Frequently Asked Questions
A good student should be a good listener and observer in all humility. When the Master is teaching, he should be alert to grasp the Knowledge. His own sincere study of the subject and his thirst to learn more is a good quality, which impresses the Master. Good student should understand the difference between 'Discussion and Argument'.
A good disciple should have all the qualities of a good student. But more than that he should have a Guru for his spiritual growth and should be committed to walk on the path shown by his Guru. Self-discipline and willingness to follow any Adesh (order) of the Guru is the important factor to become a good disciple. Guru tries to break the ego of the disciple by various methods and tests.
A good devotee should have all the qualities of a good student and a good disciple. Here the most important quality is 100% surrender to the Guru. It is an unwavering faith in the Guru that allows the Guru to bring the transformation in disciple to Experience the Ultimate Truth of his existence. It is a total devotion towards the Guru.
After passing through these phases of Student to Disciple to Devotee, one reaches the Goal. After becoming 100% Devotee, it is a matter of just a few days; it may not take even a month to reach this lifetime Goal.
A good disciple should have all the qualities of a good student. But more than that he should have a Guru for his spiritual growth and should be committed to walk on the path shown by his Guru. Self-discipline and willingness to follow any Adesh (order) of the Guru is the important factor to become a good disciple. Guru tries to break the ego of the disciple by various methods and tests.
A good devotee should have all the qualities of a good student and a good disciple. Here the most important quality is 100% surrender to the Guru. It is an unwavering faith in the Guru that allows the Guru to bring the transformation in disciple to Experience the Ultimate Truth of his existence. It is a total devotion towards the Guru.
After passing through these phases of Student to Disciple to Devotee, one reaches the Goal. After becoming 100% Devotee, it is a matter of just a few days; it may not take even a month to reach this lifetime Goal.
I will say that He is in essence, pure, Unconditional Love. Each one tries to look at Him from different viewpoints and tries to describe Him according to each one's power of imagination. And when we see Him as Love, it becomes easy, as Love is everywhere, in every Living Being. But to go towards that Love, we get obstacles and that obstruction is none other than we ourselves! Nobody stops us from going to God, we ourselves stop, because in between comes our mind! God has given the intelligence to man. To understand this Love, God has given us the knowledge (Gyan), ignorance (Agyan) not to understand Love and with that, also the science (Vigyan).
So, to understand the Knowledge, first of all, man should have intelligence (Buddhi). Lord Ganesha is considered as God of Intelligence. When we look at our own self, our own body, to see where the God is, from where this feeling of Love emanates - is it from my hands? Is it from my eyes? Is it from my heart? Where is it? Since man has been given intelligence, he searches with the help of intelligence what the Truth is. Suppose there is a man, named Vidyasagar, who always wears a Pagdi, a coat and spectacles. His dress has distinguishing features. If any other man dresses like Vidyasagar, and looking at the dress we think he is Vidyasagar, we are wrong. This is ignorance. When we understand that this other man is not Vidyasagar and Vidyasagar is somebody else, this process of understanding is Knowledge. And if the original person, whose distinguishing habits of dressing, whose human form and name is Vidyasagar, is present there, we cannot change this fact. He is Vidyasagar. This is science. This means that, to understand that one is ignorant, one needs knowledge. And when one gets the knowledge and it is proved, it becomes Science.
So as I said, to understand God, first of all, man should make use of his brain/buddhi (intelligence). 'Who am I? Where have I come from? What am I doing? Who is around me? How do I look?' This buddhi decides what should be done, what should not be done, etc. and this buddhi gives us knowledge. When we move from place to place we observe our surroundings - the atmosphere, the Nature, the people. What do the people around say, how they walk, talk, sit - their mannerisms, or anything that comes in front of us - in short, whatever is there apart from us, we come to know with the help of buddhi. When we use our intelligence and observe, we understand what is happening around us. And like this, when we mould ourselves, we comprehend the truth. So knowledge always takes us in the direction of truth and when it is proved it becomes a doctrine (Siddhant) and that becomes Science (Vigyan). Perceiving Ishwar is a process of understanding one's own self, understanding the Unconditional Love. Here comes the question of 'What is the knowledge of Love?' Many people applied their intelligence to describe Love - it should be like this, it should be like that, it should be a great force, and it should come from deep within... Everybody tries to describe it using their intelligence but when actually they felt that immense Love, they realized that there was no need for any of these words. Because it was experienced by a small child - a newborn baby, who cannot speak, who just looks at the world with innocent smile! There was no sin in him. As soon as they saw him, they knew that this newborn is Love personified!
So, to understand the Knowledge, first of all, man should have intelligence (Buddhi). Lord Ganesha is considered as God of Intelligence. When we look at our own self, our own body, to see where the God is, from where this feeling of Love emanates - is it from my hands? Is it from my eyes? Is it from my heart? Where is it? Since man has been given intelligence, he searches with the help of intelligence what the Truth is. Suppose there is a man, named Vidyasagar, who always wears a Pagdi, a coat and spectacles. His dress has distinguishing features. If any other man dresses like Vidyasagar, and looking at the dress we think he is Vidyasagar, we are wrong. This is ignorance. When we understand that this other man is not Vidyasagar and Vidyasagar is somebody else, this process of understanding is Knowledge. And if the original person, whose distinguishing habits of dressing, whose human form and name is Vidyasagar, is present there, we cannot change this fact. He is Vidyasagar. This is science. This means that, to understand that one is ignorant, one needs knowledge. And when one gets the knowledge and it is proved, it becomes Science.
So as I said, to understand God, first of all, man should make use of his brain/buddhi (intelligence). 'Who am I? Where have I come from? What am I doing? Who is around me? How do I look?' This buddhi decides what should be done, what should not be done, etc. and this buddhi gives us knowledge. When we move from place to place we observe our surroundings - the atmosphere, the Nature, the people. What do the people around say, how they walk, talk, sit - their mannerisms, or anything that comes in front of us - in short, whatever is there apart from us, we come to know with the help of buddhi. When we use our intelligence and observe, we understand what is happening around us. And like this, when we mould ourselves, we comprehend the truth. So knowledge always takes us in the direction of truth and when it is proved it becomes a doctrine (Siddhant) and that becomes Science (Vigyan). Perceiving Ishwar is a process of understanding one's own self, understanding the Unconditional Love. Here comes the question of 'What is the knowledge of Love?' Many people applied their intelligence to describe Love - it should be like this, it should be like that, it should be a great force, and it should come from deep within... Everybody tries to describe it using their intelligence but when actually they felt that immense Love, they realized that there was no need for any of these words. Because it was experienced by a small child - a newborn baby, who cannot speak, who just looks at the world with innocent smile! There was no sin in him. As soon as they saw him, they knew that this newborn is Love personified!
If you know something, which the other person is telling, do not stop him by saying that you know it. Listen to him.
If you know something, which you want to tell others, speak very little.
If you do not know something and if the other person is telling about it then do not open your mouth... listen to him carefully.
If you know something, which you want to tell others, speak very little.
If you do not know something and if the other person is telling about it then do not open your mouth... listen to him carefully.
Kriya Yoga is a self-accepted path. 90% of physical problems are related to mind. Counseling can help in energy transfer. Similarly, the collective energy of many people helps to raise energy levels. More than anything, one should be willing to accept any knowledge/healing - then the process of changing mindset becomes simple.
The root cause of stress is peeping into future or thinking about past. One person gets in one day lakhs of thoughts - of your interest, thoughts are less - irrelevant thoughts are numerous. I am not here 100% when thinking on past/future. Right now I am here - I should give my 100%. During my speech at India Calling Conference - I was asked the same question by top business delegates. To them I responded - "Giving quality time to oneself – is the key to reducing blood pressure or stress".
Whenever you feel conquered by stressful thoughts, disconnect all software, hardware. Sit quietly, close eyes, and take a deep breath. Meditation is just like telephone operating system. Which socket your thought is there - when restless - unplug it - and put it into sugam sangeet (sweet music). When you feel relaxed, again put back plug in thought you have. This is best solution to stress.
Whenever you feel conquered by stressful thoughts, disconnect all software, hardware. Sit quietly, close eyes, and take a deep breath. Meditation is just like telephone operating system. Which socket your thought is there - when restless - unplug it - and put it into sugam sangeet (sweet music). When you feel relaxed, again put back plug in thought you have. This is best solution to stress.
You mean you do not get disturbances in day-to-day life except in spiritual practice? Disturbance means losing concentration from the subject. In any activity, when you want to give your 100% and at the same time, thoughts of different subject divert your original thought, you become disturbed. When you sit for spiritual practice, what exactly you do? Do you think about your survival issues ... about your day to day problems ... or about any emotions? No you are thinking about your soul connection with the Divine Supreme Soul. The same Thinking you want to convert into your Direct Experience of the Truth. When many subconscious thoughts of various subjects are drawing your attention during your Spiritual Sadhana you lose focus part from your subject. Regular meditation and determination in concentration will help you to avoid disturbances.