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Now, find out
what is changeless. All changes take place on That
which is changeless, so to find That which never
changes you must reject all that changes. Reject
all concepts, all perceptions and all feelings.
After you reject everything that changes you will
be left with the unchangeable, which you can never
reject. The unchangeable is eternal, omnipresent
and is the permanent abode of
existence-consciousness-bliss. It is true freedom.
It can be attained instantly and it can also take a
very long time. It all depends on how strongly you
desire freedom. It is only your ego, your
arrogance, that keeps you away from your Self.
In the past, kings have abandoned everything to go
to the mountains to do penance, but this is just an
avoidance of the Self. Things that trouble you in
the palace will also trouble you in the mountains.
So the best is to remain where you are. It makes no
difference whether you are in a crowded place, at
work, or at home. We have become experts in
postponing. For 35 million years we have gained so
much experience in avoiding the Self and now we
must put an end to it. How? Stay still, stay quiet
and watch what appears within your mind. Who
perceives all that rises? Go to the Source, from
where everything arises. That's all you have to do.
Who stops you from realising your true Self?
Arrogance! It is only the ego that prevents you
from returning home to your Self. The body is your
kingdom on which you are enthroned and your
tendencies [vasanas] are your queens. So
when you are ready, stay still and discover your
true abode of rest, where you need not go anywhere
nor do or think anything.
When you feel that you are the body, you conceal
your Self. You are convinced that the body is who
you are. You are completely blind to the place from
where the thought, "I am the body" arises. You
don't even see It because you have spent millions
of years concealing It. Stop concealing your Self
and be free.
If you are very determined to be free, once and for
all, you have not to wait. Your true abode is
within you, even nearer to you than your own
breath. It is behind the retina of your eye. It is
so near to you and yet for millions of years you
have postponed returning home to freedom. Whose
fault is this? No one else prevents you from
discovering your Self, only you. You have been
playing with illusory objects, like sand castles,
for millions of years and have forgotten to return
home. The tide is rising rapidly to wash away all
forms, so why not return home right now? What is
stopping you? You are on the beach busy playing
with sand castles while your beloved Self is at
home waiting for you.
Question: Papaji, I'm tired of postponing.
Can you show me where my home is? I'm tired of
playing and I want to return home. Please show me
where it is.
Papaji: Excellent! [laughter] You
ask me to show you the way, but first find out who
called you home. Avoid anything that anyone tells
you.
Question: [loud laughter]
Papaji: This has been your impediment until
now; asking others to show you the way home. No one
can show you. No teacher, no book is going to show
you the way. The way is "no way". There is no way.
You are always at home. "Way" is just the mind and
it misleads everyone. You have nothing to do, not
even a thought to think. It is so easy because you
are always home. But you imagine, as in a dream,
that you are somewhere else. Wake up, you are only
dreaming!
Sages declare that freedom can be attained
instantly, but in most cases all enquiry into the
Self takes time to mature. Everything is in the
enquiry and the enquiry has to be ripe before
freedom is attained.
Even before the creation of the universe when there
was nothing else but consciousness, a will to
manifest the universe rose up from consciousness.
That very will is responsible for all that you see
now. Instantly, the whole universe was created by
the will, "Let me be multiplied", and it was
multiplied. Consciousness was transmitted into this
will and this will is contained in this very
instant. This will is in the whole of the
manifestation, including all individuals. So what
is this will which has created the universe and is
responsible for everything? It is dwelling in the
hearts of each being. This will to create
everything has risen from consciousness and this
same will can and will return to its Source.
Although this will, this instant, this
manifestation, this appearance rises from
consciousness, it abides within consciousness for
Eternity. But because there is another strong will
within the mind to indulge in the illusion of
bodily and worldly affairs, it is kept hidden. The
result is that you become what you will and you see
what you think.
We don't like to suffer because we have already
seen eternal happiness, therefore we know that we
can avoid suffering. So that will, which is the
Source of all creation, is a very mature will when
it wills to return home. It takes time for this
will to rise up. When you stop thinking of other
things apart from returning home, you will
eventually return home. You have to be fully
devoted to the Self, you have to honour the Self
and you have to work for it in the beginning. Then
you will finally attain eternal rest. It is all in
your own hands.
You are unable to take rest, even while asleep,
where you create yet another world within yourself.
You are asleep in your apartment and dream of
another world with mountains, rivers and people.
You create a dream because you cannot keep quiet.
When you dream, you think that you are a dreamer,
and then you create your own creation from the
thought-power. In the dream, this single will
creates mountains, rivers and people within an
instant. The whole world appears within the dream
and you take it for real. All this is due to ego,
due to darkness. Your mind is exhausted from
subject-object transactions. Once you enquire into
the Self, the Source, you will return to the Source
and abide there in peace. This has to be willed.
Then you will know that the dream and the dreamer
are unreal.
The purpose of all this travelling that you have
done so far is to finally have rest. You have to
take rest after having come into this illusory
world over and over again. Otherwise, what then is
the purpose of all this? The illusory world will
remain until you stop taking it to be real and stop
running after it, like a mirage. So when the time
is right, you will stop your mind from running and
you will remain still and quiet. You have come here
for this reason only, to abide in your Self. It is
going to happen.
There is no barrier between you and freedom. There
is no wall in front of you which blocks you. There
can be no ignorance in Truth. Truth is Truth. There
is no darkness in the sun. When you turn your back
to the light and look towards darkness, whose fault
is that? So, turn your mind towards consciousness
and see what happens. Turn your mind towards its
Source. When you dive into the ocean, what do you
see around you? You see only water. Likewise, when
you want to be free and you dive into
consciousness, you see only consciousness. When you
return home to the Source, you will know what is
and what has been and you will be eternally
happy.
If you are sincerely devoted to your Self, then
attaining freedom is very easy. But if you allow
your mind to move anywhere it wishes, then you are
going to be troubled. The movement of the mind
begins with the initial thought, "I am", which is
unreal. In this one movement of thought, everything
appears, and when this unreal thought is checked,
everything disappears. If you do not check this "I
am" thought, then it is not going to leave you.
Seeing the Source of this thought, destroys it,
because only the Source is real. Whenever you think
of something, you conceal the Source. You only give
importance to what is seen, to forms and notions.
By checking all notions and all intentions in the
mind, you will attain rest and peace. The Source is
peace itself and is the final abode.
The enquiry into the movement of the mind is all
that you need to do. It's enough. There is nothing
beyond this. Strike at the root of the mind, at the
root of thought. Thinking, the movement of the
mind, sustains its own continuity and that of the
ego unless it is checked. Through the enquiry into
the source of thought, the enquirer gets consumed,
until even the enquiry itself gets completely
consumed by the Source, by Reality. And in the end,
all that remains is Reality, that which you are,
that which cannot be described. When you stop
trying to understand, you are instantly free. When
you reject all knowledge, you are instantly the
Reality.
By transcending the three states of waking,
dreaming and sleep you will discover the "fourth"
state, which is called the "peaceful" state, where
you can finally have peace. Very few people
discover this pure state of existence, happiness
and bliss. And beyond this "fourth" state there is
yet another state which very rare ones discover. It
is the final abode, and once It is discovered,
there is no return back to darkness. Here ends the
whole matter.
This is the substratum from where everything
begins. It is omnipresent. This supreme conscious
state is concealed when you hold onto any idea, any
name or any form. The substratum is not an object
of perception because it has no name and form. When
you remove all names and forms from all that you
see here and now, you are instantly That which is
beyond the "fourth". It will appear by itself. It
is already here and you have not to make any effort
to gain It. It is already here, but you do not see
It because you are otherwise engaged in your
fantasies. Just give up all that you have heard,
read and seen until now. Then tell me what remains?
All the knowledge that you have acquired until now
is only "hearsay". You have borrowed it from
someone else and it is not your own true nature,
your own true Self. Knowledge can never describe
the Self, so reject it. It is not going to help you
to discover your Self.
You give all your time to notions and forms and
spend no time enquiring into the Source which you
are concealing. It is the most subtlest place. It
is so subtle that you cannot see it with your eyes,
nor touch it with your hands. Only through the
enquiry will you be able to reach It. Simply
enquire into the nature of all that is seen, the
nature of this universe. What is its origin? Its
origin is none other than your own notion. Now find
out what is the substratum of this notion, what is
at the Source. Enquire: "What is the Source of this
notion?" Simply look for the Source. This is the
only way. Simply keep quiet and don't think. Let
the enquirer get consumed by the enquiry, until it
merges into Reality. Let even the enquiry itself
get consumed by Reality.
For the last 35 million years you have never seen
this moment of quietness because you have never
been quiet. This quietness is your nature and is
the substratum of everything that you see. You are
able to see a star in the sky or your body because
of the background of consciousness, quietness,
which is the basis of all seeing. If you keep
quiet, then only will you know that "I am that
consciousness, I am that quietness." We can never
have rest without This. When you enquire into the
Source by remaining still and quiet, without trying
to understand anything, you will discover that you
have always been free. And you will laugh! You are
so free that even trying to understand this freedom
is too much effort. It is so free that no one has
ever seen It before. This is freedom, wisdom,
enlightenment, existence, consciousness, bliss, and
yet It has no name. It is so empty that not even
"Emptiness" can be used to describe It.
It is very important to enquire into this instant.
Through the enquiry you will ignite. When you place
camphor near a flame, how long will it take for it
to burn? It will instantly burn. In the enquiry,
you must be like camphor, ready to burn in the fire
of freedom. The Guru's instruction is the fire and
your heart must be like camphor, ready to ignite so
that all your darkness is dispelled, once and for
all. Instantly, the flame will consume 35 million
years of darkness. It will burn this forest of
ignorance. This is the power of the instruction, to
dispel all ignorance by igniting your heart. Let
this flame burn within your own heart.
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