Commentary on Paramahansa Nityananda's Chidakasha Gita–Number 22
by Swami Nirmalananda Giri

Chidakasha Gita:
Verses 122-129

122. Omkar is the elite of all. Omkar is like the dawn of the sun. Omkar is the witness of all. Omkar is the most frightful of all forms. Omkar is fire. There is not a greater thing in this universe than fire. Fire is pervading both internally and externally. In the middle is the earth. The earth is below; air is above. Air pervades the universe; the universe is in air. The first is air; the second is fire. The first is discrimination; the second is sound. Soundlessness is in the form of air. Soundlessness is eternal bliss. It is existence-knowledge-bliss. The self should be merged in soundlessness. The visible world is in the self. When Sat unites with Chit, Ananda is realized. This Ananda is Vivekananda, Chaitanyananda, Sri Brahmananda, Paramananda, Sri Nityananda, and Satchidananda. What is manliness is the realization of this ananda. This is Brahma Jnana, Yoga Jnana, Kala Jnana. This Tri-Kala-Jnana is in the heart. In the heart is mukti. Nityananda Mukti is in the heart.

• Omkar is the elite of all.

I have no idea what word is translated “elite” here, but considering Nityananda’s other statements regarding Om I think we are safe in assuming that he means that Om is the supreme mantra. If this seems doubtful, here are some quotations from the upanishads, Shankara, and Gaudapada.

“That [Om] is the quintessence of the essences, the Supreme, the highest” (Chandogya Upanishad 1.1.3).

“I will tell you briefly of that Goal which all the Vedas with one voice propound, which all the austerities speak of, and wishing for Which people practice discipline: It is Om. Om, indeed, is the Lower Brahman; this is, indeed, the Higher Brahman. Anyone who, meditating on Om, wishes either of the Two [aspects], by him that is attained. This [Om] is the best means [of attainment and realization]; this means is the Higher and Lesser Brahman. Meditating on Om, one becomes worthy of worship in the world of Brahman” (Katha Upanishad 1. 2.15-17).

“One should meditate on the syllable Om, which is the Udgitha. This syllable, Om, as the Name of the Supreme Reality, is nearest to Him; when It is used He surely becomes gracious just as a man becomes so when his favorite name is used. …It is a symbol [indicator] of the Supreme Self (Paramatma). Thus it is known in all the Upanishads that Om, as a name and as a symbol, holds the highest position of being an aid to the meditation of the Supreme Self. …The syllable Om is the inmost essence of all essences. It is supreme because of Its being the symbol of the Supreme Self. It is competent to be worshipped as the Supreme Self. It is competent to take the place of the Supreme Self since It is to be worshipped like the Supreme Self” (Shankara, Commentary on the Chandogya Upanishad).

“Om being beyond measures is Turiya, It has infinite dimension and Its extent cannot be determined. It is auspicious and holy because of the negation of all duality. He who knows Om is a sage because of his meditating on the Supreme Reality, and not any other man, though he may be learned in the scriptures” (Shankara, Commentary on the Mandukya Karika).

“Dismiss other utterances. This [Om] is the bridge to immortality” (Mundaka Upanishad 2.2.5).

“Having known Om, one should not think of anything whatsoever [but Om]” (Gaudapada, Mandukya Karika 24).

“Om is surely the lower Brahman; and Om is considered to be the higher Brahman. Om is without cause, and without inside and outside; and It is undecaying. Om is indeed the beginning, middle, and end–everything. Having known this way indeed one attains immediately. One should know Om to be God seated in the hearts of all. Meditating on the all-pervasive Om, the intelligent man grieves no more. The Om, without measures and possessed of infinite dimension, is the auspicious entity where all duality ceases. He by whom Om is known, is the real sage, and not so is any other man” (Gaudapada, Mandukya Karika 24,26-29).

“When the syllable Om is known, one should not think of anything whatsoever, serving any seen or unseen purpose; for he has got all his desires fulfilled” (Shankara, Commentary on the Mandukya Karika).

“Om is used to serve as a means to the meditation on Brahman. As other scriptures say, ‘This is the best help (to the realization of Brahman) and the highest.’…‘One should concentrate on the Self, uttering Om.’ [Mahanarayan Upanishad 24:1] ‘One should meditate upon the Supreme Being only through the Syllable Om.’ [Prashna Upanishad 5:5] ‘Meditate upon the Self with the help of the Syllable Om.’ [Mundaka Upanishad 2.2.6] And so on. Although the words ‘Brahman,’ ‘Atman,’ etc. are names of Brahman, yet on the authority of the scriptures we know that Om is Its most intimate appellation. Therefore it is the best means for the realization of Brahman” (Shankara, Commentary on the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad).

• Omkar is like the dawn of the sun.

Here are some supporting quotations:

“Now, verily, what is the udgitha is the Om. What is Om is the udgitha. And so verily, the udgitha is the yonder sun and the Om, for the sun is continually sounding ‘Om’” (Chandogya Upanishad 1.5.1).

“Even as a great extending highway runs between two villages, this one and that yonder, even so the rays of the sun go to both these worlds, this one and that yonder. They start from the yonder sun and enter into the nadis [astral “nerves”]. They start from the nadis and enter into the yonder sun. …When a man departs from this body, then he goes upwards by these very rays or he goes up with the thought of Om. As his mind is failing, he goes to the sun. That, verily, is the gateway of the world, an entering in for the knowers, a shutting out for the non-knowers” (Chandogya Upanishad 8.6.2,5).

“Then Satyakama, son of Shibi, asked him [the Rishi Pippalada]: ‘Venerable Sir, what world does he who meditates on Om until the end of his life, win by That?’ To him, he said: ‘If he meditates on the Supreme Being [Parampurusha] with the Syllable Om, he becomes one with the Light, the Sun. He is led to the world of Brahman. He sees the Person that dwells in the body, Who is higher than the highest life. …That the wise one attains, even by the mere sound Om as support, That Which is tranquil, unaging, immortal, fearless, and supreme” (Prashna Upanishad 5:1,5,7).

• Omkar is the witness of all.

Being all things, Om reveals all things.

“Verily, the Syllable Om is all this, yea, the Syllable Om is all this” (Chandogya Upanishad 2.23.3).

“Om: this Syllable is all this” (Mandukya Upanishad 1,8,12).

“All that is past, the present and the future, all this is only the Syllable Om. And whatever else there is beyond the threefold time, that too is only the Syllable Om” (Mandukya Upanishad 1,8,12).

• Omkar is the most frightful of all forms.

All that is evil flees from the intonation of Om. Yogananda wrote that if Om is intoned in the right ear of a possessed person, the possessing entity will leave. He also advised people bothered with nightmares to trace Om on their pillow before they went to sleep. (He also advised them to trace “Om Tat Sat” for the same purpose.)

• Omkar is fire. There is not a greater thing in this universe than fire. Fire is pervading both internally and externally.

Cosmic fire is one aspect of Om.

“As the form of fire when latent in its source is not seen and yet its seed is not destroyed, but may be seized again and again in its source by means of the drill [a pointed stick whirled to produce fire for the Vedic sacrifices], so it is in both cases. The Self has to be seized in the body by means of the Syllable Om. By making one’s body the lower friction stick and the Syllable Om the upper friction stick, by practicing the friction of meditation one may see the hidden God, as it were” (Svetasvatara Upanishad 1:13,14).

• In the middle is the earth. The earth is below; air is above. Air pervades the universe; the universe is in air. The first is air; the second is fire. The first is discrimination; the second is sound. Soundlessness is in the form of air. Soundlessness is eternal bliss. It is existence-knowledge-bliss.

Having spoken of the universal power of Om, Nityananda now tells us that Satchidananda is Silence. However: “I abandon all thoughts and notions; contemplating Om, I shall remain in the self, in total inner silence” (Yoga Vashishtha 5:81). So Om leads to silence, and actually is Itself silence.

• The self should be merged in soundlessness.

This is done by the japa and meditation of Om.

• The visible world is in the self.

This is a fundamental tenet of Advaita Vedanta. The world “around” us is really within us. That is, our sense experiences are nothing more than neurological interpretations conveyed to and interpreted by our brains. Certainly, something is “out there” but that which we consider external reality is really only our internal imaging of it. The cosmos is a dream of Ishwara, God, and we–our Self–are dreaming inside that dream. Therefore, to know the world as it is we must know the Self.

• When Sat unites with Chit, Ananda is realized. This Ananda is Vivekananda, Chaitanyananda, Sri Brahmananda, Paramananda, Sri Nityananda, and Satchidananda.

That is, it is of the character of viveka, chaitanya, Brahman, Supreme Reality, Boundlessness, and Existence-consciousness-bliss Absolute.

• What is manliness is the realization of this ananda.

The realization of God is the fundamental drive of the human being. A person who is not seeking this realization is not living as a human being in the essential sense. To truly be a human being is to be actively seeking God-realization. To not do so is to waste this human birth.

• This is Brahma Jnana, Yoga Jnana, Kala Jnana.

To know God is the fruit of Yoga. It is also the knowledge of time and destiny–to look back at all our incarnations in relative existence and to comprehend them as steps leading to Liberation.

• This Tri-Kala-Jnana is in the heart. In the heart is mukti. Nityananda Mukti is in the heart.

This is all in the Chidakasha, in the Sahasrara Chakra in the head.

123. Bhakti is prema (love). Giving to eat or eating is not bhakti. It is the delusion of the mind. It is pertaining to the body. There should be subtle eating and drinking. One should drink the water of discrimination. Peace is water. Yogananda is sitting on the water of peace. O mind! Leave off worldly pleasures and enjoy eternal bliss! O mind! Leave off worldly joy and enjoy eternal joy! Enter into the eternal, O mind! Run into the heart; the real enjoyment is in the heart; enjoy that pleasure which is called mukti. Live in it. Enter into the internal, leaving off the external. O mind! Open the third (divine) eye. Do not be thinking of anything else. See the world with same-sightedness.

• Bhakti is prema (love).

Devotion is love of God, not exterior signs and actions, especially it is not those abnormal psychological states which manifest as cataclysmic physical phenomena and loss of sober good sense. This is folly masquerading as devotion (bhakti). It is good to repeat here the words of Vivekananda cited in the commentary of aphorism ninety-eight: “All over the world there have been dancing and jumping and howling sects, who spread like infection when they begin to sing and dance and preach; they also are a sort of hypnotists. They exercise a singular control for the time being over sensitive persons, alas! often, in the long run, to degenerate whole races. Ay, it is healthier for the individual or the race to remain wicked than be made apparently good by such morbid extraneous control. One’s heart sinks to think of the amount of injury done to humanity by such irresponsible yet well-meaning religious fanatics. They little know that the minds which attain to sudden spiritual upheaval under their suggestions, with music and prayers, are simply making themselves passive, morbid, and powerless, and opening themselves to any other suggestion, be it ever so evil. Little do these ignorant, deluded persons dream that whilst they are congratulating themselves upon their miraculous power to transform human hearts, which power they think was poured upon them by some Being above the clouds, they are sowing the seeds of future decay, of crime, of lunacy, and of death. Therefore, beware of everything that takes away your freedom. Know that it is dangerous, and avoid it by all the means in your power.”

The above is a perfect picture of the so-called “Hare Krishna Movement” which has degenerated into madness, scandal, and criminality.

• Giving to eat or eating is not bhakti. It is the delusion of the mind. It is pertaining to the body.

The false devotion just described above is rooted in sensuality. Throughout the ages it has been seen that there is a close–if not a causal–relation between greed and sexuality. Here, too, the Hare Krishna movement is an example. Those of us who recall its beginning remember well that “feasts” and “nice prasadam” were an obsession with them as well as a supposed means of converting people to their movement. The “Sunday feast” was a major event wherever they had a temple or center. They developed a virtual theology of “prasadam” that reflected their food addiction/obsession. Nityananda was quite familiar with this in India, along with the food obsession that manifests as a myriad rules about how food should be cooked, served, and eaten–especially with determining who is fit to cook the food or be eaten with.

• There should be subtle eating and drinking. One should drink the water of discrimination.

Viveka and vairagya should be our food and drink.

• Peace is water. Yogananda is sitting on the water of peace.

Yogic joy is being established in peace, the peace of the Self.

• O mind! Leave off worldly pleasures and enjoy eternal bliss! O mind! Leave off worldly joy and enjoy eternal joy! Enter into the eternal, O mind!

As Jesus said: “No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon” (Matthew 6:24). Worldly pleasures, worldly joy, and the world itself are incompatible with eternal bliss and eternal joy–and with the Eternal Itself.

• Run into the heart; the real enjoyment is in the heart; enjoy that pleasure which is called mukti. Live in it. Enter into the internal, leaving off the external.

In the Chidakasha, in the Sahasrara is real happiness, real joy. The outer must be left behind to experience the inner. Delusion must be abandoned to know the Real.

• O mind! Open the third (divine) eye. Do not be thinking of anything else. See the world with same-sightedness.

See the world in, through, and as God. The inner eye of Consciousness, of Shiva, must be opened through Yoga, which should be the central fact and interest of our life. Then the jiva will be revealed as Shiva.

124. Japa cannot be performed by the finger-tips. Japa cannot be performed by the tongue. Shiva cannot be attained by manas. Karma cannot be done with the hands. Karma cannot be done with legs. O mind! Perform karma without attachment. Being desireless, see the world.

• Japa cannot be performed by the finger-tips. Japa cannot be performed by the tongue.

Repetition of a mantra is fully effective only when it is extremely subtle and an act of the Self within the buddhi or intelligence.

• Shiva cannot be attained by manas.

The lower mind cannot reach Shiva-loka, the level of consciousness that is divine. Rather, the buddhi must be expanded and refined through effective yoga practice. Then the Self can be known.

• Karma cannot be done with the hands. Karma cannot be done with legs. O mind! Perform karma without attachment. Being desireless, see the world.

Here Nityananda teaches us the nature of action itself as an “act” of the intelligence (buddhi). Karma yoga, then, is also purely intellectual. Even though carried out in external action, it is primarily an internal affair.

We cannot “see” the world accurately until we become desireless. Consequently we cannot fully understand our life in the world–or ourself–without being desireless.

125. Mean dispositions of the mind are senselessness. This senselessness is the pariah (outcaste). Joking and mocking at others, hypocrisy, pride and envy, etc. are the pariah characteristics. He whose skin is black, he whose clothes are black, is not a pariah. A man who has a turban on his head, a wristwatch on his wrist, is a pariah if he does not recognize the equality in all. One who is a pauper is not a pariah, but he who is selfish and is full of differences is a pariah. He is not a man who has not realized the truth of Vedanta. Liberation in one’s lifetime is that Vedanta which is like a trained horse. But the Vedanta which is like a wild elephant is not mukti but delusion.

• Mean dispositions of the mind are senselessness.

Ignorance is unawarenesss–senselessness. Those who indulge such mental distortions plunge themselves even further into illusion. The cycle seems endless, compounding from life to life.

• This senselessness is the pariah (outcaste).

It is this incorrigible disposition of mind which renders us unfit for association with others.

• Joking and mocking at others, hypocrisy, pride and envy, etc. are the pariah characteristics.

And all those who possess such characteristics should be avoided lest they infect us with the same. As Yogananda said: “Company is greater than will power.”

• He whose skin is black, he whose clothes are black, is not a pariah.

There is an incredible color prejudice in India. I have written about this elsewhere, so I won’t go into it here since it is such a sad and shameful thing. As Nityananda rightly says, it is conduct not skin pigmentation or clothing that makes us unfit as human beings.

• A man who has a turban on his head, a wristwatch on his wrist, is a pariah if he does not recognize the equality in all.

Whether a person pretends to be conservative and traditional in his religion and life, or whether he is eager to be up-to-date and progressive, both are worthless if they do not see the divine value of all sentient beings and the divine origin of insentient being.

• One who is a pauper is not a pariah, but he who is selfish and is full of differences is a pariah.

That is clear. Those people who keep drawing lines of difference everywhere to separate themselves and somehow make themselves superior to others are the real outcastes.

• He is not a man who has not realized the truth of Vedanta.

Self-realization is “the truth of Vedanta” and the only purpose of human life. Those who do not pursue that knowledge are wasting their life and denying the essence of their humanity.

• Liberation in one’s lifetime [jivanmukti] is that Vedanta which is like a trained horse.

That is, the realized person is a disciplined person who has mastered himself fully. That is real Vedanta.

• But the Vedanta which is like a wild elephant is not mukti but delusion.

But false Vedanta is that which quotes high ideas and abstract philosophy, while having no self-discipline and therefore no self-purification. Such persons run amok on all levels and yet pride themselves on the intellectual gymnastics which they think render themselves more sophisticated and intelligent then others. In reality they are infinitely lesser than those they despise for not being like themselves. This is true in both East and West, but it really prevails in the West. “Vedanta for the West” and “American Vedanta” is a pathetic joke in most instances.

126. A selfish mind is not steady (firm). A subtle discrimination is steady. What is creation is peace. What is creation is “witnesshood.” What is creation is subtle discrimination. Subtle discrimination gives us health-giving contentment. Subtle discrimination is the seed of mukti. Trickery (yukti) is not superior to shakti. Trickery is subject to shakti. Trickery is the delusion of the mind. Shakti is from the atman. Subtle discrimination is the real buddhi. Shakti truly so called is subtle discrimination.

• A selfish mind is not steady (firm).

Such a mind is unsteady because it is fixed on things that are in constant flux: ego, emotions, sense-experience, and the world itself. Being projections of ignorance they are unreal, and there is certainly no stability in dreams and mirages.

• A subtle discrimination is steady.

Steadiness is only possible when our awareness is centered in that which is unchanging: the Self and the Supreme Self. To to this we must be able to enter the subtle levels of our existence and to literally live there. This requires refinement on all levels of our being. Purification is the first step–purification of body and mind through thought, behavior, and diet. The actual refinement occurs in and through meditation, and is continued and preserved through japa outside meditation. In this way we are enabled to maintain the process of meditation continually, and that is the subtle steadiness Nityananda is speaking about.

• What is creation is peace. What is creation is “witnesshood.” What is creation is subtle discrimination.

This is extremely interesting. Because we project our ignorance on the external world we attribute ignorance to it and speak frequently of “maya” and so forth, but Nityananda is looking at creation as it really is: divine manifestation.

“He who does not agitate the world, and who is not agitated by the world, who is freed from joy, envy, fear, and distress [anxiety], is dear to Me” (Bhagavad Gita 12:15). Keeping this in mind, we realize that the adept yogi finds the world an abode of peace because he experiences being the witness, and is not caught in its ever-changing appearances. The universe is really wisdom embodied, but when misused by the unwise it becomes a source of pain and confusion. The yogi, whose buddhi has become subtle (refined), is not pained or confused, but moves through the world in perfect knowing, perfect peace, making an instrument of his enlightened will.

• Subtle discrimination gives us health-giving contentment.

There is a contentment that is pathological, arising from a false sense of egoic security, but those of subtle mind are at ease in the wisdom of discrimination which protects them from falling into the traps of suffering. They are safe and at peace in a dangerous and agitating world. Why? Because they are really living in the Self, untouched by the world.

• Subtle discrimination is the seed of mukti.

Through enlightened discrimination, through perfect viveka, we cultivate the seed of liberation until it comes to fruition in our total freedom.

• Trickery (yukti) is not superior to shakti. Trickery is subject to shakti. Trickery is the delusion of the mind. Shakti is from the atman.

Yukti is reasoning about something. In philosophical texts it usually means right reasoning about spiritual truths, but here Nityananda uses it in the sense of limited intellectual conclusions that are erroneous, and which will be swept away by yogic experience, which here he refers to as shakti–the power of realization. Truth cannot be known by the lower mind, but only by the higher mind, the buddhi, when it is transformed by sadhana shakti into an instrument of divine intuition, of “that innermost secret: knowledge of God which is nearer than knowing, open vision direct and instant. Understand this and be free for ever from birth and dying with all their evil. This is the knowledge above all other: purifier and king of secrets, only made plain to the eye of the mystic. Great is its virtue, its practice easy: thus man is brought to truth eternal” (Bhagavad Gita 9:1, 2).

Sadhana shakti is the revelatory power of the Self, coming directly from the Self. In the sadhaka, the Self is already in operation, Itself the guide and teacher, the Atma-Guru of all.

• Subtle discrimination is the real buddhi. Shakti truly so called is subtle discrimination.

It is the subtle perception that is the intelligence of the yogi, that is both the atmic shakti and its vehicle.

“Therefore, become a yogi” (Bhagavad Gita 6:46).

127. What you see with the physical eye is the gross intellect. What you see outside is the gross intellect. What you see inside is not Hari. What is visible is not Shiva. What you see inside is not the universe. In Shiva is Hari; in Hari is not Shiva.

• What you see with the physical eye is the gross intellect. What you see outside is the gross intellect.

We never see what is really “there,” but the messages of the senses enter into the brain and are interpreted and perceived there within. This is the manas, the sensory mind that is a bundle of interior impressions produced from outside us. It is not the buddhi, the intelligent mind, which must be continually developed.

• What you see inside is not Hari. What is visible is not Shiva.

As with aphorism 118, the modern puranic gods are not being spoken of here, but the two aspects of Brahman, immanent and transcendent, the relative and the absolute. Basically, this sentence means that the manas never sees anything of Divinity, that the lower mind can know nothing of spiritual realities.

• What you see inside is not the universe.

What we see is only our dream of the universe.

• In Shiva is Hari; in Hari is not Shiva.

The Absolute contains–encompasses–the Relative, but the Relative does not encompass the Absolute. Thus, to know the Relative we must unite with the Absolute. When Jesus said: “Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you” (Matthew 6:33), he was speaking quite literally regarding the hierarchy of knowledge. Although people grasp after relative existence and its objects, they will never gain anything until they turn toward the Absolute and seek That alone. Only those who turn from and renounce the world can win the world. This is the divine irony, the puzzle that few figure out.

128. The subtle intellect is buddhi or jnana. The internal concentration is one-pointed. The gross intellect is like a horse which is not controlled by reins. The intelligence which is acquired from others is not permanent. It is not Hari; it is not Shiva. That which is imparted by the guru is the subtle intelligence. It is never gross. The gross intelligence is bestial. He is not a man who does not return what he has received.

• The subtle intellect is buddhi or jnana.

The illumined-wisdom level of the human being is the refined buddhi or intellect. Its wisdom is intuitive, but it is capable of conveying it in intellectual terms. The energies of which it is composed are so subtle, so rarefied, that they are almost indistinguishable from spirit. For this reason many developing yogis can not at first discriminate between the buddhi and the Self. But as they continue in their sadhana all becomes clear.

The interesting point here is that jnana is not a set of ideas or even of insights, but a condition of the buddhi itself–the state of enlightenment, even in its beginning stages. So a jnani is not a philosopher but a yogi whose inner eye is opened and steadily developing.

• The internal concentration is one-pointed.

Many aspiring yogis struggle to make the mind one-pointed and mostly tire and frustrate themselves in the trying. This is because they think of one-pointedness as a condition of the mind, something it can be forced or moulded into. But Nityananda is telling us that one-pointedness is a matter of mental orientation. The more inward (internal) our awareness, the more one-pointed it will be. So it is a matter of directing our mind, which is a major reason for linking the japa of Om with the breath. Since the breath originates at the core of our being it is the most accessible means to lead the mind inward in meditation. And breath awareness outside meditation keeps the mind tending inward. After all, the word atman comes from the root word at which means “to breathe.” So the Self is the original Breather.

Whenever our attention is not as one-pointed as we wish, it is because the mind is not fully turned inward. That is why breath awareness and absorption of the mind in listening to the mental intonations of Om are so necessary. Those two factors will take care of everything in time.

• The gross intellect is like a horse which is not controlled by reins.

Along with striving for a one-pointed mind, the struggle to control the mind is a source of misery and exhaustion for the unskilled yogi. This is because the gross intellect is completely untamable. The solution is twofold: through inwardness of awareness we should be in touch with the subtle side of the mind that is amenable to the process of meditation and which can be purified accordingly. But most important is the need to refine the entire mind so it will be completely subtle in nature. When the mental energies of even the external senses have been made pure and refined through the japa and meditation of Om, then troubles with the mind mostly cease. (I say “mostly” because there is always the chance of the deep inner mind tossing up some samskaras that rock the boat a bit–but not for long if we keep steadily to our practice.)

Of course there is no hope of refining the mind if a pure diet is not maintained since the mental energies are derived from the energies of the food we eat. Moreover, the mind cannot be refined without the steady observance of yama and niyama.

• The intelligence which is acquired from others is not permanent. It is not Hari; it is not Shiva.

Our knowledge must come from within for it to be real. That is simply the way we are set up and put together. Certainly we should be studying holy books and the teachings of realized people, but at all times we must be aware of the need to learn from the inner guru, for only from our Self do we get perfect knowledge.

• That which is imparted by the guru is the subtle intelligence. It is never gross. The gross intelligence is bestial.

Here Nityananda is speaking of the inner guru, for only our inner being can impart the subtle knowledge. All else is gross–at least comparatively speaking. The gross intelligence leads us outward and coarsens our minds. The yogi must be aware of this and realize that for him there can no longer be the wandering in the intellectual ways of the ignorant samsarins. Idle-mindedness is not an occupation for yogis.

I have seen that many yogis fall into the trap of learning all kinds of externalized trivia, thinking that if they continually speak of science, philosophy, the arts, etc., they are somehow showing how refined they are–even sattwic. But they are only demonstrating their determination to distract their minds from the One Goal and keep it on this world. There is nothing wrong in learning what is going on around us, but only in moderation and as an occasional diversion, always aware that it is all unreal.

Those who love the world obsess on the world, and that includes those who think they are yogis. As Jesus said: “Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also” (Matthew 6:21). That is why he advised us: “Lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven” (Matthew 6:20)–spiritual insights gained in meditation should be stored in the superconscious levels opened by meditation.

A yogi’s conversation and home environment should reveal this. I have been in the homes of yogis who kept their few holy depictions and objects stuck off far from where either they or their visitors usually went. But they were anxious for visitors to hear the latest pop music they had bought or look at or read the secular trivia in their (often expensive) videos and books. And of course they would discourse for hours on diet and health. (At least it felt like hours.)

It should be with us as it was with Saints Peter and John: Those who met them “took knowledge of them, that they had been with Jesus” (Acts 4:13).

• He is not a man who does not return what he has received.

Whenever we receive anything good and worthwhile, we are obligated to both return good to the giver and share what we were given with others. That is why Jesus said: “Freely ye have received, freely give” (Matthew 10:8), and “unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required” (Luke 12:48). Those who are only takers are only parasites and thieves.

129. He who is ignorant of the true goal of life is a beast. This goal is desirelessness. He who is ignorant of this fact is not a man. Man who is the crown and culmination of God’s creation, must not be like a frog which sinks below water and rises above water repeatedly. This human life is not a comparison to that of the frog. This life cannot always be attained. When we have acquired it, we should make efforts to reach the goal of life. Meals cannot be had before cooking. Discrimination is the fire; intelligence is the vessel; mukti is the goal of life.

• He who is ignorant of the true goal of life is a beast. This goal is desirelessness. He who is ignorant of this fact is not a man.

When Nityananda says desirelessness he does not mean the simple absence of desire, but the realization which ends all desires and grants liberation. Certainly those who do not know that liberation is the true goal of life cannot live like a human being, for a human being has no other purpose. To just live for material gain and enjoyment is truly to be nothing more than an animal–but less than an animal, for an animal can live in no other manner.

A religion which does not teach moksha as the purpose of life is a bestial religion which produces only beasts. Some may be tame and lovable, others good draft animals–good members of society–and others cruel and destructive, but they are all animals, and their religion is the main factor.

A religion which does not teach the fundamental truths of karma, rebirth, and spiritual evolution which results in the revelation of innate divinity and liberation is a soul-killing delusion, an enemy of God and man. To say that all religions teach the truth and lead to the same goal is irresponsible. Only those with the characteristics I have listed are teaching the truth and leading to the one Goal. They alone are dharma, the others are adharma.

• Man who is the crown and culmination of God’s creation, must not be like a frog which sinks below water and rises above water repeatedly. This human life is not a comparison to that of the frog.

One of the most horrible things I ever saw was in a restaurant that had a huge aquarium. In the aquarium was a kind of miniature frog. Anyone with sense would have realized that it could not just be dropped into the water. It needed a solid area above water so it could breathe and rest. Of course, then it could have hopped out of the aquarium. So the miserable little creature would frantically kick itself to the surface of the water, breathe a moment, and then apparently pass out and sink down. In a fraction of a minute, it would regain consciousness and again desperately impel itself upward to breathe. This terrible spectacle went on and on, over and over. I have never forgotten that unfortunate frog, so when I read Nityananda’s statement that our life cannot be like a frog’s: sometimes out of the water and sometimes in the water–sometimes out of the complete control of samsara and sometimes totally immersed in samsara–I thought of that frog and understood. So many religious people live in this pendulum swing, swinging back and forth from spiritual high to spiritual low, between pure exalted consciousness and degraded low consciousness. This is not a truly human mode of life, either. True yoga clears up this dilemma, but fake or wrongly practiced yoga does not. The same with true and false religion. (A religion without yoga is no religion at all, but an illusion, a fraud.)

• This life cannot always be attained. When we have acquired it, we should make efforts to reach the goal of life.

Human birth is not easy to attain because we cannot be conceived and born if both parents are not compatible with our karma and are not a match for our entire psychic background. This is not common, so a person could wait decades or even centuries to find parents who can produce the body needed to manifest his karma. Therefore it is a great shame that we waste our life in pursuing little ego-goals, leaving aside the Great Goal.

• Meals cannot be had before cooking. Discrimination is the fire; intelligence is the vessel; mukti is the goal of life.

The Goal cannot be reached without discrimination and intelligence. No comment needed.