Weekly Knowledge #23 - BOREDOM AND SADHANA

Weekly Knowledge #23	Bangalore Ashram
15 Nov 1995	India

BOREDOM AND SADHANA

What is boredom?

A repetition without interest or love causes a monotonous state of mind; that is boredom. It overshadows the Self.

A practice or abhyasa is again a repetition whose purpose is to destroy the boredom and reunite with the Self. In this process the practice itself creates boredom and as you continue, it penetrates the boredom and destroys it once and for all. Whether the practice gives you joy or boredom, it must be continued. Only the practice or abhyasa can annihilate the Mind.

Self is Love and Love is always repetitive. That is why love letters are simply repetitive and there is no boredom there. If you are bored with yourself then how much more boring you would be for others. Root out the boredom in you through deep and continued meditation.

Wake up and Walk up.

Jai Guru Dev

Weekly Knowledge #22 - SHAUCHA AND ASHAUCHA

Weekly Knowledge #22	New Delhi
09 Nov 1995	India

SHAUCHA AND ASHAUCHA

When you are miserable, what has happened is that you have gone away from the Self. This is called Ashaucha. It means you have become unclean.

In India when someone dies, the close relatives are said to be Ashaucha for 10 days because they are very sad. They are impure because they have moved away from the self. After 10 days of just being with that experience and reading the Gita, being with the Knowledge and pulling themselves back into the Self, then it is called Shaucha. They have purged out the impurities that have come during events.

This keeps happening again and again in dealings in life. You become Ashaucha and you have to get back to Shaucha. Go deeper in to yourself, then real Shaucha happens.

Shaucha's benefits are clarity in the intellect, a pleasing mind, focused awareness in the mind, a say over the senses, and therefore eligibility to realize the Self.

Shaucha is disinterestedness in the tendencies of one's own senses and non-association with other people. If a tendency in your body arises just have the understanding, "Oh yes, here is this old familiar tendency coming up again. Come on, you have had this experience enough, and still the body is craving for it again." Disinterestedness in one's own body -- just an idea, a sort of distaste, and in one moment it changes.

Why do people love each other so much, have such an intimate relationship, and then fight? Ashaucha has happened. If you don't get distaste for the tendency of the senses then distaste for the object of the senses will come and you will blame the object.

When Ashaucha happens then come back to Shaucha quickly. Suppose you get drowned in any worldly aspect, just know this is Ashaucha . . . "That is why I am suffering misery." Then come back to Shaucha.

Your attraction or craving is only as long as you think someone is "other." When you think they are part of you or your Self, then the attraction dies out. That is why a husband or wife is not attracted to the partner but to someone else because the partner has already become a part of them.

When you realize everyone is part of your Self, you enjoy the whole world without a sense of craving.

Jai Guru Dev

Weekly Knowledge #21 - SCEPTICISM

Weekly Knowledge #21
London
01 Nov 1995
United Kingdom

SCEPTICISM

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Ignorance is being a sceptic and not knowing you are a sceptic. If you think you are a sceptic, you are no longer a sceptic because you have a clue of something beyond. So, in reality, you can never know whether you are a sceptic or not!

A sceptic is stuck in a paradigm and closes all other possibilities. But this creation is of all possibilities. As one understands the paradigm shift, scepticism is removed.

A real scientist can never afford to be a sceptic because scepticism closes down possibilities and does not continue to probe into unknown areas of existence.

In short, scepticism is an "I know it all" attitude, and this attitude is unscientific. Scepticism is dispelled by Knowledge. Perception and inference are two means of knowing.

In every human being deep inside, there is faith and love. What you think is scepticism is only a thin layer. If you hold in your mind that they are sceptics you empower their scepticism.

Do not recognize someone's scepticism and try to argue with them. Argument strengthens their scepticism. Fear of interference in one's freedom brings more resistance and causes scepticism.

Your silence and the smile from your heart will dispel their scepticism. There is nothing better than silence to break scepticism. Silence means the quality of consciousness, not just keeping lips tight.

Scepticism doesn't come up in children. It comes only with people who walk with boundaries. Children have no scepticism. They live in their fantasy world, a world of many possibilities. Their world is one of innocence, joy, beauty, and so much love.

Jai Guru Dev