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| You
Have a Raft to Cross
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All
the beings are wandering in this ocean of samsara. No one is
happy, due to psychological perversions, desires and hopes. No one
can attain happiness until wisdom is attained - until Self-knowledge
is attained. We have spent millions of years searching for peace,
and we have not been successful so far because of hope, desire, diseases
of the mind.
It is not possible
to get rid of this disease without Self-knowledge, without wisdom.
Everyone is spending years wandering endlessly. Fortunate is the one
who knows that he has a raft to cross this ocean, although most people
do not make use of it. This human body can be used as a raft to cross
this miserable ocean where millions of jivas are wandering
in a blind well, without any result. The vehicle that you possess
now could not be built; this human body is not available to the eight
million kinds of jivas out there in the world, which we have passed
through one by one. We have had every kind of experience as we have
passed through eight million species. The raft of this human body
was never available before, and if we don't make use of it we may
not find it again.
Make the best of
what is available to you to find wisdom, happiness, well-being and
beauty. It is easily available: The moment you give rise to the desire
for freedom, from that moment you are on the raft. It is this desire
which leads you in search of a teacher, to sit with the teacher and
find the way to be happy.
You may know how
many people in the world from where you come from, the country, can
give rise to this desire, "Now I want to be free." So they
go to search for a teacher and to sit with the teacher and to consult
with him; sit with him and find out the way how to be happy. And you
can do it wherever you are. If there are two good friends, by mere
conversation you can do it yourself. Mere conversations will be alright
because if someone has gone to a particular country and you have not
gone, and he can explain to you by a map and you can get at the map
you will not have difficulty. So this mapping of the association of
some of your best friends with the conversation is called satsang.
Conversation with your own friends, conversation with the teacher,
will help you and this is called the raft to cross over this miserable
samsara.
Without this desire
I don't think that it is possible for any being to get out of this.
All beings are caught up in different kinds of desires for sense pleasures
which are impermanent. They are satisfied with that without knowing
the consequences.
A man was walking
in the forest and fell into a well which was covered by an overgrowth
of leaves and scrubs. While falling he caught hold of the root of
a tree which was growing into the well and so he felt safe. Looking
down, he found that there was a crocodile in the well which was waiting
for him with open jaws. He felt very afraid. Looking up he found a
tiger looking over the side of the well. The tiger was hunting in
the night for some food in the forest and saw this man, but almost
immediately he fell into the well. Then he looked at the root he was
hanging from and saw two rats gnawing at it. But there was a beehive
on a tree above the well and drop by drop the honey was trickling
down into his open mouth. He was very happy licking the honey.
This is our life.
Day and night are the two rats cutting through the creeper of your
life. Every day and night that passes cuts into the creeper on which
this life is hanging. Below is death: the fear that "I am going
to die.": the crocodile
waiting tomorrow. Above is the tiger: the fear of what is going to
happen today. But we are happy licking the honey: enjoying the pleasure
of the senses. This is everyone's situation - ignoring the trouble
that is all around, trapped in the blind well of the mind.
The raft to save
you is this body, the decision: "I have to be free during this
incarnation somehow." Make up your mind. You have done very well
to be here. Out of six billion people, how many even aspire for freedom?
You have to be free right now, because you will not find it elsewhere.
You have not yet looked into your own treasure; you have looked elsewhere
and suffered. The treasure is within you, the diamond is within you,
so don't beg. Look within and instantly you are rich. No one knows
this. With this treasure within us we have still suffered due to the
bad habits of wants and hopes of the mind. This is the disease of
the mind. Once you have found that you are atman, that you
are the substratum, you are at peace within yourself. Then everything
that arises from the Self will be fulfilled. It is not coming from
the mind. That which arises from the mind and hope will never satisfy
you. We need some reliable person to set us straight.
There was a man who
used to go on a pilgrimage to a South Indian temple from the north.
In India people go from the south to the north, from the east to the
west for pilgrimages; from Kashi to Rameshram, from Pouli to Dwarka.
People would make friends on such pilgrimages and every five or ten
years they would make a trip together to see some holy places and
saints.
This man became friends
with someone in the south; he used to stay with him when he was on
his pilgrimage. After an interval of ten years he went to the same
family to visit. The man's wife was there but in a miserable condition.
She was working at the grinding mill, washing the dishes of the neighbors.
He inquired about his friend.
The wife told him,
"He died some seven years ago and now we are in trouble. I bring
some grains and make flour out of it. I bring some clothes to wash
or go to work in nearby houses, because I have three children who
have not completed their education. I have to earn money for their
education. Now they are doing well at school, so I will be able to
find jobs for them." This
man inquired, "Didn't my friend speak to you about anything?"
"No, no he didn't
speak about anything," replied the widow. "Why, he simply
died."
The man who died
had told his friend that he had some gold which he had hidden so that
his children would go to school and not think that their father had
enough money to support them. He wanted them to work. In olden times
parents would often hide their money so that the children would get
a good education. And only after that would they will give it to them,
after the children were well educated and capable to conduct a business
or whatever they wanted to do. Then the father would hand over the
money and walk away into the forest. This was the tradition that was
kept up for many years.
This friend of the
family then told the widow that just under the spot where she was
grinding the flour in the mill there was hidden a pot full of gold.
With this word alone she jumped, even though the pot of gold was not
yet found. Just the word of an authoritative man, a friend of the
family, brought great pleasure.
She called her sons.
"Look, look, your uncle has come! He says that we are very rich.
There is gold hidden here. Bring a spade!" So they dug a few
inches below the ground where she had been toiling day and night and
she found the pot of gold. Instantly she became very rich. She had
been willing to live in poverty; grinding at the mill, suffering greatly
to provide enough clothing for the children. At that same spot there
was poverty a few inches above the ground, and riches concealed a
few inches underneath.
In this same way
an authoritative person will tell you that there is a diamond within
you, that there is treasure within you. With this assurance alone
a man can become very happy. Dig it up! Take your spade and dig. You
will find the treasure and then celebrate. Here we celebrate every
day, even though people do not understand why. This is cause to celebrate:
"I have found the treasure." Otherwise you will be like
someone who finds a diamond and doesn't know it is a diamond.
There was a very
poor man who used to bring bricks from the kiln to the building site,
just making a few cents a day. While digging in the sands of the river
he found a diamond, but still he was very poor. He tied the beautiful
stone around the neck of his donkey and continued his miserable life.
A merchant was passing and saw the situation. "Look at that stupid
man," he thought to himself. "He is doing menial work although
he owns this diamond." He asked the laborer how much he wanted
for his donkey.
"Five dollars,"
said the laborer. That was the price of donkeys at that time. The
merchant paid the price and the laborer was very happy. Then he removed
the string with the diamond from around the neck of the donkey and
walked away. "What a foolish man," thought the laborer.
"What about the donkey?" he asked. "I didn't pay for
the donkey," said the merchant. "You can keep the donkey
with you, but I will still pay you a few hundred dollars for your
stupidity." Both were happy. Some who come to satsang say they
feel very happy here but when they go back to their country they are
the same as before. This is the same stupidity - not knowing that
the treasure is within you.
Once you know from
an authority that this is the treasure it will shine by itself. The
diamond will shine from its own luster, without looking for any help
from anyone. You will not need to ask any questions. You will fall
in love with it and perhaps you will not turn your attention away
from it again, because it is so beautiful. Then you will never make
a mistake again.
Trouble arises for
those who say, "Sometimes I am happy and sometimes I am not."
When they are unhappy it is because unhappiness is arising from the
mind, and when they are happy it is arising from the Self. The Self
alone can give you happiness. All happiness is from the Self. All
trouble, sorrow and suffering is from the mind. You have to be very
careful to be vigilant to see what is coming from the mind, and to
see the happiness that is coming from the Self.
Even in small things
this is true. You might purchase a car or buy an apartment or meet
a friend and you are happy. Why do these things bring you happiness?
You are attracted to a particular person, or to a particular car,
or to a particular apartment made of bricks and cement. It is not
the steel, the rubber, or the benzene that brings happiness with the
car. Nor is it the bones, flesh, blood, or marrow in a person. When
you are happy you recognize the Self within the self, and you are
free of desire. When you get a car your hope is gone, your desire
for the car has left you. When you meet a friend your desire for the
meeting is no longer there. When you buy an apartment your wanting
to have an apartment is no longer there. This emptiness without
desire or hope has given you happiness. If you know that it is
this emptiness from the hope and desire that brings you happiness
then you can always keep your mind empty. Then where is the problem
to be happy wherever you are - walking, talking, sitting, standing,
sleeping - you can be happy.
This moment you can
try for one instant to not entertain any hope, any desire, and see
what happens. The Self will reveal itself, the Truth will reveal itself
to itself. This can be seen directly here and now. Don't postpone
it when you can simply get be happy without doing anything. Why miss
it? This is the raft I speak about: Simply keep quiet. 14 December, 1992
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