Strilky, 26th November 2004
Many people probably did not value the presence of Guruji and His Darshan enough to receive any benefit from it. On the other hand, blessed are they who saw Guruji with their physical eyes.
When a person has gone, then you realise what you have lost. As long as you are together you don’t value it so much. But afterwards you are complaining to yourself: this and this you could have done better, etc. It means that in the end you find yourself full of regrets or you see your own weak points. Then you realise that you could have done better, could have understood more, compromised more, tolerated more, spoken more – but when they have gone it is too late. This could be in many areas of your life, with your parents, your partner, your children, your friends and so on.
There are two things that are hard to understand and hard to differentiate: relationship and attachment. Every human relationship is different.
Humans have relationships with nature, with animals, with trees, homes, colleagues, friends, relatives. When at some time a deep relationship has taken place, it puts certain motives into your subconscious. Sometimes you don’t care much about this. But then when it has gone, those patterns come out from your subconscious into your consciousness in the form of feelings, imagination, memories, dreams, thinking, or feelings of loss. This is not attachment, but the characteristics of a human relationship. Attachment is when you only want to have something for yourself. When it creates jealousy, when you don’t want to let it out of your hands, then this kind of relationship is connected with suffering. This will awaken anger in you, hatred, and jealousy. You can even harm your relationship with good friends. For certain periods we think we don’t care. But this kind of thinking, be sure, will one day be the cause of great suffering.
Nowadays it is very hard to keep friendships. Humans are separated into many different directions by profession, distance, films, television, internet. Humans have become more and more individual. They don’t care about others. There was a time when all village people lived in their village their whole life long. And they were happy to welcome others, they were happy if somebody immigrated. It was a great shame for a king if his people had to emigrate; it was a shame for a father if children had to go away. Happy and proud were they who could welcome others in their country, their village, their family. Now in this modern civilisation, what we call the modern system, humanity is suffering from four things: 1. Environment – pollution is a problem throughout the whole world, it is not limited, we are all included. 2. Immigration problems – one of the biggest problems internationally. 3. Problems of unemployment, that means problems of existence. 4. Water problems – this is growing every year. Water is already more expensive than milk.
All these problems have been caused by humans. The modern way of living, education, thinking – our entire system is wrong. Everything is connected with one expression: “I don’t care. I don’t want to be like that, I don’t want to do this or that any more. It's not my duty. I don’t care about my friends, they are not my friends any more. I want to be by myself…” and so on. If we had cultivated our relationships, pure relationships without expectations, we would have taken care of nature, of animals, of water, of human society and we would not face these problems today. In the past we had to carry water a few hundred metres, now we don’t even want to go 10m away. We want to have a bathroom and toilet in our bedrooms. We don’t even want to have water one metre from our cooking place. We are cleaning potatoes under running water, and wasting millions of litres of water, day after day. Don’t think that you have enough rain and water. Very soon it will not be so, and if there is water, you won’t be able to drink it. Less than 50 years ago in your rivers there were many healthy creatures, and now there are only bacteria.
Spirituality doesn’t mean to pray and pray all the time. Spirituality means to take care of this beautiful living planet. Never think: “I don’t care!” Don’t break the beautiful relationship with your friends. When you break this confidence you will be more unhappy.
Human life is for understanding relationships.
Relate with others as much as you can. Never be too tired to make friends, and to change enemies into friends. Never be too tired to work for your friends. This is a part of your success in life. And don’t expect that others will understand you just as you understand them. They don’t know. Cultivate your relationships. You have to give. Don’t expect. Give. When the thinking of “yours and mine” begins, when you divide the world, you have divided yourself from everyone. Don’t say, “this is not my duty.”
I was born as an individual, and now I will relate to all. When I die, all those relationships will die with me, that is, they will all feel the pain of my leaving.
Kabirdas said in one poem: When I was born I was crying, and people were laughing. They were happy. You should do such a work, such activities, create such relationships, so many friends that when you die, maybe you will be happy to leave all these sufferings, but others will cry.
Don’t become such a person, that when you die, people will say, “thanks to God that he died.”
Cultivate the relationship. Not the attachment which creates anger, jealousy, hate, complexes, that divides you. That’s bad for you. This is blindness, madness. Then you lose the love, the human qualities and then you say: “I don’t care.” Then all negative things are on your side. Then you start to count only negative things.
Whether your life will be successful or not successful is in your hands.
We should become aware of the environment. Pollution is not only physical pollution. The biggest pollution is mental pollution. This has brought the world to this point today. We think in the last 60 years we have been living in a democratic way, that the world has been developed – but I say, it has developed towards destruction. So many diseases, catastrophes, wars, pollution – this never was in the past. You are sitting here from many different countries, professions … don’t think always that the government shall do. Government can do when the public helps. That is democracy. In reality the world is governed by a few rich people. With their money they produce the things. And you are utilising those things. Don’t be the consumer of such things which harm our planet, our relationships, our spirituality. We don’t want to be divided, we want to be one. Don’t separate your friends from you. Only money is governing the world. It is a moral, an ethic, a human matter. Love is not only physical between male and female. You can love your house, your car, flowers. Love is an indescribable power. Maintain the relationships, cultivate the relationships. Not only to humans, also to animals, nature …. Never think, never say: “I don’t care.” You should care about every relationship in this world. It may be about your house, river, water, washing powder, way of dressing, what you buy, what you eat, your friends, humans and animals.
Make a Sankalpa: with this brain I will not think negatively at all, with this tongue I will not criticise. Don’t hate any person. You can hate the action, not the person. You should not criticise, but support and help if someone makes a mistake. Don’t throw one more knife.
These are life instructions for you. Maybe someone doesn’t like them because they themselves have these negative qualities. But I don’t talk for one person, I talk for all who will listen. Understand and forgive. Like Jesus did. Who lives according to Jesus' words is a Christian. Christianity is not a religion; it is a way of life! And I am telling you the same instructions.
How many friends do you have? Count your friends. Are you in oneness with them? Can you take their duty upon you? Can you count on them? Will you cook for them, clean their windows for them? Can you do this?
Ekoham Bhaushyami – we can understand like this: “I am one, and I will relate to all.”
Why are you here (in this lecture)? Because we are friends. I count on you and I am ready to give my life for you. Nothing is more beautiful than this, that we can see each other from time to time. What brings us together: love. It is like a magnet that pulls us together. ThroughKusang and negative thinking when this love is gone then, although you have time, you will not come. Because you did not cultivate this love, which is like the flame of a candle, and now you have to go through the storm. Exactly like protecting a tiny candle flame in the storm is it to cultivate and protect our friendship in this stormy world.
Everyone is supporting the strong one, not the weak one. The same wind that makes a fire into a great fire will blow out the weak candle flame. Our relationship and love is still too weak. It can blow out very quickly. You have to protect your flame and walk very carefully.
Our anger and jealousy will harm us. Don’t compare yourself to others. Understand each other. That’s very important.
This I wanted to tell you: gone is gone. Then you are sad and think: I could have done this and this. But then it is too late.
Paramhans Swami Maheshwarananda
