How does one become a Yogi? The Yogis – their birth happened just like everyone else, they are born in the exact same way as all other organisms. But to understand Who am I, to understand this, what does the Yogi do? He sacrifices. What does he sacrifice?  ‘All this is mine’ – he sacrifices this and says nothing is mine. Until you think, ‘everything is mine’, until then you will not be able to truly understand your true self. ‘Mera/Mine’ means greed. This is mine – is greed but when you reach the stage where you say ‘Everyone is mine’, that is Love, that is beyond Ego. You understand nothing is beyond you or  different from you. Without this understanding, when you say this is mine, that is mine, that is your greed. You are trapped in those things.

A Yogi leaves his home, goes to the Himalayas or finds solace under a Guru. After different practices or meditation, he obtains the knowledge and with this knowledge, he thinks, this bliss I have got through the knowledge, I can give this to others too. So he comes back to the society, then what happens? Followers gather around him, he is called Guruji, whatever he understands of the world, his thoughts of the world he gives this same knowledge and practices to his devotees. So in this way many self-realized people or saints, who have understood themselves, knowing their true self become peaceful. There is no need to say anything, just seeing them everything becomes complete.

But not everyone’s work is the same. Some saints have come to show the path(raah dene aaye hain). When they show the path what happens? There are lots and lots of Gurus. And every Guru has his own teachings, and lessons. The followers adhere to this teachings.  And the followers say – My Guru is great, my Guru is better. Why? It is the belief that whatever is mine is God and yours is nothing.  My Guru knows more than yours, has more knowledge than yours.

What is your responsibility to the Guru whose protection you have sought? What is your duty towards him – think about this. Only listening to the Guru is not your work. Whatever is in your words, if it  does not become a part of your nature or character(swabhav), then there is no meaning.

What are the responsibilities of the disciple towards the Guru? What is the meaning of Guru?

First of all a question. These days, there are many Gurus  who do wrong things, entrapped in wrong doings. Because of this, the trust of the society towards Gurus takes a setback or erodes away.  People wonder – how to recognise who is right, who is a wrong? If the Guru was wrong, how did so many people follow him? People come here and ask me — who is my Guru? If people get trapped with wrong Gurus, how can things be?

Avatars will come, by their own will. Bhagawan will come. Guru will come. But you may still not experience anything, why? You will not experience anything until you have faith or belief in them. How do you know you have faith in a guru, what proof or evidence do you have about your faith?  How do you know if the faith that God wants from you is the one in you? What proof do you have for your faith? There is no proof. But you say I have faith inside me because when difficulties come, problems come. Bhagawan also gives you tests. In difficult times, do not do anything, just close your eyes and take Bhagawan’s name, think of that Guru who has helped you during many previous difficult situations. Because every test there is, every test that comes, it comes only to teach you something.

And how did the world bond with a Guru who has nothing and who is doing wrong things? Then the question arises – what kind of experiences did one have with this Guru?  

What is experience? What is this thing that we call experience? Experience only comes from your belief/faith. It is us who believe a stone to be God. Think about this, we go to a temple. we see a Shivaling, a Devi statue, and we form a belief with it and our prayers/wishes start getting fulfilled. We feel ShivLing is God. But is it true that the ShivLing fulfills your wishes/prayers? So who answers your prayers? Who fulfills your prayers? It is YOU, you Yourself. HOW?

Example – There was a lady who sold milk to a village. There was a river in her path to the village which was right across the river, but to reach the other shore, she had to take a long winding path, although the village lay just across the river. She had to walk a long, round about path to reach the village. One day, as she was walking along the path, she saw a crowd of people. Why are so many people standing here? she wondered and then found out a Guruji had come there. She moved towards the crowd and the Guruji  was saying “Ram naam lene se bhava sagar paar ho jaatha hain” – Chanting Rama’s name, one can cross the oceans of the world. The lady thought – Guruji is taking about oceans, but in my way is a mere river. No other thoughts came to her mind. She formed a deep belief in those words ‘Ram Ram’ and started chanting ‘Ram, Ram, Ram’. After she heard this, that day, she came near the river and started chanting ‘Ram, Ram, Ram’  and in no time she crossed the river. Now she had found a method, it was a very easy way of crossing the river, just by chanting ‘Ram, Ram’. In her mind, she expressed gratitude to the Guruji.

A few days later, she encountered the same Guruji on her way. And he asked her the way to reach the village. And she said – Come with me. You have shown me the way. The Guruji wondered when he had taught this lady the path.  And he followed the lady. They reached the river and the lady waded into the river and said Come on, Guruji. The Guruji said – “Are you mad? This river is so swift here, I will be swept away in its currents. How can I come?”

Then the lady said -You yourself said with Ram’s name, one can even cross the oceans, this is a mere river. The Guruji said “Why don’t you cross and show me?” The lady said ok , chanted Ram Ram, easily crossed the river and reached the other shore. The Guruji thought “My words have so much power, I never knew this” and saying Ram Ram stepped into the river and was immediately swept away by the waters.

So, what is the meaning here, the lesson here? The lesson is – when you can consider a stone as God, you should also be able to see God in a living thing.

Who gave the lady her experience? It was definitely not the Guruji, since he was swept away as soon as he stepped into the river. The lady used to think that the experience was coming because of Guruji. But her experience actually came from her own belief, the beliefs she held  inside her.

So people are not wrong when they follow anyone as their Guru. Because they become one with the Guru with their hearts and bodies, they start having personal experiences from there. They think all the grace is flowing from outside but it is not coming from outside. It is all coming from within you. This is how it happens.

I have asked you all to chant ‘Om Namah Shivaya’ everyday. When you chant Om Namah Shivaya every day, you will notice some difference – some mind control, peace, something you will get. The strength is not because of my words, the strength is coming from the ‘Om Namah Shivaya’ you are chanting.

Someone said “God or the Universe that is, I am unable to understand God, he is beyond me!”. And this is the truth because the beginning of God, it is beyond your experience, thoughts, intellect. When you sit down for meditation, when you think at that time that you are sitting for meditation, then you are not meditating but actually lost in your thoughts. When you think why am I sitting here, you have forgotten – that is when the bliss will begin. That is the truth. The patience to understand this, no one else has it. If the world understand this, then you will understand God. What will be left then, nothing.

Those who understand God, become silent. They are unable to speak or write about this, their mode of communication is silence. Because there is no need for speech anymore, what will they say? This birth, death, Bhagawan – God has kept this a secret, Whoever understands this secret, becomes a Yogi!