Questions and Answers

Questions and Answers

One of your pictures frightens me.

A spiritual Master is not an X-ray machine. As soon as you stand in front of an X-ray machine you are totally exposed. When you stand in front of me I also can see everything, but I will be the last person to expose you to anybody or complain about you to the Supreme. If somebody has done something very wrong, then he may be afraid that I shall expose all his inner defects and secret misdeeds. But I am not going to expose you. On the contrary, my compassion—like a mother—will hide your imperfections. When I accept someone as my disciple, I accept all his imperfections as my very own.

So you should never be afraid of me. I am not a tiger or a lion. I am not going to devour you. Never! Even if you feel that you are darkness itself and I am the sun, no harm. The sun which shines within me is the inner sun, which only illumines. It does not expose. If it shines on darkness, it transforms it into light, and then offers this light to the world at large. So there is nothing for you to worry about.

Please, please never be afraid of me. You can be afraid of anything on earth, but do not be afraid of me. I will never harm you in any way. On the contrary, it is my business to transform your imperfections and mould and shape you into your own divinity.

My friend is not a disciple, but she has begun to meditate on your picture, and now she feels great fear.

Very often people say that they are frightened by my picture. But they are not afraid of my picture. It is only a question of whether they are ready to give up certain things. Inwardly they are unwilling to give up their old habits and old life. They look at my picture and feel an ocean of uncertainty, because they are uncertain themselves about whether they really want the spiritual life, and they are afraid of what will happen if they give up their old habits. Your friend's experience may be interpreted in this way.

If one can forget the past and be ready to enter into the new, the ever-new, consciously and wholeheartedly, then one will see that the new also has its own reality— a more fulfilling reality than the past. At that time there is no fear. Fear comes only when one is unwilling to give up one's old life or is uncertain about accepting a new way of life. But usually people are unconscious of the fact that they do not want to give up their old life. Because part of them sincerely wants to be spiritual, they feel embarrassed that they are still cherishing mundane things. They do not want to admit it, even to themselves.

Anything that binds you, unlearn it. Anything that blinds you, unlearn it. Anything that limits you, unlearn it. Anything that awakens you, learn it. Anything that liberates you, learn it. Anything that fulfils you, learn it.

When you gaze directly at me during meditation, or when you ask us to come in front of you to meditate, I sometimes get a little nervous or frightened. I'm not sure what you are doing. Could you explain?

When I look at you during meditation, or when I ask you to sit in front of me and meditate, at that time I am entering into you to observe what your inner and outer being want. I enter into the physical, the vital, the mind, the heart and the soul. If I sec that a particular person is crying for peace, then immediately I bring down peace from above. If I see that someone else wants light, then I bring down light. According to the aspiration, necessity and receptivity of each individual seeker, I bring down different spiritual qualities from above.

Sometimes I see that a seeker does not want anything; there is no aspiration at that time. It is not that the seeker has everything; it is just that he does not have the inspiration and aspiration either to draw something from above or to receive something from me. In these seekers I just try to kindle the flame of aspiration.

In some instances you may have a better meditation when I am looking at somebody else than when I am looking at you. While I am looking at someone else, if you are in a high consciousness and you look at me, at that time like a magnet you can pull my light. Although I am looking at somebody else, more of my light can be going to you than to him. On the other hand, while I am concentrating on you, if you are thinking that all the others are now looking at you, or if your mind is counting how many seconds I am looking at you and comparing this with how long I looked at others, then you will receive very little.

Sometimes when I am blessing someone and bringing down the Supreme's infinite Compassion, that person is absolutely unreceptive. But someone who is sitting somewhere else, whose inner being is fully awake and who is most devotedly meditating on the Supreme, is receiving most powerfully. He is taking all the light that I wanted to give to the other person. At this time I am not at all displeased with the person who is receiving my light. If the person to whom I am offering it is not receptive, then naturally if someone else has the capacity, he should take it. Then, when I meditate on that person individually, if he has the capacity to receive still more, I give him more.

But sometimes it happens that when I come to that person, as soon as I look at him and meditate on him, he becomes nervous and receives nothing. Sometimes you feel that you cannot meditate properly when I gaze into your eyes or when I ask you to sit in front of me. You become frightened to death. But why should you be afraid of me? I am not a snake or a tiger. You are afraid of me because you feel that your ignorance will be exposed. Unconsciously you may think, "In the morning I told a lie or did something else wrong, and now Guru will catch me." Or wrong forces may suddenly attack you. Before you saw me, you were fine, but as soon as you stand in front of me, suddenly all the evil thoughts in the world come forward in you. But you have to know that you always had these enemies, only previously you were not aware of them. Now they are coming forward for transformation.

Do not think of me as an X-ray machine which will expose all your inner imperfections to the entire world. Instead, think of me as a mirror that will let you see what you are doing in your spiritual life. When you are in front of me, you will be able to see your own inner reflection. Whatever you have come with will be visible to you. Good thoughts as well as bad thoughts will immediately be reflected. But if you feel afraid and try to hide, or if you try to make me feel that you are this or that, then you are making a serious mistake. I know what you truly are; I know the mark you are going to get. By trying to impress me with your aspiration, you only lose whatever sincerity you have. Even if you come with only one cent of aspiration, give me that one cent with utmost sincerity. If you come with wrong thoughts, feel that these are your enemies, and separate your existence from them. Either you have to reject them and say, "They are not mine," or you have to say, "Yes, they are mine, but I am giving them to you. These arc my possessions, and I am giving you all of my possessions." Then I can take these forces from you. But if you are afraid of being exposed or of receiving what I am giving you, then you will not receive at all.

I have not come into the world to expose you and judge you. I have come only to love you and perfect you. When I look at you and concentrate on you during meditation, do not worry about what I am thinking of you. I am not thinking anything of you. I am only offering you my spiritual love, light and concern. When a child sees his mother coming to him, even if he is covered with dirt and mud, he will not be afraid. He knows that his mother will not slap him or insult him; she will only make him clean again. The moment you think that you have done something wrong—either in your mind or in your actions—feel that my concern to perfect you is infinitely greater than your concern to perfect yourself. Fear comes because you feel that you will be exposed by my light. But if you can feel that my light will only illumine and perfect you, then there will be no fear no matter how close or penetrating the light is.

Another reason you may sometimes become nervous when you meditate in front of me is because you enter into the nervousness and uncertainty of others around you. It is as if you were all students in front of an examiner. Instead of paying attention to your own inner wisdom, you look around to see what page of the textbook the other person is studying. You think that the question will come from the page that he is reading, and you also want to read that particular page. Then you start to become nervous, not because you are trying to read the same passage he is reading, but because the other person himself is nervous. He is reading a passage, but he also feels that perhaps this is not the right passage. When you start to read his passage, you enter into his consciousness and take on his uncertainty and fear.

Do you recommend meditating with folded hands?

Yes, I do recommend it. If you fold your hands soulfully, it will definitely help you meditate better. If you want to increase your devotion, then always you should try to do something on the physical plane so your physical mind will be convinced. When you pray and meditate with folded hands, your reluctant, unwilling and stubborn physical mind and your entire physical being become more devoted. Everything in you becomes one-pointed.

If it is physically tiring and you are in pain, you have to know that this pain is not going to bring you satisfaction. You can pray and meditate and still go into a very high state of consciousness without folding your hands. But if you fold your hands soulfully, it definitely does help your aspiration.

Some people feel that they get ninety-nine dollars from their inner aspiration, but they need one dollar more in order to reach the destined goal. They know that folding their hands may give them that last dollar. If there is something that they can do which will immediately give them that missing dollar, then they will do it. Others feel that they do not need to fold their hands. They feel that by increasing their aspiration they will automatically get the last dollar. They are also right.

Just because so-and-so folds his hands or because you are worried what someone thinks of you, that is no reason to fold your hands. But if you feel that it increases your aspiration and receptivity, you should fold your hands. But if you do it without any spontaneous inner urge, only to impress others, then you are making a deplorable mistake. After a few days or a few months your own sincerity will come forward and make you stop. Again, just because once upon a time you were folding your hands out of deception and now you have realised your folly, that does not mean that you should necessarily stop folding your hands. It is like curiosity. Some people enter into the spiritual life out of curiosity. They do not have sincere inspiration or aspiration, but out of curiosity they come to our meetings and join our activities. Finally they see that their curiosity is getting them nowhere. At that time they stop their life of curiosity and begin to aspire sincerely. So there is no hard and fast rule.

Why do you sometimes ask people to look at you when they meditate?

You are looking at your hands, but your hands will not give you realisation. I am a Master. God-realisation-consciousness is written on my face and in my eyes, not on your fingertips. You will receive much more inspiration from looking at me than from looking anywhere else.

If you can make a conscious contact with my soul, then you can rest assured that my existence on earth will act like your slave. Once anyone makes real contact with my soul and sincerely wants my help, then I am at his or her service forever. But this contact must be transformed into identification, and from identification into oneness. If a seeker can establish oneness between his soul and my soul, then I shall be always responsible for that particular human being. This is my soul's assurance.

If you want guidance, then look up with a pure heart. If you want guidance, then look within with a doubt-freed mind.

Sometimes even when I am meditating with you, I like to keep my eyes closed. Is this never a good thing to do?

When I am meditating in front of my disciples, I always ask them to keep their eyes half open, because one of the ways they can receive from me is through the eyes. Sometimes I am bringing down infinite peace, light and bliss, and distributing it through my eyes. If the disciples can see these divine qualities with their own eyes in my face and in my eyes, then their physical mind will be convinced, and they will be more receptive. What I bring down you can see not S only in my eyes but also in my whole face. It is like a glow that radiates around my body. If your eyes are open, then you are bound to see something.

When a Master brings down more light or peace than those meditating with him can absorb, what happens to it? Is it all lost?

It is not all lost. It enters into the earth atmosphere and becomes the earth's possession. When spiritual Masters bring down divine qualities from above, Mother-Earth assimilates them as her own. Then, when someone is aspiring, he will get this peace and light from the earth-consciousness, but he will not know where it is coming from.

Since I started meditating with you, I have felt that my consciousness is in a different place, and I just wondered if you could comment on that.

Since you have been coming here to meditate with us, your consciousness has begun functioning more from your heart than from your mind. Formerly, your consciousness was in the mind. When you stay in the mind, all of life seems like a dry piece of wood. But when you stay in the heart, life is turned into a sea of pure love and bliss. If you can stay there, you will gradually begin to experience a spontaneous feeling of love and oneness with God and God's creation.

The fulness of life lies in dreaming and manifesting the impossible dreams.