by Gurani Anjali
“Confusion all around. Explanations do not answer all the questions of the mind.”1 To the seeker of the truth, to the one that is earnestly seeking, that one will earnestly search. “Confusion all around. Explanations all in vain.”2 Be still and know. Be still. Be quiet. We’re all on a journey, each one of us is on a journey, alone. Carry your baggage, feel the weight, and then, empty the suitcases. That means do aparigraha (non-possession). There are things in the suitcase, in your baggage, that you may not want to give up, and there might be some very valuable items there. Through the practice of aparigraha, one begins to see what is real and what is false. And so you open up your suitcase and take out the items that are heavy. Take them out. The seeker of truth must do that. And if you don’t, it will be done to you. The law of karma is very, very beautiful. Just like agni (fire), very true, very real, and constant. The seeker of truth must do a lot of shifting, sifting, separating the husk from the grain. The seeker of truth will seek earnestly. All others will fall by the wayside. Know in your heart if you are truly seeking. When you are truly seeking, you will come upon great gems, precious gems that do not leave you. Suddenly, you will discover a gem, suddenly. It will happen suddenly only to the seeker of truth.
Why do you have to know the right thing? Who are you? You must humble yourself then and say, like many Christians say, “I’m a sinner. I am a sinner.” You must see what you’re doing, and then be a true seeker. Don’t you always want the real thing? Yoga shows you how to have the real thing. No falsehood will be accepted, because that’s your life. That’s the way you want it. You want it like that. You are looking for that gem, that priceless gem that money cannot buy.
As a traveler in this life, open up your baggage. Open up all your secret compartments, and take one thing out at a time. All those little attachments must go. Why? Because they’re all illusion. They’re all ideas. They’re all attachments. The greater the attachment, the greater the bondage. To the seeker of the truth no falsehood will do. You can hide from the whole world, all your friends, but then when you sit with yourself, you begin to realize, “Mmm, that wasn’t right of me. That wasn’t so great.” “Uh oh, I pulled a fast one here.”
You can’t hide from yourself, and that’s why the battle is always on. It is hide and go seek. “I’ll hide, I’ll hide.” But you can’t hide. That’s the whole point. You can’t hide. To the seeker of the truth revelation takes place, but only if you are a true seeker. Sometimes a scar may appear on your body, an impression that will tell you something if you are a true seeker. And those imprints don’t leave. If you burn your finger, you leave a scar, and it’ll heal after awhile. And it’ll disappear. But there are impressions that come to the seeker of the truth that don’t leave the body or the mind, and they prepare one for another dimension, they’re called siddhis. They don’t leave. They stay. They are constant. The seeker of the truth who makes these discoveries will say, “Hum, look at this.” Some of you may have distinguishing marks that say something. You will never understand them until it is revealed to you. For that you need someone who can tell you. It’s not in the books. It’s a very secret journey, this journey called life.
The Yoga path is laid out so beautifully for the seeker of the truth, not to those who are just dabbling, trying to get information, and to transmit information from here to there. That’s a courier express. Yoga is for the seeker of the truth, the seeker of the real, the one who seeks to ultimately know, who am I? Who am I?
This life is a journey. We’re all in a vehicle, and that vehicle is the body. We’re traveling in it, at a great speed. Most of the time you don’t know it, but sometimes you will find your heart beating fast, and your breathing heavy, emotions flying here and there. Blood pressure goes up. Food is not digested. All these situations in our lives, in your life, let you know that changes are occurring, scenery is changing. We cannot fix anything, cannot hold on to anything. Everything is subject to change. To the seeker of the truth the real is revealed from time to time. Those who are ardently seeking, truly seeking, are the ones that are going to find. There are thousands and thousands of others who will continue the karmic activities that are hidden within the afflictions (kleshas).
There’s lots of insanity in the world. You find people walking around like they’re fine. Look a little closer and you’ll see the petrified look. You’ll see it, if you are not in that position also. There’s no respect for anything, yet everyone wants the perfect life. But where is the perfect life? Where is it to be found? Who has it? Who wants to give it away? Who can take it? Who can sustain it? How will it be known? And who is the knower?
“Confusion all around, explanations all in vain” 3Sit quietly, sit quietly. Be still and know. Everything moves on. Some people are very sorrowful. There are some that are facing death. There are some that don’t know what to do. There are some that are eating and cannot eat enough. There are some that will eat and eat and never get satisfied. Are you one of them? Those that eat and eat and never get satisfied are already dead. Did you know that? Because they’re eating and can never be filled, they’re dead already, while still walking and talking. They’re dead people. Did you know that, that there are dead people around us, everywhere? They’ll consume a whole sandwich in about two minutes and still take another one, and another. There are individuals who drink and drink and can never quench their thirst because they’re not thirsty, it’s as if they’re dead. They’re not alive. Lots of dead people are walking. Did you know that? That’s why it’s hard to communicate. It’s so hard to get close to someone, because they’re dead. Have you seen people walking around as if they weren’t alive?
True seekers can eat one or two bites of a meal and be satisfied because the mind is at rest. The body is at peace, and they have only one thing on their mind, and that is liberation, liberation from the afflictions of life. They do tapas (austerities). They practice the niyamas (observances) and yamas (abstinences), not just quoting them and having a great power of speech. Any actor can do that. Any actress can do that. But to practice the niyamas and yamas, they have to be done; they have to be lived with the body, with the mind, in situations and circumstances. To practice ahimsa (non-violence) one has to know why to practice ahimsa -not because it’s a righteous thing to do, a spiritual thing to do, or to avoid violence—these are not the reasons. While there is still anger in the heart, one has to live the yamas and niyamas. You’ve got to live the abstinences and observances.
One goes about in life trying to be perfect while all the time in the heart there is imperfection. Who sees the heart that is rotting away? There is a seer that is watching, and you feel it all the time, and because it is so, you try and try and try and you never, never do it. You just try. That’s not good enough. The seeker of the truth binds himself and herself with the armor of jnanam, knowledge, with the armor of bhakti, devotion. You arm yourself, you protect yourself, you bind yourself with devotion, through discrimination. You hold it close to your heart, and you say, “I will worship early in the morning for that one who dwells within me. I will keep this body clean for that one who dwells within me. I will respect all living beings. I will harm no one by thought, word, or deed.” To the seeker of the truth these thoughts are always brought to mind so that he or she may never forget, so that he or she will always remember that the one who dwells within needs our utmost devotion. Bhakti yoga becomes part of the whole day’s activity.
Know what kind of seeker you are. Are you sincere? And above all, are you worthy? And if you find that you are not ready and you are not worthy, then get your act together. Start cleaning house. It’s very nice to do that. Every single day, clean. You must clean every day. Not just taking water and soap and cleansing the body, but you must purify yourself with internal purifications, like pranayama (Yogic breathing), so that the negative vrittis (thoughts) will be held in abeyance. And in the course of time they may be completely removed. As a man, as a woman, thinks in the heart so it will be. As you think in your heart, so it will be.
While there is time, don’t waste it. While you are young, don’t say, “I have a lot of time,” because you never know what’s going to happen tomorrow, or better still, today. You don’t know. The seeker is continually working today. Constantly keeping the vigil on agni, the flame, will burn out all impurities.
This life is a journey. We come alone in this world and we go alone, and it is important to find yourself. Empty the baggage, empty it. You don’t need it, you don’t need it. We don’t live in this world alone. We live amongst others. There is father. There is mother. There is brother. There are sister, cousins and aunts. The immediate family is the place you are born into. And you must care for that immediate family. Don’t complain too much about “My mom, my dad, my this, my that. Because of all of them, I’m like this.” When you blame someone, you know what happens? You incriminate yourself more so than them. You are because they were. The child comes through the parents, and therefore, the parents are important. As children we must care for our parents. We must give to them, humbling ourselves. We must give them the affection that they need. This is the law of life. It’s not a social affair or a cultural notion. It’s not because society says its right to do, but it’s the way of life. We are not animals in this world that bring life into the world, beget our offspring, and then forget about them. We are here to be for each other. Children are to respect their parents. If any of you have had any hard feelings with your parents, make sure you make amends. It may be hard sometimes, especially when you want to be independent, when you want to feel like you made it here in this world all by yourself. No, you didn’t. Someone sacrificed for you, brought you in the world. Maybe the going wasn’t that great. Maybe you didn’t get all the parental protection that you needed. That doesn’t really matter. What matters is that you are in this world, and you were brought into this world by your mother.
In India, every morning when we arose, we always touched the mother’s feet. Now when I see how mothers are disrespected by their children, it brings tears to my eyes because I never did that. But you are in Yoga, so do the Yogic thing, and bring peace to yourself. Bring peace to yourself because you are on the path, and if you’re a seeker of the truth, you’re going to do this.
The question may arise, “if I’m a seeker of the truth and I’m really serious, what am I going to do with my mother, what am I going to do with my brother, what am I going to do with all these people that are around me, what am I going to do?” Nothing. You can not do anything for them. They have to do for themselves. But by your life and how you live, you will do for them. Through how you live and through what you do, you will show them, not intentionally, but through your life it will be so. You will not have to do anything. Isn’t that really easy?
We do have social discomforts. “You have to do this, and you have to do that, and you have to do that.” No, you don’t have to do any thing. You just have to do, but you don’t have to do anything — any one thing. You just have to do, and that means walk the path in earnest. And the niyamas (observances) and yamas (abstinences) will show you how to live amongst people. They’ll just show you how to live. Let them guide you and be free, be free in that. Then you will not have too many considerations, like, “Oh, what am I going to do this for? Oh, why? Oh, I should. No, you don’t have to.” Deep reflection is very essential. Introspection is a good thing to do. Go within. Go within yourself.
Practice ahimsa (non-violence). Your spiritual growth will suffer if there is someone in life that you feel you have offended. It’s difficult to go beyond. You’ll have to keep going back to the gutters, back to the place of the kleshas. You’ll have to go back a thousand times so that you may be humble, so that you may come up again and say, “I’m sorry I have offended you.” You have to say those words because those words will free you from the pain that you are carrying. You must do that. False pride and false independence is not the Yogic way. No, the Yogic way is always in the practice of the yamas and niyamas. The niyamas are: sauca (purity), santosha (contentment), tapas (austerity), svadhyaya (self study), Ishvara pranidhana (devotion to the Lord); the yamas are: ahimsa (non-violence), satya (truthfulness or authenticity,), asteya (non-stealing), brahmacarya (sexual continence), aparigraha (non-possession). How beautiful they are. They are setup just perfectly, just perfectly.
Always, every day in the morning say, “I am on the path and nothing is going to pull me down.” Say that to yourself and remove the insanity that’s in your life. Remove it. Keep walking, keep walking, keep walking forward. This message is intended for the seeker of the truth, not to the one that is falsely saying “I’m a seeker,” and yet not being a seeker. This message is for the one who is truly seeking in earnest, not going back and forth, the one committed to total surrender. Nothing holds that individual back. No pain and no pleasure. Walk the straight and narrow road. Once the discovery is made, you find yourself in that perfect place; it will come in a flash. That’s the way it comes, in a flash.
So look for signs on your body, all kinds of markings. Some you may have seen before, and some maybe just happened. Look for them. Those imprints that come to the life of a true seeker don’t go away, they stay. Everyone, all of you have a spiritual symbol in you already, an icon. All of you have it, something that’s very sacred and very quiet. It doesn’t speak. It is always silent. All of you have something that is very symbolic, and it’s held within you as an icon. Think about it. An icon is a very spiritual thing. It is something that you are holding dear to. Think what that is. Try to see what it is and you will make some discoveries about your own silent symbol that you’re holding within you. It’s in the form of an image. You have to go into yourself and think a little bit, and see if you can find that. It always appears to you quietly, silently. I’m sure most of you can understand that because every living human being has that. But because they don’t pay much attention to it, there’s no discovery of it. So look at that and see what you have. To the seeker of the truth, I wish you speed and quickness, like the flashes of lightning may you uncover many truths. May you find the real, the one that is without a second. Constant vigil is the rule; never let your heart fail. Never let it.
Remove yourself from all negativities, remove yourself physically and mentally. Physically, it is very easy to do. You just have to move your body from one place to the other, but mentally it is a little difficult. For that you have to practice aparigraha (non-possession), and the essence of aparigraha will be nirodha (the cessation of mental activity). Remove yourselves from situations that are gluttonous, that are full of greed. Remove yourselves from people that are loud. The Yogi must desire a quiet solitude so that the spiritual dimensions may be seen, so that the seeker of the truth will stand up and become the one in the many. The world needs that one who can stand up. Don’t hide in the crowd. Don’t look for creature features and comforts. Don’t look for that cozy nook some place. No, whatever you need you already have, but this you must discover for yourself. Look at the sunrise and look at the sunset. During the day look at the tree tops. Look at the birds in flight. Look at the clouds. Look at the climatic changes. Experience the world directly. That is practicing aparigraha, that is living aparigraha. The sun shines on us and never says look at me. Therefore, we must look at it. The clouds that are drifting by, they just move. The birds just fly. They show you how high you can get. Look at the river that flows into the ocean. How nicely it goes. Become one with the river and flow into the ocean of sat chit ananda (existence, knowledge and bliss). Become one. Om shanti.
1. Excerpt from song “I’ll remember” by Gurani Anjali↩
2. Ibid↩
3. Excerpt from song “I’ll Remember” by Gurani Anjali↩