The Three Paths

In this talk, Ektaji explains how the tendency of the mind is to go out in the world through the five senses and get stuck in the sense objects. We can only recognize where the mind is getting stuck through the practice of one of the three paths - Karma Yoga, Gnyana Yoga and Bhakti Yoga and go inwards.

Transcript

How is the state of the mind now?

At peace.

What is the meaning of at peace?

When the mind feels relaxed,

It doesn't have any worries.

What is the meaning of relaxed?

How is it when it is not relaxed?

I think that when it is relaxed,

I don't have any process from jobs.

So what is it?

The mind goes out.

That is when you are not relaxed.

How does it go out?

Those who have done knowledge sessions?

Through the five senses.

Yes?

First sense of sight.

That is why I have to keep telling you keep your eyes closed.

What is the point of keeping your eyes open here also and keeping it open in office also?

You might as well be in office.

What are you doing here?

Do you see this?

Here you come so that you go in.

Enough you have gone out.

So how do you go out?

First sense of sight.

Second,

Whatever I hear,

My mind is lost in that.

He said this to me.

He must have said a very simple thing but what does my mind do?

Revine play.

Revine play.

Have you noticed?

This is stress.

Very simple sentence.

He didn't criticise me.

He didn't say anything.

He must have said the sky is blue.

Have you noticed how silly this mind can be?

So I am stuck in sense of sight and sense of sound.

Third,

Smell.

Yeah,

Whatever I smell,

I like it.

I don't like it.

I am stuck in sense of smell.

Fourth,

Sense of taste.

I love that gulab jam.

Wow.

So you ate one,

You ate two,

You ate five,

You ate ten.

Are you done?

After you finished eating,

You are still thinking about it.

Sometimes those ten give you a bad time.

That's why you are thinking about it.

Sometimes we eat just one,

Then also you are thinking,

Oh I should have one more.

Are you seeing this?

How the mind gets stuck?

It holds onto a sense object.

What is a sense object?

If this is my sense of sight,

She is my sense object.

Sense of hearing,

Whatever he said,

His words are sense object.

Are you understanding?

Yeah?

So the mind goes out into the world through the five senses and gets stuck in the sense object.

Which is the fifth sense?

Touch.

Touch.

Yeah?

The mind is so caught up in sex.

You have sex,

Finish it off.

Are you done?

It keeps thinking about sex,

Keeps thinking about it.

If you are done,

You are still thinking about it.

When you are not even done,

You keep thinking,

Regretting why I didn't do.

Are you seeing this?

The mind is stuck in these five sense objects.

Recognize this.

Oh,

This is the tendency of my mind.

Yeah?

Only you can do your homework.

Yeah?

So what is your homework?

Homework number one.

Recognize in which sense object is my mind stuck in.

It is no?

Yeah?

Can anybody here claim that no,

No,

My mind is not stuck in any sense object.

Everybody's mind is stuck in one or two,

Three or all five.

So recognize,

Oh,

This particular sense object is my weakness.

Okay.

Homework number one done,

Suppose.

Then what do I do?

Now I know this is my weakness.

Now?

Now what?

I saw.

I got stuck in this and this is my major weakness.

Now what?

Find a solution.

What is the solution?

Catch it whenever you feel that it's drifting and try to bring it within.

Beautiful.

Perfect.

What is Sudarshan Kriya?

My mind which keeps going out into the world,

What do I do?

Change the direction,

Reverse it,

Go within.

Yes?

That is why during Sudarshan Kriya,

You're not listening to anything.

You're not touching anything,

Not tasting anything.

Yeah?

You're completely within yourself.

So if you don't have the confidence that you can keep your eyes closed,

Please bring blinders next time.

Yes?

Otherwise you've wasted your Sudarshan Kriya.

Great waste of one and a half hour.

Recognize this.

It is to go within.

Shut down.

A computer needs rest.

Yes?

You shut it down.

Once in a while at least,

Even if it's an office computer,

Once in a while they come to their maintenance and go,

Right?

It needs to be shut down for a while.

Yeah?

That's what all spiritual practices are,

Going within.

This mind that is scattered outside,

For a while I go within and I rest within.

Now go within.

Close your eyes for a moment and tell me where is your mind?

Can you touch it?

Tell me.

Is it in your head?

Is it in your heart?

Maybe the right knee.

No,

Maybe under the little toe.

Where is the mind?

Very slowly you may open your eyes.

Where is the mind?

Is the mind inside the body or is the body inside the mind?

Did you ever ask yourself this question?

You've been living with that mind for twenty,

Thirty,

Forty,

Fifty years.

Did you ever ask yourself this question?

Where is the mind?

You just went in,

No?

I wish we could say it's within but it's not for me at least.

This is you.

Okay?

Nice head.

Your mind is within you and all around you.

The body is inside the mind.

Wow,

Did you know that?

The mind is inside and outside this body,

All around this body.

Sometimes when you are in a train,

You are travelling down to Chicago downtown and you are sitting in a train,

You are sitting too close to somebody.

You feel very weird.

Why is it the body might not be touching,

The minds are touching?

You go into a room,

Maybe a temple and you feel very nice.

What is that?

The vibrations of the people.

Everybody in a sattva,

Touching each other.

You go into a bar and see how you feel.

People might not be touching each other but they are so close to each other,

The minds are touching.

Here right now,

Our minds are touching each other.

What happens to this mind when you are in a bar and when you are in a temple?

What is the difference?

What happens?

Tell me.

Energy changes.

So when energy is up right now,

Your batteries are recharged after Sudarshan Kriya.

How are you feeling?

This good feeling is an expanded feeling.

Have you noticed?

What is this expanded feeling?

It is this mind all around which is actually expanded like a balloon right now.

How do you feel when you are very sad,

Depressed,

Lonely?

You feel contracted.

Have you noticed?

When there are negativities,

You feel contracted.

So the mind becomes all shriveled like this.

This is the difference between before Kriya and after Kriya.

This is the difference between before knowledge and after knowledge.

What knowledge?

Science,

Mathematics.

This knowledge of the self,

About the mind.

Just being in a session where everybody is talking,

This knowledge about the mind elevates you.

You know,

Your balloon kind of becomes expanded and taught.

When there are all negativities,

Anger,

Jealousy,

Hatred,

It shrivels.

So whose responsibility is it to keep it inflated and taught?

So that is the entire effort of the spiritual path.

Whether it is practices like Sudarshan Kriya or it is knowledge sessions.

Or it is Satsang.

Have you been to Satsang,

Everybody?

Singing bhajans.

What happens?

The shriveled mind inflates.

You don't realize it using what Ram Ram and Krishna Krishna,

So boring.

But why only one word?

They could have silly lyrics like I can get the moon for you.

What happens?

Again the mind gets lost in the sense of sound.

Do you see?

So to prevent the mind from getting lost in the sense of sound,

Bhajans don't have lyrics.

They have the repetition of the same line or the same word.

Now do you understand why bhajans?

Because that helps inflate this mind.

Do you get it?

So then there are three marks I spoke about right now.

One is the path of practice,

Karma Yoga.

Doing Sudarshan Kriya,

Doing Padmasadna,

Doing all these practices.

This is the path of Karma Yoga.

Second is Gyan Yoga.

Gyan is knowledge.

Understanding this,

What you are doing right now,

Understanding the difference between oh my mind can be like this and like this.

This is Gyan Yoga,

Knowledge.

And third is Bhakti Yoga.

Bhakti Yoga is singing bhajans through the sense of sound.

Inflate this mind.

What is your path?

High time you picked something.

You started on this.

Now you have to keep your batteries recharged.

With what are you going to do it?

This is your homework number two for the day.

What is the path that you are going to choose and stick to it then?

Come what me?

All three are there in art of living.

You have noticed?

Whatever is your path is perfect.

There is nothing right,

There is nothing wrong.

It is perfect for you.

So start walking some path.

If you are interested in joining the knowledge sessions,

We have a new knowledge session beginning this week.

It is an online knowledge session on Thursday evenings.

So you can join that if you are interested.

If not that,

If not an online session you want a session here.

We will begin one soon.

These people have come to the end of Ashtavakra.

Within two months we will begin a new knowledge session series here.

You can join that.

If you enjoy satsang,

We have full moon satsangs,

Right?

Every week,

Every month,

Once every month you can join that.

Whichever is your path,

Hold it and keep walking,

Keep walking.

If you have any questions,

Feel free to ask.

I am always here.

I will give you a five minutes restroom break while the others settle down for knowledge session.

Jai Gurudev!