Saint Kabir Session 9 - Q&A On Kabir's methods

Listen to Ektaji answer questions about Saint Kabir's teachings on non-duality. These teachings are aimed at the experiential understanding of the true nature of the self and are focused on the idea of the oneness of everything.

Transcript

That is If somebody would come with,

No but I want to really do my Krishna's puja and I believe in my Krishna,

He would say,

No problem,

You believe in your Krishna and you do your Krishna's puja,

Everything is great.

Ya,

When the mind is agitated and you've just had a fight with the family member to feel better if you feel Krishna is my friend,

I go talk to Krishna for 10 minutes and my mind calms down,

What's bad in that?

Perfect,

Very good.

But still I am telling you there is something higher.

There is something higher by you doing your Krishna's puja and talking to Krishna.

Do you attain the highest?

Simple,

He would leave it at a question.

He would not push the person or argue with the person.

That is the quality of Kabir.

He would leave it at a question.

What does it mean when somebody stops at a question?

He's probing you to think for yourself.

Get there by your own self.

Only when you get there by your own understanding can you retain something.

When you learn something just because she said so,

Because he said so,

Your firm conviction is not there.

Your parthith has not happened.

So it fizzles out and that is why so many people's practices does not help them at all to get to the highest truth because they are practicing at the level of the mind expecting that this practice of the level of the mind is going to take me to the highest truth.

They are two different levels.

So he would just very like in a childlike innocent manner bring up the question,

Really is this taking you there?

You see and that would help that person to start thinking and reasoning and recognizing yeah this only calms my mind down for whatever 30 minutes,

40 minutes and then I'm back to the same shouting,

Screaming,

Unhappy person.

So then what is the problem?

He would probe,

Help you probe deeper within.

Kabir's path is the path of Advaita Vedanta.

And on the path of Advaita Vedanta,

It is only recognizing the witness consciousness and we did it already.

It is just a one step process.

You do not have to go to any Mandir.

You do not have to go for 100 days of meditating on the Himalayas.

No in one second.

The witness is already there.

It's not so tough.

It is different if your mind wants it to be a tougher journey.

Then it's going to be tough for you.

There is no other option.

Your mind says that how can it be so easy?

How can I get there in a second?

Okay,

So be it.

Advaita will wait for you.

No problem.

Advaita is not going anywhere.

You go play in the world.

Do all your jab tap.

Do everything and when you realize this is really not working.

This comes back again and again and again and again.

I fall on my face again and again and again and again.

It has to be something more that I'm missing.

Then you can come back to Advaita.

But really if you have the firm conviction that it is not easily attainable and I have to make an effort,

Please do that.

Run for five years.

It's okay.

Five years is not a big time loss.

Run please run.

In every which way.

This meditation,

That meditation,

This satsang,

That bhajan,

That god,

This god,

This religion,

That religion,

Whatever appeals to you.

It is all fine,

All perfect.

Go run please run.

Why?

Because only after running,

Running,

Running can you realize that running does not get me there.

Otherwise you're not going to realize.

This particular session is for those people who've already wasted their 5,

10,

15,

20 years running and now realized,

Oh my god,

It was so simple.

What have I been doing?

This session is for those,

Not for the people who have not run enough yet.

No.

Okay.

So I don't know na where you are.

Only you can recognize where you are.

You go with them and recognize are you the first type or the second type and do appropriately.

Take care.

No.

1 When I do yoga and I keep my body in a very healthy state,

It's easier for my mind to be calmer and when my mind and body is calmer,

It's easier for me to recognize the highest truth that I am beyond the body and beyond the mind.

I am that witness.

Wow.

I can get there easily.

So for that is to help people who are suffering the yogic exercises,

Postures,

Pranayams,

Asanas,

Everything which will help keep the body fit and healthy were created.

Now just that is not sufficient.

Even the mind needs to be calm.

So then breathing techniques were created.

Chanting techniques were created.

Calm the mind down.

Relax.

It's fantastic to use these techniques.

I'm not saying don't use these techniques or Kabir is not saying don't use these techniques.

I clarified this at least twice during the song.

Yeah.

He's saying use these techniques when they're required.

When the body is not healthy,

I have to make an effort to be a little more healthy.

When the mind is diseased,

I have to cure that disease of the mind.

Anger is a disease.

Hatred is a disease.

Jealousy is a very,

Very,

Very dirty disease.

You need to work on the mind when it's required.

That the highest trip is beyond the body and beyond the mind.

Beyond both.

And it's so easy to see it.

In one second I can see it.

But if I am very caught up in the body and very caught up in the mind because of their diseases,

I will not be able to see the truth.

That ik palka talash then will have to become das salka talash.

Be salka talash.

That one second of search will have to now be extended to 10 years,

20 years,

30 years because my body and mind are diseased.

Do you get it?

Yeah.

So when your body and mind after 5,

10,

15,

20 years of your own sadhana path become a little more satvik,

A little more healthy.

You become a little calmer as a person naturally.

Then when you hear this truth,

You're like,

Yeah,

This is it.

And then you feel,

Oh,

I wasted my 20 years.

No,

No,

No.

Don't worry.

It was not a waste.

It was required for your path to make your body and mind healthy.

You have to come to this stage where just by listening to the truth,

You get it.

Aha.

Oh yeah.

The witness is there.

I can experience it right now.

It is here right now.

Me hai toh te re paas re.

I am already there with you.

Yeah.

Do seva also.

Again,

Seva is not to bring you to the witness consciousness.

Seva is for letting your ego down for some time.

Yes.

So that I don't keep thinking about I,

I,

Mine,

Mine,

Mine.

For a little while,

I relax that I.

I relax that mine and move ahead and do something for others.

Yes.

For the beginners on the path of seva,

This is the goal of seva.

Now somebody who gets enlightened,

Who comes to that witness consciousness,

For him,

The meaning of seva totally changes,

Transforms.

It's another level.

He comes to this witness consciousness and he realizes,

I am that witness consciousness.

She is that witness consciousness.

He is that,

Oh everybody is that.

There is no divide.

This divide was only mental and I am beyond that mental level.

I am not the body.

I am not the mind.

I am this field of witness,

This field of consciousness.

This field of Brahman.

And then in that field,

There is no I and no you left anymore.

The duality is gone.

Yes.

When this duality is dropped,

When I recognize that in my core,

We are all one,

Then there is nothing like doing seva for another person.

It is serving my own self.

Yeah.

But this is at a higher level.

If my finger is cut or my toe is cut,

I will take care of my own toe.

I will take care of my own finger.

I will bandage it.

I will see that I do not keep stubbing it into the wrong places.

I will keep it safe.

When I don't see a difference between I and you,

I will want to take care of you also.

I want to keep you also safe.

I want to keep you also protected.

You see the difference?

Yes.

So,

Initially,

Beginner level seva is not going to take you to the oneness.

Seva is done here so that for some time,

My ego,

My so-called I drops.

I become a little calmer,

A quieter person in the mind rather than thinking about me and my suffering all the time and getting myself agitated with those thoughts.

I just calm down and help somebody else.

Just helping another person heals me.

It calms me down.

That's all.

That's all that it's going to do.

It's working at the level of body and mind.

Very soon,

We will come from this lower level of seva where we do it for calming our own ego,

Softening our own ego to the witness.

And then that level of seva is completely altogether another thing.

Number one,

Please Google the meaning of witness.

What does a witness do?

A witness is a witness.

Witness does not get involved.

Witness is not a spectator.

Witness is not audience.

Witness does not experience anything.

Witness just is.

Yes,

Sakshi,

Witness.

And you will realize that the witness does guide you in some moments,

But you don't listen to the witness.

Once in a while,

You hear an angel tell you from inside,

No,

No,

Don't do this.

But because of your old habit patterns,

You say,

No.

How did she talk to me like this?

This is wrong.

I am going to do this.

So then your ego won over that soft voice that comes only once.

It talks to you only once.

Then the ego and the intellect bring up thousands of justifications and prove how I have to do this wrong action.

Otherwise,

How will that other person learn?

He's wrong.

I have to tell him he's wrong.

So you have to recognize witness is a witness.

And the moment the mind takes a dip into that witness for a second,

The mind does come up with the real answer,

But it loses it again because of the ego.