m not lucky at all. I will be killed!” Then the chief of the tribe said to his tribesmen “It’s not every time that the Goddess gets royal blood. Take the king, wash him and dress him nicely. We will offer him to the Goddess afterwards.” But as they were removing his clothes to wash him, the tribesmen noticed that the king had one missing finger. They rushed quickly to the chief and said “Chief, chief, we can’t offer this king to the Goddess, because he is incomplete. He is missing one finger.” The chief thought for a moment and then he said “OK, let him go. You are a lucky king. Because of your missing finger, we can’t offer you to the Goddess.” The king was very happy. He rushed back to the palace and he went directly to the jail. He opened the jail and embraced the minister. As he was embracing the minister he said “Thank you! It´s true, you were right: it was God´s will! I was saved, because I’m missing one finger.” Then he asked the minister “But I don’t understand one thing: why did I lock you in here? You are such a good man. You praise God all the time.” The minister replied “It´s simple: I told you that everything happens through the Will of God. If I had come with you the second time, if you had not locked me up in jail, what would have happened? They would have taken us both. And when they had seen that you were missing one finger, that you were incomplete, but that I was complete, they would have taken me and offered me to the Goddess!” So, whatever the Higher Consciousness, whatever God, whatever Name you put to Him, gives you, He’s always right. If something negative happens, now, you may not understand it, but later on in life, you will realise that whatever He did was for your own good. You should never be scared of surrendering yourself to His Will. You should never be scared of opening your heart and Loving. Start to Love, now, this moment. Open your heart and love. Let it flow. And know that whatever you do with this Love will always be perfect. You will meditate, and you will enjoy your meditation. You will do yoga and you will enjoy your yoga. You will chant the name of God and you will enjoy it. People meditate and chant, but when there is no Love in it, it fades with time. Also, the love with limitation fades. But true Love, real Love, Unconditional Love never fades. So cultivate this Love, cultivate this Unconditional Love and surrender to the Divine.