Satsang at Shri Nimishananda Ashram, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 3rd October, 2009
A feeling of vibrant bliss and joy pulsated in the hearts of all the devotees in the Malaysian Ashram. Their most beloved Gurudeva, Parama Pujya Shri Shri Nimishananda, was in their midst along with a large group of devotees and disciples from India. There was an abundance of flowers and lamps everywhere and the whole ashram looked so festive and beautiful. However, far more lovely and radiant were the faces of the devotees which glowed with the inner joy of being in the divine presence of their Gurudeva. Smiling benevolently as the devotees expressed their intense happiness, Pujya Guruji blessed all of them one by one. After they had all settled down, Pujya Guruji began to speak - “Until we understand our own true inner feelings, our life is always problematic. As long as things go very smoothly, we are happy and nice to everybody around us. It is only when things go wrong that we realise our own level of inner strength. When we are confronted by a crisis, though the people around us tell us not to worry, and try their best to give us confidence, we are still filled with anxiety and panic. Only when the Guru enters our lives and the name of the Guru reverberates constantly within us will we be free from fear. The more we pray, adore and worship the Guru, the more courage we get. Without the protective and rejuvenating Grace of the Guru, we get tired of battling with life.”
“Most of the time, our feelings are chaotic and disorganised. Many times, we are not aware of the emotions and vibrations that flow from us into the world. We do not check to see whether they are good, bad, negative, positive or divine. When we generate all kinds of thoughts, emotions and vibrations in this way, we are also adding to the huge mass of negativity in the world. So, we should pray to our Guru for greater awareness by saying – “These are the kind of feelings within me, O Gurudeva. Please organise my feelings for me and reset my thinking patterns so that I emit only divine vibrations all the time.” Then, instead of re-organising our thoughts, our Guru re-channelises them completely. Today, our lives are not powerful because our feelings are not powerful. All our inner power is drained away by our tendency to worry unnecessarily over trifles. The more we worry, the weaker our minds become.”
“So, worry is the major block in our lives. It is a veritable black hole – all our energy goes into it, but nothing ever comes out. If worrying could have solved our problems, it would have been worthwhile worrying. However, as human beings, none of us have a right to worry because the negative energy that we generate when we worry only makes more troubles and problems gravitate towards us. If we have the habit of going to the temple to pray with worry gnawing at our hearts, God Himself gets worried when we enter the temple and says – “Oh, this devotee has come to place the same worries before Me again.” So, we should never do this. From today, whenever you go to the temple, just say – “Dear God, till now I was simply bombarding You with my worries out of sheer ignorance. Unlike me, You do not know what worry is because You are always loving, joyous and exuberant. So, give me Your love, joy and exuberance and I will drop all my worries and give You back the same love and joy.” This is how we should pray to God. Remember, the frog that keeps croaking continuously only attracts the snake which speedily swallows it. So also, if we go on thinking, talking and praying about our worries all the time, we will only attract a great crisis into our lives.”
“When we stop worrying and pray for happiness, happiness does not come alone; it brings its shadow called prosperity with it. Prosperity is Goddess Lakshmi, the Giver of Abundance. The Scriptures depict Her on a lotus which is soft, pure and beautiful. When our minds shed worry and become soft, pure and beautiful like the lotus, Goddess Lakshmi will come and enthrone Herself there. Today, our minds are hard and impervious to Her Grace. That is why we have to work so hard for prosperity. We think that the ambition to fulfil our material desires fills our life with zest and interest, but it only fills us with worry and unrest. We assume that experiencing the material pleasures of life will fill our lives with joy. However, this joy can never be constant. Life will continue to throw out its challenges at us, but we should not allow this to trigger the response of worry in us. We should all learn this art by watching and interacting with children. A child does not know what worry is. Even when something bad happens, he soon forgets about it and resumes his natural state of exuberant happiness. That is why children are such bundles of joy.”
“Children operate from the heart. That is why they jump and dance with joy. Worries attack us only when we operate from the head. If we too shift our centre of operation from the head to the heart, we can avoid all worries. Then our minds become soft and pliant and our hearts dance in ecstasy. When joy and bliss overflow from us, how can we keep quiet? We will also sing and dance as the musical saints like Meera Bai, Namdev, Surdas and Kabir Das did. As we sing bhajans in the satsang, we will begin to dance in bliss. Then, the other members of your family may say – “What is wrong with you today? You are embarrassing us.” But joy is not the way to embarrass anybody; it is simply the way to embrace God. We sing bhajans everyday not just to enjoy their rhythm and melody, but also to ‘injoy’ the bliss in our hearts.”
“Let us look at the joy that is generated when we fulfil our materialistic desires. For instance, we may buy the best car in the world and we may be overjoyed for a few days. But can this car come with us wherever we go? Can we park it in our bedroom, take it to our dining room or kitchen? Never. We have to park it in the garage or parking lot and every time we hear the alarm beep, we get into a panic till we discover that it is our neighbour’s car that is beeping. If it is scratched or dented in a traffic jam, we brood over it for days. We have to bear the cost of fuel, maintenance and repairs. So ultimately, after the first euphoria of achievement, the fulfilment of materialistic desires brings far more responsibility and worry than pleasure or joy.”
“Most of our major worries are caused by replaying the failures and humiliating or traumatic situations in our minds again and again. Each time we replay it, we generate the same negative feelings within us. This simply fills us with worry and shatters our peace of mind. Remember, worry is always unnecessary. If you want to replay something in your mind, do not replay mishaps or traumas. Replay the name of the Divine Mother instead. It will make your heart reverberate with joy and enthusiasm. We have all been born only to fulfil our karmic obligations. We have to experience the fruits of both our good and bad karma while we are here. However, even as we experience these, we are generating fresh karma through our inner reactions to these situations. That is why our Guru tells us – “Whenever you are confronted by a difficult situation, don’t react. Don’t worry. Retain your mental stability and equipoise.” When we do this, that karma will simply pass by as a mere trifle without harming us in any way. When we get into a flurry of worry over every storm in the teacup, we transform it into a hurricane with the negative energy we generate. This also happens when we develop a tendency to be obsessed with the past. For instance, if we meet with an accident at a particular spot, each time we pass by, we reactivate that memory and replay it in our minds. Out of fear, we may even try to avoid that place altogether. The more we think about it, the greater is the likelihood of another accident. So, from now onwards, each time such a negative memory surfaces, banish it from your mind immediately by making a strong resolution – “Such a thing will never happen to me again.” When you do this, you will see the actualisation of this resolution within 48 days.”
“When you surrender everything at the Lotus Feet of your Guru, how can anything bad happen to you? Faith is the key to a stress free life. When you have implicit faith in your Guru, the words ‘Don’t Worry’ are deeply etched on your heart and reverberate in your ears all the time. Then, even if you try, you cannot worry. Faith drives out fear and keeps you secure. So have faith; drop the arrow of worry and pick up the arrow of love. When you target God or your Guru with the arrow of love, you will experience a constant flow of Grace in the form of joy and exuberance. Today, we do not know love; we know only attachment and possessiveness. If our son is not back home at the usual time, we begin to worry because of our attachment to him. Instead, if we love him and have faith in our Guru, we will simply think – “He must be playing with his friends somewhere. My Gurudeva will take care of him wherever he is and he will come home soon.” If he is still delayed, we will make the necessary phone calls to trace him, but we will remain calm without worrying or getting into a panic. Unlike us, God does not know possessiveness or attachment. He knows only love and bliss. That is why we are filled with ecstasy when we stand before Him in the temple and tears of bliss flow from our eyes. From today, we should only shed tears of joy and never tears of sorrow in front of God.”
“Faith is the basis of all religions. Muslims say ‘Inshallah’ or ‘May the will of God prevail’. Christians say ‘Thy will be done’. When we align ourselves with the will of God with complete faith and surrender, we will no longer resist any circumstance that comes to us. We will flow with life without generating any negative vibrations. Then, our minds become soft and pure. When we pray for the welfare of all beings, our love is freed from attachment and flows out to all beings. We may ask – ‘If we cannot unload our worries before God, then who will listen to our troubles and worries? That is why God sends the Guru into our lives. When we bathe and worship the Lotus Feet of the Guru, it removes all the troubles, problems and worries from our lives. It makes our minds soften and melt with surrender.”
“We have so much creative energy inside us. We have not been able to bring it out because we are allowing it all to drain away through wrong thought patterns. When we correct these thought patterns, the Grace of our Guru will reconnect us to our inner core, and we will become very dynamic and creative. The Grace of our Guru is always flowing to us, but only faith can open our hearts and make us receptive to it. We have lived on earth now for so many years. We must ask ourselves – “During this period, have we created anything worthwhile? Have we created good thoughts, divine feelings and aspirations in others? How many people have complete faith and confidence in us?” When we have total faith in God or our Guru, others will automatically develop implicit faith in us. Then, their creative energy will also blossom. The feelings of faith, belief and love are priceless. When they combine together it becomes trust. Whom can we trust absolutely in our lives? Only God and our Guru. When we trust God or our Guru, we will understand that we are the embodiment of Divinity ourselves. We are not the body, we are the Soul. Trust in God will make us reflect our Soul all the time. Then the bliss in our hearts will make other hearts dance in bliss. So, from today, let us stop worrying and start living. Never ever cry. Always be joyous and happy. Let us accept whatever comes to us with joy. Remember, God is ever compassionate and everything happens for the best in our lives. God gives us each circumstance for a good reason. If we want to eat a fruit, don’t we have to peel it first? Likewise to savour the nectar of bliss inside, many things may have to be peeled away first. This peel may be our health, wealth, status or even a relationship. So, have faith in your Guru and surrender everything at His Lotus Feet. Then, the Divine Mother’s joy will flow to encompass you. You will all experience this. You are born to experience this. May your hearts dance with bliss and may all of you make millions of hearts dance with bliss. May all of you experience this divine bliss all the time. May all beings be happy.”
Jai Matha. Om Tat Sat.
