Chapter 13: Love is Supreme

HE begins with a story of a man who was given seeds to sow and he was so anxious that he would dig the seeds out every hour to monitor its growth! Similarly, we are so worried / anxious about the future, every plan leads to worry / anxiety. It means we have no confidence in God. We need to offer everything to the Divine. The advantage of love is it takes worry away. A rich man's son is not worried about money. Anxiety is worse than Death. It kills you slowly. HE says we often worry about 3 things: we worry about money; we worry about what people think and our prestige and we worry about the progress we are making in the path of knowledge. HE says all these are in contradiction to Love / devotion

HE gives the example of a lady holding onto her heavy suitcase in the train as she is worried the bag won't reach with her if she puts it away!. It appears ridiculous, but our case is similar. Nature is anyway taking care of us. For example, the air, earth, etc don't strike! We do not realise it. Nature takes Care. All the small losses we have had is to get something bigger. A little is lost to gain something more. As the saying goes, putting small fishes to catch the bigger ones. All these small losses have made us stronger.

HE says, often lose their health and values to gain wealth (scams in corporations). They want it all, but none of these stay -neither money nor prestige. Love is however, Supreme. When love matures in you, whatever you think happens. Till this happens, keep working without getting worked up over the results. When that centeredness happens, desires get fulfilled as soon as they come. Its takes awhile to become centered, to be perfect in the State of Being. One should not ignore day-to-day activities. Drop the expectations and keep going. If one asks for how long, that anxiety itself will be a hindrance. Just as moong dal sprouts in 2 days, a mango takes much longer, each of us will take time. keep working at it.

Anxiety kills Love. Love destroys all Negativity. The Seeker, asks, "but how?" Narada says if you can trascend four things: lust, money, atheism, enemity, then you will stop worrying and realise Love is Supreme. He says lust can twist the whole system. Some people constantly think about sex, it makes one dull. Second is to constantly think about making money. HE gives the example of a man reading about all kinds of ideas from hundreds of magazines but doing nothing! HE says, keep the money in the wallet, not in the mind. Money is Divine, it is sacred but thinking of money 24/7 makes one dull. HE says money is the means, not the end of life. Thidly, there are atheists who only believe in the material world. Some people look at the successful case of a non believer and our faith is shaken!. Narada says watch out for this... how can anyone be a non believer in this mystical world? Fourthly, we tend to believe in imaginary enemies out to plot against us!For a devotee, it is very unfortunate to be told that their Beloved / Divine let them down. HE says don't believe these 4 things as your devotion is shaken and Love comes down. save your life from these useless discussions.

HE narrates a story of Kabir. His satsangs were very popular and the other intellectuals plotted to create a scandal on Kabir to distract the audience. They hired a woman who claimed to be betrayed by Kabir in a public satsang, Kabir, however, showed kindness and welcomed her home. His action transformed her and she became a devotee. Being arrogant or wanting to show off is another hindrance. HE gives the example of wearing diamond necklaces, driving expensive cars, throwing lavish parties. While there is nothing wrong in being wealthy, there is no need to take pride in it as there is no Joy in such Acts. Palaces have become Museums today! example of Versailles was mentioned.

HE says nothing here belongs to you, you are just a custodian. For example, some Corporations want to own all the resources in this World, water, seeds etc. Resources belong to everybody and generosity kindles Love. Service Awakens Love and so Narada remains a servant.

Chapter 12: Love needs no Proof

HE says there are two aspects in Life - Liking and Learning; for the former, you don't need any time, its simply happens, while for the latetr, one needs time, for example, learning to sing /play guitar /cook etc. Wjile one needs a little effort, the other is effortless! Similarly, for knowledge, a little effort and some awareness is required. Love, on the other hand, requires no time, unlike knowledge. Narada says it is so easy to be in Divine Love. Infact he says it is more difficult to not be in Love.

Just like its is easier to accept people as they are; its much harder to not accept people as they are! HE says, choose the easiest path as we all love comfort. We all seek comfort. Our ancestors did more physical work and were healthier (Sattvic). But today, everything is ready to go, pre digested, pre cooked!! (Rajasic). Its all just chemicals. It appears easy but makes life difficult as we become unhealthy later.

Life needs both learning and liking. Its is easy to learn what you like, with little effort. When there is Love, learning becomes easy. Look at today's children's books, its so difficult, there is no love. Narada says to love something is the Easiest thing. For some people, meditation is difficult, but if they love God, it will happen easily. The mind goes to only where there is love - thinking about children, watching movies..

HE says love is like a teenager - looking for its beloved. make the beloved (God) your Valentine. No need to put much effort to meditate or pray. For example, when we are thirsty, we drink water. There is no need for any other Proof; if there is pain, you need no proof.

For example, when we feel thirsty, we don't need proof, we drink water, when we feel hungry, we don't need proof, we eat food, when we feel tired, we don't need proof, we rest.

Similarly, LOVE NEEDS NO PROOF. look at a six month old baby's eyes, there is only Love. When there is love, it is self evident, there is no need for proof. Also, for some questions, it is better to give no answers. For example, people ask HIM if HE is enlightened or people asked Jesus if he was Son of God. If someone has love, it pours out of every being. If you are sensitive, you can feel and experience it. Love needs no proof. You can hide hatred to some extent, but you cannot hide love. Narada is asked, "What is Love?" He says Love is Peace, Serenity. Divine Love spreads bliss, peace.

Such love permeates around the Enlightened, they radiate contenement which is itself a proof, and is self evident. The emotional love is all fine but the idea is to gain the higher - Divine Love where there is no seeking, where is no lack. bliss is not a drama. Even actions like anger etc., can be out of Bliss. You can recognise love only through the Heart.

Chapter 11: Attaining Divine Love

HE says whatever we are, that is what gets projected. If you are upset, you see the world upside down! People with similar tendencies get together, happy / disgruntled people get together. Disgruntled people are not comfortable with happy people. What we feel is what gets projected. An unemployed person talks about jobs, greedy people talk about money, and one who has attained Divine Love thinks and talks Love. For a hungry man, the moon looks like a pancake, for a lover, the moon looks like his/her beloved!What we have attained is what we speak. HE says just wake up and see, see what you are dwelling on..

HE gave the example of a lady from South America who wanted to be in a relationship. She got into one and soon wanted to get out from it! As you see, so is the Creation! A blind man, blind on one eye thinks people are insulting him when they wave a victory sign when their team wins! He thought people were mocking him!

HE says Nature loves us dearly, we realise this when we see flowers in bloom, waves in the ocean or even a mosquito or a bee. Even the worst enemy needs to be thanked as he brings virtues in us and shows us the contrast. HE says see good intention behind others' mistakes. Then you will see compassion. For example, a person cooks for the first time and it turns out to be bad but you see the good intention and you feel compassionate. For example, a heart surgeon has a 75% failure rate but they have good intentions.

HE says there are three types of secondary love - tamasic, rajasic and sattvic. Even terrorists have some love, only they don't have a broad vision. But they love something. So also suicide bombers. But such love creates misery for others - tamasic love. Another example is to smoke a cigarette, we may like it but it causes misery to our family. Terrorists do not realise that such actions do not bring any upliftment. Rajasic love brings great excitement and then brings great depression as well. There is too much of feverishness in this kind of love. For example, look at people when the awards are announced. This type of love brings momentary joy and long term misery. Sattvic love brings knowledge, service - love that is unconditional.

There are 4 types of people seeking Love: miserable people, people seeking comforts, people seeking meaning of life - seekers and people who are in Wisdom. the Wise also want love. the role of knowledge is to be in love, joy. This is their nature, he is close to the Divine. The fourth type is better than the third which is better than the second. Without Love there is no life. Similarly sattvic love is better than rajasic love is better than tamasic love. Our entire life is an expression of Love, however there are distortions.

Narada's sutras make our life so simple. It keeps us grounded and centered. When the link is missing, we find everything is missing.

Chapter 10: Love cannot be Expressed

HE says Love cannot be described, if you can describe, it will be far from the truth. This is the only thing in this world that cannot be described.. Yet, throughout history, man has attempted to describe /define and he has failed! Still, mankind has not lost hope:-). HE says, a million words cannot express what a glance can convey and a million glances cannot express what one moment of silence can convey. A moment of silence can convey much more than anything else can. Even silence can be expressed to some extent and Love is beyond this silence. Lovers have this problem, they do not know how to express!

Hanuman loves Lord Rama very dearly, even Lord Rama could not understand hanuman's love. Lord Rama is supposed to have asked Hanuman, how much do you love me?" Hanuman is supposed to have torn open his chest to reveal the Lord in his heart as he could not express it any other way! He says, "every hair in my body says Ram Ram..."

Love tries to find expression in so many forms.... mother calls her child tingu, puppy, etc although he/she have very nice proper names:-). There is no meaning to these words, they make no sense but you get a glimpse of love, it shines through here and there. HE says that every living being is like a pot that can hold nectar. Some pots are opaque and some transluscent. Similarly every creature has the capacity to love, every single person is touched by love, sometime, somewhere or the other.

HE says similarly, love is present in every particle, somehwere it shines through. A dog, a fool, a pigeon, a Saint, all have the same Love. But in a Saint, it shines through as the pot is transparent. At some time an opaque pot can become trasparent. Therefore, do not underestimate anyone in this planet. Therefore, honor all, do not judge or look down on anybody. Honoring a wise person is no big deal, we have no choice:-). Honor others, fools, ignorant people around you, then you have done something.

HE says there are three types of love: Sattvic, Rajasic & Tamasic. Sattivic love is when there is no expectation in return. rajasic love has feverishness and desires to get something back. Tamasic love is the love terrorists have, very destructive. Divine love is beyond these three, beyond attributes - unconditional with no strings attached. For example, mother's love for her child is beyond the attributes. For example, a mentally retarded child is also loved by the parenst. Divine love grows every moment - more and more depth. Such love never breaks! Its is very subtle, very refined and therefore not fully expressed but can only be experienced. A child's love moves from mother to friends to spouse to their own children. This happens in all species very naturally. Your pain only you will know, others cannot; similarly you cannot understand yourself, you are a mystery and can only be lived.

You can shed tears of gratitude, you cannot express love fully to anyone. Love has no flaws, its a continuum. Just like the Sun always shines, similarly it is our nature to love and meditation is immersing yourself in this love. Boredom is lack of juice and love is the juice of life. From boredom you can get to love, love and boredom have a common thread, repetition, for example, rosary. Love is the juice of Life and You are that.

Chapter 9: Crossing the Ocean of Misery

The human mind cannot tolerate misery. Statistics shows that 60% of phone bills relate to people talking about their problems to people who cannot help. One needs to be in the Company of teh Wise. A good company is one when you talk your problems out and leave with a light heart. Bad company is when you walk with a heavy heart. Such a company cannot allow Love to Express.

Narada says, by all means, shun bad company; not that you must not interact with them, you can, but do not shake hands with their mind. Bad company brings with it lust, anger, desires, loss of memory, losing the power of reason - "Sarvanasha". Very nicely HE says, Compassion brings co-operation while company brings competition! Example of wanting to 'catch up with the neighbours'. HE says bad company results in greed gripping the mind; intellect losing its reasoning power; losing awareness and feeling useless. Mind feels agitated - such is bad company. in the beginning, it begins as a small ripple, later it becomes a storm in the ocean. You drown in this ocean of misery / doubt/ anger / greed. Shun such company.

How and who will overcome this illusion of misery??

• By keeping his own company for awhile - called the Heart Sutra. Everything is Emptiness
• By serving the Enlightened - he becomes free from egotism
• by going beyond the immeasurable, go beyond Maya. That reality is the central point of life. Divine Love
• You become free from the egotistic feeling "I"

The language we speak is an imitation - like parrots, children often imitate their parents. HE gives the example of Adi Shankara travelling in search of Mandanamishra with whom he was to engage in an intellectual debate. A person described his house as the one where the parrots outside his home discuss knowledge, that was the identification of the scholar! Similarly, we imitate people in whose company we stay. HE says freedom is when we stop worrying about ourselves, this leads to bondage and depression.

Love dissolves Ego. Naturalness / simplicity / craziness dissolves Ego. When you go beyond the senses, you are free, and when you drop freedom, divine love dawns.

"When you are free, love dawns. When you don't care about even freedon, divine love dawns."

HE says some couples in the US dont want to marry as they are scared to lose their freedom - fear of sharing. HE says craving indicates poverty. HE says calling a stingy person generaous and a short tempered person calm, can bring a change in them. HE then describes 3 ways of being free, in case we can't find an elightened person to serve. These are

1. Going into seclusion. Dropping all the strings, props we have - people, worldly matters, etc. Take a Sabbatical. Often unanswered questions leads to violence. Violent people often have a question in their heart. HE explains that imprisoning people was essentially done to give them seclusion - to settle them down and allow them to drop all bondages.. HE says, often our worries are about either maintaining what we have or wanting what we don't:). HE says 1 hour of worrying is equivalent to 8 hours of hard work. And one who has trust, all his needs will be provided for.

2. Renouncing everything. HE says, we can transcend the qualities of sattva, rajas and tamas and even transcend knowledge and then silence. Then there is no worry as he has total trust and such people overcome the Ocean of Misery. HE gives the example of a man renouncing everything and tells his family and leaves for the forest. After walking for ~10 kms, he remembers that he had left a silver cup in his garden, outside! He hurries back to tell his wife about it:). Such remouncement is of no use as there is no silence at all.

3. Drop the fruit of action. There is no need to rejoice or regret. Just continue with action. We transcend regret and worry. HE gives the example of a poor man who wins a jackpot and gets one million dollars. He decides to buy a home a home in Beverly Hills and the only home available was 1.25 million. So, he became depressed after winning a lottery!

Man needs to accept and move ahead and be centered in any action.. Such a person goes beyond the dulaity. One who drops all concepts, knowledge, he is in ecstacy, gets intoxicated and celebration happens! Absolute divine love is Celebration is Merger. Laughter makes transcend the intellect. The blissful soul is one who transcends the intellect. But you need intellect in the first place in order to transcend:-). Vedanta means the pinnacle of knowledge. The love that arises makes the head hollow and empty. Such a person who crosses the ocean of misery also allows others to cross over.

HE gives the example of how the mind wavers and cannot be trusted through a story of a old woman who wanted to contribute in the middle of the night as she was not not sure if her mind may change the next day!

HE then says a Guru has 5 qualities and in HIS company

• Sorrow diminishes
• Joy arises in you for no apparent reason
• Awareness and wisdom is protected
• Feel the Abundance
• Hidden talents manifest

HE says, all these things blossom around the Master and they also happen around a child.

Chapter 8: Awakening the Divinity Within

HE says the Divine should be allowed to permeate. Wake the Divine Up is an expression used. God is within each one, sleeping. He says, first man wakes up and then the Divinity is awoken. For those in whom the Divinity is awoken, He is is called a Saint. Wake up the God in you. He is not up in heaven somewhere, He resides within.

HE shares a story of how God wants to run away from man after creating him because man is always complaining to God about something or the other. God found it impossible to satisfy man and shares this with a Saint. The saint tells God to go within the heart of man becuase man will never go there!! What it means is, when you reach your heart, there is no complaint.

And man needs to wake up the God within him. It is symbolised in the Hindu scriptures as Lord Narayana resting on the snake with His consort Lakshmi at his side. When Narayana is woken up, so is Lakshmi. Enlightenement is wakening the Divinity. Most important thing is to remember that the means of being in Love is to be with someone who is in Love / Being in the company of the Divine. When you are with an enlightened Saint, you become like them. When grace comes, grab it!! Often disgruntled people group together!

"Mahath" is what exists beyond the field of ego - in the whole creation. If ego is an atom, beyond the atom, the space is Mahath. Therefore, one who lives in this space element is called Mahatma. The Company of one who is free can give you freedom. Company of the rich will bring you riches. The company of the Divine will make be in Divine Love. Its very difficult to get the company of Saints. You cannot understand their depth. It cannot be described in words.

HE shares a story of a Saint who comes to live just outside a Kingdom. The news spreads of his ability to solve people's problems. The King wanted to go meet the Saint and sends his Commander in Chief to check him out. The saint received him well and the Chief gives a fine report to the King. The king then sends his Minister. He also came back with a good report of being treated well. So, the King visits the Saint, and the Saint turns his back on him!! But the King felt the presence and serenity and was filled with gratitude. He is happy. But the disciples don't understand... This can be explained by the saying, "A good horse runs by the shadow of a whip!". A sensitive person will and can feel the presence.

During the time of Jesus, only 12 innocent people knew Him, the others didn't. It needs some sensitivity. Knowledge of the Divinity in Jesus also comes with Grace only - even for that grace is needed. The ways of the Lord is very different.

Intuition is beyond Reason and Saints work from intuition. Saints are known to scold for no reason.. the Zen Masters are known for it. HE gives the example of a Master walking with a disciple in the forest. There were some boys teasing the disciple for his looks etc and was being taunted for a long time. The disciple didn't react. Later they got onto two different boats to cross the river. The boat carrying the boys toppled over and the boat carrying the Master and disciple was fine. The master is supposed to have slapped the disciple. He says because the disciple didn't react, the boys became the victims of their karma and blamed the disciple for it!! The ways of the Saints is beyond comprehension.

You cannot demand the company of the Saints. One gets it by grace only. It is purely the choice of the Divine to give Company. HE gives another story of a nun reaching hell. The nun is sure there has been a mistake and asks for clarifications with God. God confirms her place in hell as he says he didn't want to be bothered by her, like she did on Earth:). But the taxi driver goes to heaven because he got his passengers to pray sincerely when he drove!!

HE says, when in bliss, there is no sepration between you and the Divine, there is no gap. When your child is scolded, the parents take the blame and claim to be responsible. Do not miss an opportunity to be in good company / satsang. This can take you across the Ocean of Misery.

Chapter 7: The Means to Divine Love

There is a very close co-relation between love and pain. "Why is it so difficult to fall in Love? When the heart breaks, why is it so difficult? When you are alone, why is it so difficult?"

Love and pain have a close connection. We are born with pain. Process of birth is painful. Therefore the child is very tired for weeks. Therefore there are tears when its born. The second experience of a child is Love. The child's eyes are so innocent. Similarly old people's eyes, those >95 years; there is a lightness. "What is the way to Divine Love?"

The great teachers have sung the Means. There is a melody to the Heart. Logic has no rhythm; Logic is Straight. Heart can never deceive. Love is effortless

Means of Love:

1. Going inward - back to Source - Surrender (Mana - outward, nama - inward). When mind withdraws, surrender happens! Ability of the senses is limited; desires are however unlimited. Senses give us limited joy (eg., music, taste, touch - this external world can only tire you out). Knowing this, you get back to the Source. When you say 'lovely', that moment you are in Love. You get in touch with your Nature. observe the senses - be a Witness - You get in touch with the Source. Eg., Story of Mullah Naseeruddin riding a horse!! He goes up and down on the horse and when asked where he way going, he says, "I don't know, ask the horse!"Our senses are the like the horse, we are obsessed with them. Eg. Bulimia. They keep on eating and finally throw up. Similarly with sex. As long as there is feverishness, there can be no love. OCD happens because you don't retire from senses.
2. Retiring from the company of people - removes obsessions. Recharge batteries, Be a Witness. This happens effortlessly in this path. Eg., a muslim gentleman travelled with Guruji 15 years ago. Later, he came with his kids and met Guruji and shared that those five minutes of connection with Guruji had changed his life and that he remembers him everyday. You are that Love. You only have to open the lid.
3. Bhajan - that which we share. To share peace, love, caring -is the Divine. Uninterrupted sharing is Bhajan. The Divine comprehends the opposites. Uninterrupted singing / sharing / connection. Example, "I surrender every night". For example, you think of God only during problems. Do not hold any corner of yourself from Divine Love. Share everything with the Divine. Guilt does not work here. You need to share and offer everything to Divinity. Let Divinity permeate every corner of your life.
4. Even in day-to-day activities, appreciate and see the sacredness, the divinity everywhere, in all that you do. For example, Ayudha Puja -bowing to an inanimate object, car /bus.. it is honoring the Life - everything - this is Puja Example, when you see good qualities in others - you feel uplifted! When you must crticize, say it from your lips. You are saying out of Love. Krishna calls Arjuna - Anasuya - one who does not pick on people - uplifting. Wherever you see beauty, it belongs to the divine. Beauty only triggers the feeling of Divinity. Flowers feel bad when you don't see the divinity. A guest is worshipped as God. Love makes inanimate objects alive!! For example, we have dialogue with the moon. Lions talking, elephants expressing feelings /emotions. Mickey mouse - when you grow up, you don't see life in animals! A child elevates animals to a higher level than itself - that is Divine Love. God never feels jealous because there is no Second. Does God test man or vice-versa? He knows all, why would he ever test?
5. Singing the Glory of God. Listen to good things. God plays all roles - good, bad. Every action and reaction is God. Apparently, when somebody says some scandals, gossip etc., Guruji's grandma used to say, "Shiva Shiva..". The shlokam Badram Karneybhi Shrunayama Deva... means Let me hear only good things; Let my life be of service to all the angels.