Читать книгу Salvation in Kali Yuga. Swami Vankhandi Maharaj: Interviews, Satsangs, Teachings, Parables - - Страница 5

Organizing this second interview proved to be quite challenging. Maharaj was always busy with something – either household work, or conversations with devotees who had come from Delhi for a day to see him… or with something completely unfathomable – sitting before an open fire in his room. It seemed that he had no desire at all to impart any teaching and that he considered this kind of knowledge transmission ineffective. And why? Through the very power of his presence and the precision and refinement of actions flowing from this power, this sage transmits the necessary knowledge without words to all those who are capable of receiving it. Through every movement and manifestation – through gaze, action, word (even if it concerns something completely mundane). He teaches unintentionally. (In many spiritual traditions, it is considered important not so much to talk as to simply be in the presence of saints – the mind becomes infected, saturated with their light and thus purified from accumulated «darkness». Moreover, «being in the presence of a saint» doesn’t necessarily mean «meditating in the presence of a saint.» It rather means simply being nearby, serving them, seeing how they live in every moment, even the most casual, how they manifest in various situations.)

However, it would be a mistake to claim that Vankhandi Maharaj completely denies the value of transmitting teachings through words. To the question «who is Guru?» he often replies that Guru is his Word itself (in Sanskrit – «Shabda»). Perhaps that’s why this conversation did take place.

Siddharth: Yesterday you spoke about chintan. You said it’s the concentration of consciousness on Atma. How does one do chintan? What can help with this?

Vankhandi Maharaj: Repetition of the Name. Concentration of consciousness on one Divine Name.

Siddharth: And which Name is best to repeat?

Maharaj: Any. Choose any Name and repeat it.

Siddharth: Any Name? How does one choose?

Maharaj: You must choose the one that resonates in your heart. You can choose the name Rama, or Krishna. You can repeat the name of Durga. Or Ganesha. Or Shiva. There are five main Gods, Param Devata. Surya (or Aditya), Ganesh, Vishnu, Shiva and Devi (you can take the name of Durga, Bhagavati, any name of the Divine Mother). Choose what you love, what you feel a close connection with. And constantly concentrate your attention on one and only one Divine Name and repeat it. Repeat it not aloud, but internally. This Name should constantly revolve in your mental space and resonate in your heart. You don’t need to pronounce and repeat this Name loudly – tongue and lips don’t move. Everything happens internally, without effort, and then it begins to happen by itself, ajapajapa8 begins.

You don’t need to close your eyes either. Learn to live and work with this. The same applies to meditation (dhyana). When you sit to meditate, don’t start with closed eyes – eyes should be open. When you enter deep contemplation, your eyes will close by themselves. There’s no need to close them deliberately. With closed eyes, the thought process will interfere. Thoughts will dart around in consciousness. Let your eyes close by themselves when you reach a deep degree of concentration, one-pointedness of mind (ekagrata).

So repeat the Name. And it should be only one Name. Don’t scatter yourself. Concentrate only on one Name. Repeat continuously.

Siddharth: So we do this to make the mind concentrate on one thing, to achieve this ekagrata, one-pointedness?

Maharaj: The Name that you repeat and concentrate on will eventually come alive. The God behind this Name will manifest within you. You will begin to clearly see Him with your inner vision. The Divine energy corresponding to the Name will arise in your heart and gradually reveal Atma to you.

Siddharth: And will this ultimately help to rid oneself of identification with the body?

Maharaj: Undoubtedly.

Siddharth: So this is the way to begin realizing oneself as Atma, to identify with Atma rather than with body and mind?

Maharaj: Yes, of course. The Divine Name you pronounce possesses energy that will gradually pull you out from the grip of samsara and lead you to Atma. Such is the power of the Name. It is this energy of the Name that does all the work; you don’t need to make efforts for this. Your task is to concentrate attention on the Name, and the power of the Name carries you to Atma. During this process, you’ll begin to experience such happiness that will eclipse all transient joys of the samsaric world. You’ll become indifferent to all bodily pleasures. This inner experience of Realization is called anubhuti, it will happen within you by itself. Identification with the body will disappear.

But this should not be mechanical repetition of the Name; that way the Name won’t reveal itself and won’t manifest its power. This works only when you repeat the Name with complete dedication and love, putting your soul into it. Between you and the bearer of the Name you repeat, there should be a connecting thread, a string that quietly vibrates with each sound of the Name. The Name should continuously sound mentally in your head, whatever you’re doing. The mind should be constantly involved in this, even during daily activities. Initially, this will require some effort on your part, but gradually, with practice, it will become a natural process. The mind will continue repeating the Name all the time, even when you’re doing various tasks. If during cold weather you increase the intensity of fire, the cold retreats, it becomes warmer around. Similarly within you: as you, like wind fanning flames, fan the power of the Name, It burns away worldly desires, attractions (vasanas) and karmic obstacles with the heat of its energy. The Name will do all this work; you only need to fan Its heat.

Siddharth: Ramana Maharshi advised concentrating attention on the feeling of «I,» on the thought «I.» He sometimes even recommended using the word «I» as God’s Name for repetition. Repeating: «I—I-I.» Aham-Aham-Aham in Sanskrit. He said that this Aham is also God’s Name. And ideally, he recommended simply giving all one’s attention to this simple feeling of «I am,» «I,» since, essentially, this is the manifestation of the Divine in us. He called this «self-inquiry.» What do you say about this?

Maharaj: Yes, you can repeat «Aham, Aham.» This is also a path. A path to your true Self. But repeating God’s Name is simpler because the Divine power, energy standing behind this Name provides support and automatically takes you to the true Self, that is, to Atma. And this Self will already be absolute, «Aham Brahmasmi». You will in any case arrive at the same point – the true Self. It’s just that if you try to come to the true Self without God’s support, it will take you much more time, perhaps several lifetimes. After all, the mind has a tendency to wander off, to be distracted by samsaric lures, it wanders and constantly falls into samsara, while the Divine Name acts as a strong magnet that pulls the wandering mind onto the right path. Whatever you get distracted by, it won’t affect you, because Divine energy will pull you back to the Self. And when you are already absorbed in the Nature, the Self, you ultimately won’t need either God’s form or His Name. All forms will merge into the one Self, Nature, Atma. And you will automatically realize that all Names of God are just manifestations of this Self. And you will dissolve in Atma.

Siddharth: So God’s Name allows one to acquire this holy grace, God’s Mercy, through which dissolution in Atma occurs. And «Aham,» «I» – this is the root that lies at the foundation of any Name of God and any Divine manifestation. Can we say it this way?

Maharaj: All different forms of the Divine ultimately have one nature. They are all essentially one. It’s only to us they appear different. The sun is one. Sunlight is unified, wherever the sun’s rays penetrate – into your home’s room, into a temple sanctuary, or other places. Light from the sun spreads everywhere and fills everything.

Siddharth: So, your main recommendation is to repeat one of God’s Names. Or are there other techniques you can recommend to sadhakas9?

Maharaj: There are many different ways, but they all go through application of effort and long practice. You won’t achieve anything with a snap of fingers. Without long, intense abhyasa, that is practice, no method will work. Usually, for example, a person cannot sit in meditation and instantly subdue their mind, stop thoughts and enter deep concentration. All this comes with development, gradual practice. You are given a certain practice, mantra or Name, then repeat, concentrate, train, develop. And with time you’ll begin to reach Atma.

When a small child cries, it’s given a toy. Their attention focuses on this toy, and they calm down. The ordinary mind needs an object on which it can focus. It is surrounded and attracted by thousands of things, it jumps from object to object. So, one must know how to direct it to a certain point of focus. There are many focusing «toys» for manas – mantras, nama [Name] and other methods for such concentration. But to take the mind under control and begin to manage it, to achieve victory over it and conquer it, any method or technique needs abhyasa [constant practice].

Siddharth: Is there a possibility to reach Atma directly, bypassing the mind and its whims? Can we simply push the mind aside and reach Atma by a short path without abhyasa? Right now?

Maharaj: There is no such direct way. You can’t bypass the mind. You can’t jump over it. You have grain, but it won’t turn into roti by itself; there’s a certain procedure for this that cannot be bypassed. Everything requires effort. You need to achieve purification of the mind and subtle energy channels in the body. You can try different methods, check which ones suit you. Conduct research, study them. There are different yoga kriyas. For example, pranayama. You can master the path of pranayama. There are different techniques of dhyana, mind concentration. You can do chintan on fire – concentrate attention, focusing for long periods on the light of fire. It’s important to concentrate your entire mind on one thing. Choose for yourself the sadhana that suits you best. But all these kriyas will in any case be directed at subduing manas. Until you conquer it, you won’t dissolve in Atma.

Manas is like a raja, a king. It rules over the indriyas (senses and organs of perception). Try to control even one indriya. You won’t succeed. But if you achieve victory over the ruler of indriyas, conquer it, then all indriyas will naturally submit to you.

Siddharth: By our true nature, we are not mind and not senses, we are not body, and essentially we’re not even jivas. We are Atma. But to realize this, for some reason we must go through a long thorny path. It turns out to be a very slow process of realization.

Maharaj: The mind is necessary. Mind, body, and Atma are not substances separate from each other. Atma is in our body too. It is omnipresent. It is present in everything. So how can we isolate it? Manas is precisely that instrument through which you can feel and realize It. Manas is needed to find It. It’s just that while manas is fixated on samsara, it cannot independently concentrate on Atma. Manas, like a spotlight, must be directed at Atma, and then it will sense it. Through manas we reach Atma.

Ramana Maharshi managed to quickly take control of manas and reach Atma. He came to this world already prepared and had a clear vision of the goal. It’s no coincidence he was called Ramana [Fresh], he lived up to his great Name. He already had great karmic experience and development from past lives. He possessed powerful will and knew what to strive for. And he merged with Atma. That’s why he said there is nothing except «Aham» [I]. This was his direct experience. But even he had to go through practice, abhyasa. And not everyone can be like Ramana Maharshi. Any beginner needs to go through sadhana. Yes, it’s not a quick path, but an ordinary person can do this if they follow certain rules.

First of all, observe rules of proper nutrition, don’t eat just anything, give up harmful habits. Transition to a sattvic lifestyle immediately affects the way of thinking. Sattvic diet changes the mind, you begin to think differently. Changes occur in your organs of perception – indriyas. For example, spicy food affects the tongue and taste receptors. And similarly, it affects the mind. And when you eat sweet food, there are different sensations on the tongue, and similarly in the mind after sweets, corresponding effects arise. This is how you can influence the mind in order to conquer it. Eat food that doesn’t agitate the mind, but rather calms and centers it. You need to reach the root this way, to the true causes of various disturbances of your mind, and stay away from these causes. Because until you take manas under control, something will always distract you from sadhana – hunger, cold, heat, mosquitoes. And only when you conquer the mind and stop being distracted by all these irritants will you be able to fully do sadhana.

Siddharth: How many years did it take you to do practice, abhyasa?

Maharaj: It doesn’t depend on time. Time is not the criterion here. The faster manas turns away from samsara, the faster you’ll enter the state of vairagya – detachment from the world. It is in the state of detachment that Knowledge comes to you. Until you’ve entered the state of vairagya and still experience attachment to samsara, to sensual worldly pleasures, Knowledge won’t come to you.

But the state of detachment won’t come just like that. Until your desires are exhausted, while you still want to communicate with people, talk and remember about the past, travel, while some of your dreams remain unfulfilled, you won’t enter the state of vairagya. You must abandon the desires of manas. Tyaga [Renunciation] – Vairagya [Detachment, impartiality] – Jnana [Knowledge]. That’s the formula. And, of course, Bhakti [Devoted love]. Jnana and Vairagya are its children. And Bhakti rests on seva [selfless service]. Therefore, one must learn to do seva.

Seva implies love and compassion for all living beings, animals, people. Help everyone however you can, give your kindness to people, and this quality – bhakti – will begin to grow in you. With bhakti comes such a state of love that vairagya becomes an integral part of your nature. You no longer need anything because you already possess the most valuable thing – bhakti.

You won’t want to specially meet with anyone, you’ll remain indifferent to feelings of hunger and thirst, you won’t care how you’re dressed. And in such a natural state of vairagya comes true Knowledge.

Siddharth: If I pray for God to grant me the state of vairagya, will it happen?

Maharaj: Serve the Divine and do seva with the intention of receiving vairagya. Unite your seva with the feeling of serving God and with the desire to attain vairagya, and when God is pleased with you and asks you what you want, ask Him for this state. He will give it.

In the «Ramayana» there’s an episode when Rama shot an arrow from behind at Bali, Sugriva’s elder brother, and mortally wounded him. There were reasons for this. And when Bali before death began lamenting about why Rama killed him, Rama took pity and said: «You, Bali, have already received punishment from me for your sins, now I can gift you immortality.» To which Bali replied: «No, Rama. In all times, great sages-munis asked for only one thing in life – to directly behold God. This was the main goal of each of their births, and they were born again and again to receive Divine darshan10. And you, O Rama, already stand before me. The cherished goal is fulfilled, so what do I need immortality for now?»

You move from birth to birth, having one main goal: meeting with God. The heart’s desire to attain unity with God grows stronger and stronger. In each new life, you accumulate merits that bring this possibility closer. It takes more than one birth to attain such darshan. You cannot behold God in an instant.

Bali, responding to Rama’s offer of immortality, said: «I don’t need immortality. You have given me what great munis ask for throughout their life, from birth to birth. I need nothing more. What more would I do, remaining in this body? I have no more desires.» He had no more desires in life and no reason to live. He was liberated.

The «Ramayana» says: «In many births sages and sadhus diligently engage in sadhana, striving to attain mukti, but when the most important, final moment before death comes, they forget the Name of Rama, and as a result they are born again and again.»

It takes more than one birth to reach direct communion with Atma. Sometimes one needs to live several births in the state of vairagya. Right now you’re burning with desire to attain vairagya, but you still maintain love and attachment to this world. But your love should not be divided. Love must be dedicated to one thing. You either love God or this world. Either shreya or preya. Preya is happiness in samsara, shreya is happiness with Ishvara. If you reach for samsara, Ishvara won’t come to you.

You take care of your body, maintain its cleanliness, eat good food. You love your body. But there are people who have become so detached from the world that at first glance they look like they’ve lost their minds. These are free jivas, muktajivas. Death of the body hasn’t come yet, but they have already attained mukti in life. They are considered mad. They can be seen at railway stations or on street corners. They don’t care about their body, they don’t think about it at all and look disheveled. People laugh at them, call them names, but they pay no attention to anything. They live in their joy. They are well. They are blissful. They might even put others’ leftovers in their mouth. They don’t care. If you want to live in vairagya, you must first detach from love for your body.

Choose one sadhana for yourself. Chintan on the Name is a good sadhana. With constant repetition of the Name, you’ll feel changes in yourself. You don’t even need to think about anything else. The Name will do everything for you. Don’t delve into the mechanism of how this happens. Success in one well-practiced sadhana will open all roads for you. For this, you need to choose only one Name, one that’s close to your heart. The energy of this name will give you new experience, new sensations. Knowledge will come about what true reality is. As soon as the power of the Name, peace and joy enter your heart, you won’t want to leave this path, you’ll want to preserve and increase this Divine peace and Divine joy within yourself. For spiritual happiness, everyone needs spiritual energy, peace and joy. One who has this energy, peace and joy attains mukti.

Siddharth: Why did God make everything so complicated? This path to liberation is very complex…

Maharaj: It’s not complex at all. Everything is very simple. Although we think it’s complex. It’s just that in this world, grains of wheat don’t turn into bread by themselves, they need to be ground into flour, kneaded into dough, and baked into bread. Loaves of bread won’t fall on your head from above. In this world, everything is accomplished through work. To perform work, God has provided you with everything and given you tools: body and mind. You just need to get to work. Why were you given hands, why were you given mind? So that you could use them and do your work. You were given the higher mind buddhi for thinking and making decisions. Don’t you want to use this gift? After all, it was given to you to use. Look at mechanical watches, they don’t work by themselves. How many screws and gears they have. How many parts and wires in a mobile phone. Each part has its own meaning, its own purpose. And if you know how to use them, everything becomes simple.

Siddharth: You say it’s simple. But to me it seems like heavy work that requires enormous efforts.

Maharaj: You will experience difficulties as long as your manas is fixated on samsara. Yes, until then it’s difficult. But as soon as you turn the mind away from samsara, everything will begin to come to you naturally. When you wander through jungles without knowing the way, it’s very hard for you. You’ll wander until exhaustion. But as soon as you know the way out, it immediately becomes easy.

Siddharth: Sometimes because of attachments it’s very difficult to get on the right path, even if it’s already been shown to you. For example, even seva and nama-japa-chintan, which you recommend, seem very difficult for a lazy person like me.

Maharaj: A lazy person won’t achieve anything. You must overcome laziness. Mother Earth always says that holding high mountains is not heavy for her, but carrying a lazy person is very heavy. A lazy person is doomed to failure.

Siddharth: Well, actually in some matters I’m not so lazy. For example, I take up work with great joy and enthusiasm when I need to conduct an interview like this one now, or translate some interesting and useful book. But there are types of activities that simply don’t interest me. For example, sweeping floors.

Maharaj: This is pride speaking in you. You find it beneath you to sweep floors. Boring and uninteresting. This is understandable. But on the path of yoga, one shouldn’t hurry and try to fly to the clouds immediately. In conquering manas, one must act gradually, at the speed of an ant crawling along a path, moving from one twig to another, not rushing to the clouds like a bird. Don’t jump, don’t hurry, first master one thing, accept changes, then move forward. Such is the path of yoga – it’s not done in leaps and bounds, it’s a progressive process. You need to take on the work that life places before you on your path. You need to gradually learn new things and abandon old preferences and ideas.

Remember: when you do a good deed, even if it’s not very prestigious or interesting, by bringing benefit to others in a moment of need, you yourself attain happiness. The more good and mercy you create, the more good rains down on you. To those who do seva without expectations of reward, the Lord gives everything necessary and more. The fruit never remains in the roots, it grows and ripens on the branches in its own time.

During the Ashwamedha yajna ceremony conducted by the Pandavas, there was much work, everyone had to take on certain duties. And Krishna chose for himself the duty of clearing dirty dishes from tables and pouring water on people’s hands so they could wash them after eating. And this was the Lord Himself! For a sevak there is no unprestigious work. All seva is equally honorable and important – whether you serve in a temple or clean toilets. Seva is seva, in any form. Its value is measured by necessity.

Siddharth: The other day you said that seva can be very different. It can come from body, mind, word and thought. After all, what I do is also a kind of seva?

Maharaj: Of course, any kind of activity can be seva – whether it’s physical work, intellectual labor or work connected with word and communication. It can also be service for the benefit of plants, animals, birds, not just people. Singing devoted to God is also a form of seva.

Look at ISKCON representatives. They walk the streets, sing songs in praise of God, chant the mantra «Hare Rama Hare Krishna,» and this too is a form of seva. That’s why they have so many centers around the world. They are devoted to their path and always look happy. Indeed, when you serve the Lord in one way or another, you are happy inside.

You can do seva in thoughts too. Even if you repeat God’s Name silently – this is also seva. There are three types of seva – from body, from word, from thought. Though, no matter how you look at it, any type of seva is still connected with the activity of the body. Moreover, even if the body has no strength left, you can still do seva – sing mantras, bhajans and kirtans.

Siddharth: So there’s no direct path to God? For example, coming to a Guru and asking: Maharaj, please give me a direct experience of Divine presence! Maybe not self-realization, but at least a glimpse of God, so that through this experience I could, for instance, rid myself of pride and attain vairagya…

Maharaj: Everything is by Shiva’s will. And if you concentrate on God with love, devotion and faith, on repeating His Name, on seva, then He Himself will reveal His face to you. You will see Him and be able to perceive Him directly. You will have direct experience. But in our tradition, it’s forbidden to artificially induce this direct experience of God in people. It’s considered criminal to do this, for example, to advertise an ashram, to talk about how we can give such magical experience… This is a very personal experience for everyone. So we don’t do these tricks and don’t give direct experience of communion with the Divine. Look around you: how many flowers, trees, plants, what diversity of forms, what amazing play of colors – red, white, green, yellow! These flowers, these fruits that surround you – is this not a miracle, is this not a manifestation of Divine creation?! All nature that surrounds you is that very image of God that you so want to see for a moment.

Siddharth: Interesting, why in your lineage is this considered a crime? After all, there are Gurus who give disciples their first acquaintance with Divinity, this glimpse of «Anubhuti.» And thanks to this experience, the disciple receives a kind of reference point, a starting point, and now knows exactly what to strive for, which direction to go. For example, in these lineages they give shaktipat11.

Maharaj: Shaktipat is given only if the disciple is ready for it and worthy of it. It doesn’t happen that a Guru gives shaktipat at the very first meeting. One must walk a long path of sadhana, special preparation, accumulate special powers and endurance, reach a certain level of understanding. Only this way and no other. Sometimes after receiving shaktipat, unprepared people go mad. If a person hasn’t walked the path of sadhana, they can lose their mind, unable to bear the power of this force.

Siddharth: So if someone comes to you who sincerely believes in God, is mentally prepared and has gone through sadhana, then you can give them shaktipat?

Maharaj: Yes. I can. But the person must already possess enormous endurance, stamina, special energy to receive shaktipat.

Siddharth: And how does it happen in your case: does something spontaneously trigger and somehow transmit itself through your body to the disciple? Or do you first see that yes, this disciple is ready, and after that intentionally give them shaktipat?

Maharaj: The disciple must first pass a test, endure verification.

Siddharth: What kind of test?

Maharaj: A disciple’s readiness can be tested in different ways. Well, for example, someone might say an offensive word to the disciple, and if they flare up and start arguing. This is a sign that this disciple isn’t ready for shaktipat. Anger has destructive power, it burns a person like fire. A hot-tempered person, prone to taking offense, won’t endure, will simply go mad if given shaktipat. For the fire of their anger will rise to the surface.

Siddharth: Do you specially create situations of quarrels and conflicts in the ashram on a subtle level? To test your disciples?

Maharaj: No, I don’t arrange anything specially myself. I just observe. And observation shows me what progress people are making in their sadhana, how much love for God they have. After all, when you have strong love for God, you don’t have any desire to quarrel with anyone. You simply don’t need it. Shanti [peace] is the most important thing. And if they have raga and dvesha [attractions and aversions], there will be no shanti. We have many conflicts in our ashram, people quarrel, shout at each other, take offense. I watch this. I say nothing, let them quarrel. For I have no preferences. But I don’t arrange anything. All these situations are created by Devi, the Goddess. This is her play. We have a Goddess temple here. This is her doing.

One who loves God has no time for conflicts. One who lives advaita, has a non-dual view, never conflicts with anyone. For them, the opposites and extremes of existence are erased. For them there is no difference – important work or not important. All work is important. Here at this moment there are dirty dishes, they need to be cleaned. And they will clean them, because it’s for the good. They don’t find it offensive or shameful, they accept any such work as seva. This is non-dual attitude to reality, advaita-bhava. Small or big, dirty or clean – in every facet of existing phenomena, a person with advaita-bhava sees one God in everything – in every opposite. So why should they take offense and conflict?

Sadhana gives understanding of this. Become a sadhak, and you’ll achieve such an attitude to life. When the mind is cleansed of dirt, you won’t commit anything bad anymore. You will be balanced. But if there are preferences, attachments in the heart, they will spread like waves and transmit to others.

Suddenly Maharaj turns to the Russian devotee present at the interview, who knows neither Hindi nor English, and through the translator asks: «Do you understand everything?» She answers: «Only in the heart,» and the translator adds that later all this will be translated into Russian and that this is Siddharth’s seva – to bring this message to Russian-speaking people.

Maharaj: The «Ramayana» says: «Most of all I love those who do seva for the benefit of others.» Everyone loves sevaks. If you possess the quality of a sevak, everyone will love you. A sevak never considers themselves higher or more worthy than others. They have no ego. An egoistic person will never be able to engage in true seva.

It happens with us that a young person from a village goes to university, gets higher education, then gets a good job, and that’s it – they already consider themselves above everyone in their native village. They find it beneath them to simply take a broom and sweep in their own house, they’ll consider it beneath their dignity. It’s even awkward for them to bring a glass of water to a guest who has come to their house. Parents will both sweep the floor and serve water, but they will remain sitting. I’ve seen such things.

Siddharth: But many people do seva to earn respect from others…

Maharaj: You can’t approach seva this way. Seva is done selflessly, a sevak never expects reward, praise or encouragement. You simply do good, that’s all. Animals have a subtle ability to sense sincerity and true kindness. Look at our dogs, for example. We feed them, give them water, take care of them, and they respond and answer us with mutual love. Animals and birds understand everything. And trees, plants understand everything.

There’s such a story. Two biologists, an American and a German, were conducting research related to studying the emotional state of different plant species. The American scientist had his own laboratory where instruments were attached to tree roots, registering plants’ reactions to changes in the environment and surroundings. Once his German colleague came to visit, she had a knife in her briefcase. Before she could approach the laboratory door, the needle on all the American’s measuring instruments began pointing to red. This is the color indicating feelings of anxiety and danger. Then the American asked the woman to show if she had any weapons with her, and she admitted she had a knife. But when she removed the knife from her bag and took it away, and took a water hose in her hands instead, the instruments’ needles began showing green.

Plants and trees know and feel everything. Trees experience fear of violence and acutely sense others’ intention to harm them – to cut or saw them down. And if someone cuts down a tree, other trees growing nearby cry and suffer.

Japanese people never pick flowers. They only pick up fallen flowers or fallen petals. The Shastras say: if you need to pick a plant, talk to it, bow to it, explain to it – why and for what purpose you want to pick it. After such a conversation, the plant won’t feel pain. If you approach and roughly pick it, you’ll cause it suffering.

Siddharth: Do you directly feel your unity with trees and plants? Do you understand their language? They’re not much different from us?

Maharaj: They’re no different at all. The external form is different, but we exist with them in a unified space of consciousness, though at different levels. We are all one.

There was such a sadhu in Maharashtra state named Namdev. Once he was baking roti in the courtyard and went into the house for a minute to bring ghee. And then a dog, while he was gone, came, grabbed the roti and went further down the street. Namdev saw this and ran after it shouting: «Lord! Bhagavan! Where are you going? What about the ghee? Let me spread ghee on your roti, it will be tastier that way!» For Namdev, God was manifested in the dog. This was long ago. Back then, sadhus didn’t call a dog a dog, they addressed it as God.

I once planted a tree by our gates. It’s still growing there. And once during bad weather, one branch of this young tree was strongly bent to the ground by wind and pressed down by a log. I was sleeping in my house at night, and I dream that the tree is crying. Crying and crying. I could hardly wait for morning. In the morning I got up and went straight to this tree. I see – the pressed branch is lying on the ground. I removed the log from it, freed it from the weight, and it immediately rose up, even flew up. And it became so joyful. Trees, they understand and feel everything. This tree is still growing by our gates.

If you love someone, you feel and understand them. Unity of consciousness arises between you. It’s the same with animals. Sometimes I lie down to rest, and he [points to one of the dogs] comes at 11 AM to wake me up. If I forget to give him food on time, he comes and wakes me. Animals sensitively feel your attitude. They feel your love. You can’t show hostility and fear toward them. They pick up on such attitudes toward themselves very well.

All living beings understand the language of love. Chetan-atma, consciousness at the level of Atma, exists in everyone, it’s expressed through the feeling of love.

It was once predicted to a raja: tomorrow at noon Death will come to you in the form of a black snake, and you will die from its bite. When the raja woke up the next morning, he sat by the main palace gates. He placed gold and silver saucers beside him, poured milk into them and waited. Death came crawling as a snake and saw: the raja sitting in lotus pose, hands folded in pranam, and all around him were refreshments in gold and silver dishes. Death was amazed – no one had ever welcomed him so warmly! The snake began to drink the milk, and the raja continued to sit, showing no fear. His face radiated love and respect. Then Death appeared before the raja in its true form. «Well,» it said, «I gift you another 25 years of happy life. Thank you for the refreshment!» Such is the power of love – when you love, there is no fear. In a state of love at the level of chetan-atma [self-consciousness], you can communicate even with the consciousness of a snake.

Siddharth: You spend most of your time sitting by the fire. Do you also communicate with the fire?

Maharaj: Yes, of course. It has an element of Divine consciousness. This is Agni-Dev. If I offer it refreshment, it accepts it. If you simply place an offering in the temple, it remains untouched. Offer refreshment to the fire in dhuni, and the fire eats it. In our temple we do not offer sweets to the Deities. We offer prasad to Agni Deva through the medium of dhuni. If the sweet prasad is left in the temple, then the ants eat it. Some dedicate their puja to fire, some to dhuni. It doesn’t matter to whom you do puja. You can dedicate puja to a tree.

Siddharth: Maharaj, you already know many Russian people, have met with many. Is there any message you could pass on specifically for Russians?

Maharaj: I have already conveyed all meanings and messages to Russian people – both during my trips to Russia and here, sitting in the ashram. Do nama-chintan, do seva, look at everything from the position of love and compassion, treat everything with kindness and love. One who has love in their heart is capable of much. God comes where there is love. A bee sits only on the flower that is filled with honey-bearing aroma. Ishvara comes only to one whose heart is filled with love and bhakti. He comes to no one else.

Maharaj, 2015