Question & Answer
Seeker:Bhagavan, what is the difference between your teachings and the other great teachings?
Sri Bhagavan:Basically, for example, other teachers say, "Be aware of your mind. Be a witness." and all those things. What I am saying is, "It is not possible for man. Most teachings are impractical. If one tries to practice it, he might actually go into certain problems you know. Like, he may become insane. People will become depressed, all kinds of problem will occur. People may commit suicide. Many things will happen like that, because those teachings cannot be practiced. For example, they talk about "Practicing Awareness". That's impossible! To practice it. But, my statement is - They are describing their state. They did not practice those things and get that state. They got that state. Because they got that state, it was possible for them to be aware of. Without the state you cannot be aware of. Similarly, when it comes to Ramana Maharishi, my stand is - Ramana Maharishi first had a death experience. Therefore the question "Who am I" made sense to him. But to a person without a death experience it won't make any sense.
So, my stand is - Most teachings won't work. They give some clarity about life. But then you cannot practice them, because you must be in an altered state of consciousness. Then it is very natural.
For example, it is very natural for a man to be jealous, very natural for a man to be angry. So, if you are talking about not being jealous, not being angry - you must be like a Buddha or a Christ. Buddha and Christ had a different state of consciousness. So, my stand is, I will give you that state. Once I have given you that state, then naturally you have no jealousy, you have no anger, you have no frustration, you have love and bliss. But you can't try to get love, because the love that we are talking about is unconditional love. However much you try you can't get there. You are full of jealousy. Through effort you can't get to non-jealousy. From jealousy you can only go into jealousy, you can't go into non- jealousy. So whatever you do, you are trapped.
So my whole thing is - this whole thing is not a psychological process. It is a biological process. Now what I do is, I basically work on the human brain to activate this mystical power. So in fact I myself don't have to work directly also. These Dasas who are enlightened, they are in tune with me. Everyday we do this process. I transfer the power to them and they inturn will go and touch. Then, as they touch, the brain undergoes a transformation.
So, to me, if you take Ramana Maharishi, his brain underwent that transformation. Therefore Ramana Maharishi is in that state. Jiddu Krishnamurthy is in that state because his brain underwent that process. A Buddha is a Buddha because his brain underwent that process. So, unless your brain also undergoes that process, you cannot be a Buddha, you cannot be a Ramana Maharishi, you cannot be a Jiddu Krishnamurthy. You cannot be anybody.
So that is why I am telling, all teachings are useless. All that they can do is that they can make you into a seeker. You start desiring for it. They are describing Bombay, so begin to seek Bombay. You know there is no way for you to get to Bombay, because you must undergo the same Neuro-Biological transformation that these teachers underwent. What is involved here is Neuro-Biology.
So what we give is called the "Deeksha". The Deeksha is transfer of power to certain parts of the brain. Then certain parts get activated, certain parts get deactivated and you can get into any spiritual states you seek for. It could be a Christian state, it could be an Islamic state, it could be a Buddhist state, or a Taoist state. So each of these states depend on a particular activity of the brain. So I belong to all faiths. I have Christians, I have Muslims in the movement, you know. So whatever state you want I can give it to you. So, my whole teaching is - IT HAS TO BE GIVEN TO YOU.
Sri Bhagavan:There is a difference. A Buddhist state will be, for example, technically when we speak, you know what is called the Agneya Chakra? If that Chakra is activated you get a Buddhist state. If Visshudhi is activated you get a Islamic state. If Anahatha is activated you get a Christian state. If the Sahasrara is activated you get a Hindu state.
So these Chakras are actually located in different parts of the brain. But what is common is, in all those states there is no suffering. There is love. There is joy. But the actual experience is different between each state. So as far as I am concerned, you choose your state and I am prepared to give you that state. I can just give it to you, because I know what technicality is behind it. Without knowing the technicality, simply going on talking, talking, talking, what is the use? and the poor seeker goes on listening to teachings. But things won't happen. He'll loose interest in his family life; he'll loose interest in the world. Ultimately he'll become depressed. 30 to 40 years he will be seeking. He will be doing sadhana. He'll get some peace, some joy, but no progress. He begins to loose interest in spirituality and religion. He becomes frustrated. Then ultimately he becomes a nuisance in the family itself. Being a frustrated man he cannot enjoy life. So he becomes a burden on others. Anybody who is unhappy, who is frustrated, who is suffering, he will cause trouble to others.
So that is why I do not believe in propagating teachings. My thing is - Come, straight away get the state. After you have got the state, use the teachings to understand the state. Suppose you are in a Buddhist state, the Buddhist teachings will help you know exactly where you are. A Christian teaching will help you get clarity into a Christian state. The teachings come after the state, not before.
So I maintain, all teachers are putting the cart before the horse. So, if you are a good teacher, give the seeker the state. Give it to him first. After having given it, then give the teaching. You may give a little in the beginning to help him seek. That's all. Then quickly go on to the state itself. If you have no ability to give the state, then you have no right to talk. Suppose I am talking to you something, I must be in a position to give you that state. If I cannot give you, I should not talk. I should not say - "Oh, so beautiful my state is. You also try, you will get it." Well, it does not happen that way.
Ramana Maharishi did not apply his teachings to himself. He first got the state. It happened to him. Then he began to speak. Jiddu Krishanmurthy, did not apply his teachings. He got the state. Thereafter he began to talk. So, is there any single teacher who has applied his teaching and got there? Nobody.
So when you have not applied and got there, how is it you teach others? You are telling, "You practice compassion, you practice love, you over come lust". Is it so easy to overcome lust? Do this and do that. And the poor fellow keeps trying and trying. And the enlightened person is made into a model. He thinks that's how you become that. He is trying and he is ruined. That is why I am against the practice of spirituality.
So in that way I am very, very different from other teachers. They say - Nobody can give it to you. You have to make it on your own. I am telling, "Till doomsday you will not make it on your own. It has to be given to you". Exactly the opposite. That's where we differ.
Everyday I am producing hundreds of sages. You can come and see. It'll take 3 to 4 minutes. That's all. One touch and a seer is produced. You can meet the villagers - Muniamma, Kuppamma, Munuswamy - in unimaginable states. All that happened was just one touch. Then the teachings come out. Now if they talk, they will excel some of the greatest teachers of all times, because their state is talking. You can see live people, ordinary people, ordinary villagers, not just one or two - hundreds. Fully enlightened, who can do miracles, healing miracles. So, this is a strange village. Even as you walk you will be meeting Ramana Maharishis and Buddhas. But only things is they are not as famous as Ramana Maharishi and Buddha. They are ordinary people. That is the only difference. When you talk you will know. "My goodness what is this!" They have been produced liked that. If you are a true guru, you must produce it. Otherwise why do you teach?
Seeker:Is this movement based on scientific theories?
Sri Bhagavan:Mine is purely science. See if I meet a Neuro-Biologist, I will talk to him in terms of temporal lobes, parietal lobes - so I will talk in terms of pure science. So I go hand in hand with science. I welcome science and I believe the day has come when science and spirituality go together. So for me everything is science only. Miracles do happen. This movement is producing healers everyday. So we train up people to be very good healers. Some miracles I do myself. If you talk of science, there was a lady recently whose tongue was cut off in the cancer institute. Now the tongue has come. But, they are not speaking a word about it. They are only telling that Chemotherapy was done and it became alright. They are not speaking one word about the growth of the tongue. That, I am saying is not science. If you are true to science you must say, "The tongue has grown". You must investigate it. How can you suppress a fact? When you have cut a tongue and the tongue has come back. This does not happen in western countries.
Seeker: Bhagavan, are you God?
Sri Bhagavan:Basically, it is like this. God essentially is unmanifest. That is, He cannot be seen, He cannot be spoken to. But He is there. But since you cannot see, you cannot speak to, He is as good as not being there as far as you are concerned. Then, the God that people normally talk about is the God who you call as Antaryamin. i.e., He can be seen inside, you can talk inside; He can appear to so many and disappear. That's what people normally refer to as God. Sometimes God can incarnate in physical form. That's what is called an Avatar. I am an Avatar. In that sense I am God.
But if you ask me - am I that unmanifest God right now, I am certainly not because I am fully physical. But I am God in the sense that I am an Avatar.
So, God has these three faces. The example I give for this is - steam, water and ice. They are the same thing. As steam, it is everywhere. You can't control it. A liquid is more controlled, but still it is moving. Ice is much more solid. The physical Avatar is something very solid.
So, Miracles happen around the physical Avatar. You can come to me. You can talk to me about your problem. The problem is solved. If you come to me, I can say, "OK, this will happen, that will happen". Many, many miracles will happen. Now, it is very easy to contact me than to contact the manifested God and still more difficult to contact the unmanifest God. That is the advantage. You take my picture and you talk to me. The response comes back. And I am not claiming that I am the only Avatar. There have been Avatars from time to time. The world is full of Avatars through whom God is acting. That's all.
How can we tackle the Ayodhya issue? To me all problems, whether they are economical problems, or political problems, they all emanate from one basic problem. That is, man is not enlightened. So, if one problem disappears, another problem will crop up, if you are not enlightened. Today, it might be Ayhodhya, tomorrow it might be something else.
So the ultimate solution is that man must become enlightened. And I maintain that large numbers of people will become enlightened, starting from June 2004 and by September-November 2012, most of humanity will be enlightened. When that happens? The problem will just disappear. That is my solution to the world's problems. I don't believe in national boundaries. Dividing the world into nations, into countries, into religions - as long as there are divisions there will be suffering. All divisions must go. If all divisions must go, the 'Self' must go. That is Enlightenment.
Unless man becomes Enlightened, there will one problem or the other. Say there is water in the pipe. If you press it here, it will bulge somewhere else. If you press it there, it will bulge somewhere else again. Ayodhya might go, something else might crop up. Where is the end to all this ? So, the ultimate solution is that man must be transformed. If man is going to live the way he is living, he will destroy himself. With all these nuclear weapons, ecological pollutions and other conflicts. We are only racing towards destruction.
Unless there is a transformation in his consciousness and he becomes a totally new being, there is no hope for man. I am interested in man's problem. That will take care of this problem also. Suppose Hindus and Muslims, they can no more see themselves as Hindus and Muslims, where is the Ayodhya problem? But otherwise where is the solution? The same thing can be applied for India-Pakistan also. It also boils down to a religious problem only. And you must out grow religion, which means you must outgrow the 'Self'. So, we need a radical transformation of man, which is possible. I never talk about that which is impossible. I can demonstrate to you that it is possible.
What is the root cause of fundamentalism? How can it be rooted out? You see, fundamentalism is basically because people are not able to cope up with the changes that are happening. The world is moving too, too, too fast. So the old is not prepared to give way to the new. If you are not prepared to give way to the new, then fundamentalism arises. It can be Islamic fundamentalism, it can be Christian fundamentalism, it can be Hindu fundamentalism. But the fact is we cannot stop these changes from occurring. So, more changes are likely to take place and there could be a growth in fundamentalism also. Again and again I see only Enlightenment as the solution, because the world is growing very, very fast. You are not prepared to give up your old ways, which means you have become a fundamentalist. That's what is happening. Islamic world is not able to cope up with the changes that are occurring and that is the root cause of fundamentalism. So, if you must be able to cope up with these changes, you must outgrow the 'Self'. So, ultimately, you come back to enlightenment as the solution.
How can we achieve this kind of Enlightenment? What I am maintaining is - 60,000 people must become fully enlightened. If 60,000 people become fully enlightened, all else is automatic. i.e. Automatically everywhere people will become enlightened. That's all. It's automatic. A natural process. But to trigger it 60,000 people must go into a very high state of enlightenment. If they emerge on the planet, then the whole planet will be in that state. So my work is only to produce those 60,000 people.
So, I believe that by 2012 I will be able to achieve it. Latest is 2012. It could well happen before that. When that happens, their mere presence on the planet brings the transformation. You don't have to know about the movement, come to the movement, nothing. Wherever you are, suddenly one fine morning you will be enlightened. You'll become very calm, loving and peaceful. It's natural. It happens. That's all. That's what we are doing. So we have allotted some numbers to every country. We have people in every country. All are working towards this.
So, if 60,000 people if we successfully reach, it's all over. What is your vision and mission? My vision is that there must be the Golden Age by 2012. My mission is to make 60,000 people enlightened. That's my mission. The way is - I give Deeksha. That's my vision, mission and way. I simply give Deeksha. I am not asking you to do some terrible practice. You simply come and take Deeksha. That's all. You are enlightened. Like this I want 60,000 people.
Sri Bhagavan: Yes, yes. Because this is a Neuro-Biological transformation. It is not psychological. If it is psychological, it'll come, it'll go. I am not working on the software. I am working on the hardware - the brain itself. I am bringing about the mutation of the brain. Because when the brain has changed, the hardware has changed. It's permanent. If it's only in the software, it'll be there for a few days, few hours, few minutes, few seconds and go away. This is a hardware transformation.
You can meet these enlightened people actually to understand this transformation. I am not talking about something that is going to happen in the future. I am talking about things that have happened. Its finished. We have every country. We have Japanese, we have Russians, we have Americans, we have Swedes, we have Indians, all in these states. We are producing more and more. That's what it is. We are basically giving it to people.
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