I did so many mistakes in past and I feel guilty for it. This makes me sad.Is there anyway to forget past?

Dear Friend
Past is past. You do not need to bother about and being sad. It’s over. There is no future no past. Only one thing exists ‘This moment’ or ‘Present’. Enjoy it, Embrace it but in full awareness and intelligence then you will find that there is only happiness around.
Similar kind of question was asked with me in one of me Samvaad Session. Here is the transcription read it. It will help you more.
Question : Sir, I often get affected by others. I depend on others to tell me what is right and what is wrong, and when that happens I often find myself regretting later.Later, I feel disappointed that why did I allow myself to be affected by others‘ opinions, words, actions and whatsoever. How to have no regrets?
Speaker : I would be very happy even if there is a single individual who understands what this ‘right and wrong’ are all about.
You see, we talked of two layers of education. Similarly, there are two layers of ‘right and wrong’. The first layer deals with ‘right and wrong’ which are specific to time, place, country, occasion and many other variables. Such ‘rights and wrongs’ keep changing. What is right in one country is wrong in another country, what is wrong in one house is right in another. At the same place, what was right few years back is considered wrong now.

For sure, there is nothing sacred or unchanging about these ‘rights and wrongs’.
The first layer of ‘rights and wrongs’. They are man-made, they keep changing. There is no point holding them as sacred. There is no point asking somebody that am I right or am I wrong, because all that somebody can give is his opinion. And these ‘rights and wrongs’ of the first type are nothing but opinions of people.
One religion says that something is right, the other says same thing is wrong. One religion says sacrifice animals, the other religion says that it is evil to kill even a small insect. In the same country, what is wrong in one state, is right in another. This first layer of ‘rights and wrongs’ is all man-made, somebody’s opinion, somebody’s thought. There is nothing absolute about them at all, and hence there is not much worth in them.
There is another type of ‘right’, another type of ‘wrong’, that comes not from the society, or law, or convention, or religion, or anybody else. That right is your own intelligence.
To act with your own intelligence is the only absolute right. And to not to live in yourintelligence, to live an unconscious life is the only absolute wrong.
We have no understanding of this second layer of ‘right and wrong’. We live in the first one. We think that just because something is acceptable in the society, or is alright in the law, so it is right. And we think whatever is not acceptable in our homes, or in our corporations, is wrong. That is very-very superficial. I do not say that violate the law, but know in your heart, know fully well with great clarity that all that is man-made. There is nothing absolute about it. There is nothing sacred, nothing fundamental about it.
Life must be lived in your own light, in your own intelligence and that is ‘right’, and that is the only absolute ‘right’. And the only mistake that a young man and a young woman can make is to live life according to others. That is the only wrong that you can do. Avoid that wrong for your own sake. And then you won’t have to regret lateron.
-Excerpts from a Samvaad session. Edited for clarity.
View the session at : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fmjbGu8kk2Y
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For other lfe related problems you can read my blog ‘Words into Silence’

Q&A:
http://www.querynanswer.com/question/i-did-so-many-mistakes-in-past-and-i-feel-guilty-for-it-this-makes-me-sad-is-there-anyway-to-forget-past/

How do i know whether i am aware?

Dear,
What you call as ‘knowing’ is just thinking. It is a mental activity. Do you know of anything that is beyond the mind? You know of so many things in this world. Right? List them and see whether anything that you know is beyond time and space. Whatever you know of is a thing of thought.
You are asking, “How to know that I am aware?” You are asking, “How can I ‘think’ about awareness?” You have to see who is asking this question. Thought is asking this question so that it can capture awareness within its limits. Is that possible? Why are we interested in knowing that whether I am aware?
I recently received a message from a lady asking that how can I know whether I am enlightened. She had some sneaking suspicion that she is enlightened. She wanted a certificate that she is enlightened. What did she really want? She wanted something to ‘think’ about. That’s all. Thought gives pleasure, thought thrives on pleasure, all pleasure arises from the thought.
When I say ‘thought’, I am referring broadly to all the mental activity here. There is no point in this that how do I know whether I am aware. You will never know that you are aware because the ‘you’ that is asking this question will not be the aware ‘you’. The ‘you’ that is asking this question is the ‘you’ that is confused, doubtful, tangled in all kinds of suspicion.
The aware ‘you’, would that ask this question? Would that ‘you’ bother to ask this question? That’s a ‘knowing’ of a very different kind. There you do not know via thought. There you just know, it’s a thing of what you all call, soul. I am using the word ‘soul’, it’s a loose word but it would help you to understand in this context. You just know without the inter-mediation of thought.
All that we claim to usually know is via the mental apparatus, always. That is why we don’t really know anything, because it is always indirect knowledge coming to you via the mind.
Awareness is that the knower himself has changed; the knower is now the one who does not require the mind to know, he is realized.
Do you understand what is meant by ‘the realized one’? The ‘realized one’ means that he does not require knowledge anymore, he just knows. How does he know? He just knows. So it is a stupid question to ask that how does the realized one know. He just knows; he is realization himself. When you are ‘realization’, then you don’t require to know via the mind, and hence there is no proof.
If someone says that prove that you know or show the source from where you know, you cannot show that. Because there is no proof, and you yourself are the source. So how to show the source? All other knowledge that you have, because it comes to you via the mind, would always have some kind of source, located elsewhere. You can go and pinpoint that source, ‘I got to know from this’.
Awareness means- what I know is not a thing of the mind, it is emanating from within me. Even ‘within me’ is the loose usage of words. “I am that, I am that knowing. The knowing is not a part of me. I am it.”
Now this beats the imagination. You can’t imagine what I am saying, because if you imagine you will again use the mind. How can you use the mind to know that state where the mind is not involved? How can you do that? Getting it? There is no proof. There is no proof of meditative understanding except the meditation itself. When that understanding arises, only then you see that it is there. Nobody can convince you, and nobody can give you even a glimpse of it. Really. It can be induced, but nobody can hand it over to you.
Do you understand the difference between inducing and handing over? Inducing it means bringing you to a point where even if for a split second, even if very partly, you could ‘be that’. Remember, not ‘see that’, but ‘be that’. And giving it to you means- you are what you are, yet it can be handed over to you. That is impossible. you remaining what you are, it cannot be handed over to you, not even a small fraction of it.
See, our questions are our defense mechanisms. We ask them to protect ourselves. The question is- how do I know that I am aware? Do you know what you are doing? Remaining what you are, protecting what you are, keeping secure what you are or what you believe yourself to be, you additionally want awareness.
What to do with this kind of attempt? Remaining what you are, you additionally want a little bit of God. “Can I have two-fifty grams of Brahman please? That is the size of my pocket. Two-fifty grams is just all it can hold. Two meters of sky is what I want, remaining what I am.” Like the householder who looks at the house from his small window, two metres of sky. But he is better, at least he can look at the sky.
Remaining what you are, you can’t even look at the sky. You live in a cave, dark cave. No sky is visible from there. You can keep imagining, on the basis of some stories that you have heard from other dwellers of the cave. Somebody says that the sky spits fire, somebody says that the sky is greenish-yellow in color. How do you know the sky? By hearing fantastic stories from other dwellers of the cave, and staying put firmly in the cave.
There is no way. Questions and answers can only prompt you. You will have to leave the cave, you will have to come out, and that will be all. Then there will be no need to ask any such questions. See, all scriptures are just an attempt to help you come out. No scripture gives you divine knowledge. All that the scripture says to you is, “It’s fantastic out here. Can you please join us?” They are just an invitation.
Somebody is calling you. You attached to your cave. And somebody from outside is constantly inviting you. “Can you come out? Will you join me? It’s good fun here. The weather is so nice, life is cool. And what more, there is no death here.”
No scripture can give you anything inside the cave. It’s not home delivery. It is divine deliverance. Divine deliverance is not home delivery. It is deliverance. Do you understand ‘deliverance’? ‘Deliverance’ means- you understand, you are gone, relieved.
Self-service. Go and get it. Yes, the menu can be served on your table, so that you tempted to go and get it. So what are the scriptures? They are menu cards, with nice pictures and description of the dishes. Obviously you don’t know anything about the dish, but the description is done in such a way that you are tempted.
“O! Nice. No death. Let me go there.” You are troubled by death, that is the reason why the scriptures have to say, ‘no death’. You are troubled by the suffering, so the scriptures have to say, ‘no suffering’. It’s an invitation, a temptation. “come out, come out, come out.”
What happens after you come out? It’s good fun.
View the session at:

Q&A:

http://www.querynanswer.com/question/how-do-i-know-whether-i-am-aware/

What happens after Death? Is these thing are real like Spirit, Ghost, Demons, Angels?

Dear
Once similar kind of question was asked to me in one of my Clarity Session at Advait office. This will help you to understand, I hope by reading this your all doubts will be clear.
Question: Is death, as an event, good or bad experience, if we dissolve our self in the universe after death or to the bigger Self?
Speaker: See, you are sitting here. You are writing something. You traveled a particular distance. How is all of that any less important than an imaginary moment of death? Nobody ever seems to ask, “What will happen, when I will sip the next cup of tea?” Nobody seems to ask, “What will happen when I will breathe next?” Are all these things any less important? But we all seem to be asking about death.
“Death is so important. Nothing is important, death is important. Life is not important. Every single moment that you are living is not important. Death is important.”
And how is death any more important than all these? – Because we are afraid; because we are shivering to the core. So death is important. “Sir, is death more important than all these?”
Is death more important than all these?
And suppose I don’t talk of death. Suppose I am the first man on earth who has not seen death.
Listener: I won’t be afraid.
Speaker: I am not taking about death at all. I don’t know. I am the first man. I have not seen death.
Listener: It will have no significance at all.
Speaker: Why must I talk of death? There is this…
Listener: Existence.
Speaker: Yes, and it is factual. It is right there. My senses are bringing them to me. And there is this mind that wants to understand all this.
What is death?
(Silence)
Do not want to have opinion about things. Do not ask how a particular thing will appear in the mirror. Clean the mirror, polish the mirror, and then everything will appear as it is.

The same mind that wants to have an opinion about death, also has an opinion about marriage, aboutMONEY, about life, about disease, about education, work, career, right? It is the same mind that has an opinion about everything. It’s the same mind that looks at everything. It’s the same eye? This eye cannot look with clarity at anything. Can it look clearly at death?
“My life is confused and in knots. I understand nothing. I do not understand why my wife is upset. I do not understand why there is this kind of disease in my body. I do not understand anything. Will I understand death?”
Please understand this: When I said that there is this moment; there is life; there is this and that, why don’t you speak about that? Why bother yourself with death? It’s the same mind that looks at death, right?
You do not understand what is happening in this room? You do not understand what is happening on the terrace? You do not understand what is happening on the road?You do not understand what goes on in your mind? How will you understand death?
A little dog comes to you, and you do not understand what is happening? You do not understand. The mind is attacked by greed, and you do not understand what is happening. But you want to understand death. Will that happen? Can that happen? Isn’t it the same mind, the same mirror? Or is the mirror selective? Does the mirror say that, “When a particular face comes in front me, I will reflect clearly. All other faces, I will not reflect clearly.” Does the mirror say that? It’s the same mirror, the same mind. Clean the mirror and everything will appear as it is. But you are bothered about one particular object and the name of the object is…?
Listeners: Death.
Speaker: Death. I want to understand death. I understand nothing, but I want to understand death. Understand! Life is there in front of you to understand. Why be obsessed with that particular thing?
Listener: Because you are afraid.
Speaker: Because you are afraid. Because you have heard that death is the final annihilation; that I’ll be no more after death. So the ego shivers. So, you are obsessed with that. And because you are obsessed with that, so you can’t even look at life.
Listeners: Even Krishnamurthi says the same thing, that if you don’t understand life, then you’ll always talk about death, death, death.
Speaker: I do not understand why am I writing this question, but I want to understand death. And I may even claim that – “You know, I now understand death.”
Listener: Technically, there is going to be nothing left after death. So whatever is, is this life. Rather than being bothered about what life is, we are more bothered about what death is.
Speaker: Can we take this as a guide? A mind that is incapable in one area, is bound to suffer from the same incapability in other areas as well.
I once told a few friends that if you are incapable on the football ground, you will find yourself incapable in the bedroom as well; because it’s the same mind. You do not understand what to do when the ball is passed to you, how will you understand what to do when other things are passed to you? You will again find yourself arrested, stuck, and frozen. What will you do? And the moment is gone. It’s all a game of timing. Be it football or cricket, it’s a game of timing; or the classroom or a joke, everywhere it’s a game of timing. Learn to time it properly. And for that you need spontaneity, right? Beautiful timing can come only from spontaneity. But then something just takes possession of you, and you find yourself incapable of moving, in a liquid way. It’s a same mind, how will you live? How will you live?
Forget imaginary things, there is enough right now, here. Our hands are full. Pay attention to that, understand that. Pay attention the road. And then you won’t need to think about death.Pay attention to the clothes that you are wearing. Pay attention to the words that you utter. Pay attention to what you talk to your girlfriend on phone. And you will understand death.
In ‘Katho Upanishad’, when Nachiketa approaches Yamaraj, he says, “Tell me, what is death?” And Yamaraj doesn’t tell him anything about death. He tells him about life. And Nachiketa says, “I have understood. Now, I have fully understood.”
Who can tell you about death? And why do you need to be told about death?
~ Excerpts from a Samvaad session. Edited for clarity.
View the Session at: – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dy6vbFfhntQ
For, Further clearance or  Similar queries or any Life related problems, you can visit my Blog ‘Words into Silence’.
Or, you may visit my you tube channels for further clarity-
1) www.youtube.com/c/ShriPrashant
2) www.youtube.com/c/PrashantTripathi01
http://prashantadvait.com/life-education-fundamentals/

Q&A:
http://www.querynanswer.com/question/what-happens-after-death-is-these-thing-are-real-like-spirit-ghost-demons-angels/ 

Nisargadatta Maharaj says to be constantly in the “I am” realization. What does that mean? What is this “I am” realization? He used to say never forget “I am”. What does that mean?

Dear,
It means two things, of which one is nothing. We will first discuss the thing.
There is this entire world and its happenings, and seemingly you at the centre of this world. And there are events that are happening all the time: thoughts, discussions, accidents, destiny, love, hate, anger, profit, loss, news, knowledge; all that is happening all the time. And the mind is kept active, busy with all that. To remember “I am” means to remember that none of that, which is happening, really has an objective existence. So whatever is happening is ‘you’. If you find it difficult to digest initially that if there is a war happening in the Middle East, how could this war be me? Then start off by at least remembering that whatever is happening has been given a color by you. At least this much can be remembered.
So, you can remember I am the one who is giving it a meaning. I am the one who is giving it an interpretation, a color. Slowly from there when you realize the depth of your interpretation, when you realize that the painting is nothing except the colors and all colors are been given by you. Then you come down to saying that, “I am that event”. You start off by saying that, “I am the interpreter of the event”. And when you see how deep your interpretations are, that there is nothing really left if you take away the interpretations; then you actually say that, “I am that event”. This is the first level of remembering “I am”. Whatever is happening, whatever I am seeing is not outside of me; “I am its seer”, “I am its projector”, “I am its creator” and “I am its interpreter”. In fact, “I am it”. This is the first level of meaning.
What is the second level? I had said that the second level is a nothing level. The second level means that I am nothing except the events that are happening. Now, you cannot think about this second level. This second level, if you see is just a remainder. It is just that which remains after everything else has gone.
The mantra that Nisargadatta is giving is essentially only this much. Do not take the world as different from yourself, see yourself in every happening. See that the happening cannot mean to you except if you give it a meaning. See that the world does not trouble you; you attach troublesome meanings to the world. This is the first meaning of “I am”. And when you can clearly see that you are the world and the world is you, and then your conception of yourself holds no ground. You cannot possibly say that I am this entire existence. If you say you are this entire existence, then again you are saying this same thing, “I am nothing”. Because then you are boundary less.
Or you could ask a question this way, “Can the world appear to me as it appears to me without me being what I am? So does the world have any objective existence? Can the world appear to me as it appears to me without me being what I am? So, is the world really separate from me? Or if something happens to me; could this have happened to me, had I not been what I am? Could this have happened to somebody else? No, it is happened only to me. And if it is happening only to me, it surely has something to do with what I am?”
A woman is crying and walking away from a crowd of ten men. Only one is especially disturbed, the other nine are not. Could this one man have been disturbed, had he not been the husband of this woman? These nine men are not bothering right now. Would they have not bothered, had they been the husband of this woman?
So, look at the happening and see yourself in the happening.
The more you look at yourself in the happening, the more the distance between you and the world, the more the separation gets dissolved. When the separation gets dissolved, the happening loses meaning. And then your definition of yourself loses meaning and there is just clarity. A pure clarity which you can call as an empty clarity. This empty clarity is the real “I am”.
The things that mean so much to you today, could they have meant so much, had the course of your life been different? There are things that matter so much to you today. Could they have mattered, had the accidents in your life been different? So, that which you start taking as very important, as essential, when you remember that it is not essential, its significance is supplied to it by ‘me’. Then it starts losing its significance.
The answer posted uses some excerpts from the blog-‘Words Into Silence’. You may visit the blog-http://prashantadvait.com/  to read many such articles like these. The blog contains many life-fundamental articles and articles on various saints and religious scriptures too.
Or,
you may visit my you tube channels for audio and video conversations-
1) www.youtube.com/c/ShriPrashant
2) www.youtube.com/c/PrashantTripathi01

Q&A:
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what really is a loving relationship?

Dear,
This is an excerpt from session held at advait office. Hope this helps you out.
Speaker: Let us say that there are two persons, A and B. Whenever one person is related to another person, the effect of one person on the other, their mutual effect on each other can be of two types. One is – B becomes dependent on A.
B already had a mind that wanted dependence, and now B has become all the more dependent on A. B has become attached to A, and A is relishing that attachment. A is saying, “See, he loves me so much, that is why he has become so much attached.” After all, attachment is a sign of love. A has filled up B’s mind completely. A says, “B is now so completely in love with me, that now he or she is all the time thinking of me.” So obviously there is no scope of contemplation, introspection.
B used to be a reader. Every night, before sleeping, she would read at least for two hours. She typically went to bed at around ten o’clock, and would read till midnight, and then sleep. Now A knows that she retires at ten o’clock, so he calls her at ten every night. And now these two talk for two hours, and she now sleeps at around midnight.
Now obviously, the time that could have gone into reading, is now taken away by A. What is the effect that A is having on B? That A has now completely filled-up B’s mind. This is what the opposite of spiritual growth is. The mind was already cluttered. And the effect of A on B’s life is, that B’s mind is all the more cluttered now. This is what our normal love does to the other.
“Talk to me for four hours on phone.” Is that the best use of his or her time? You are destroying the other person. You are the biggest enemy she can ever have. You are not giving him or her space. You are not allowing her aloneness.
Now B can become conditioned to such an extent that one day when A realizes that this is the effect he is having on B, he says “No. I will no more call you up. You must read.” Now B says, “Surely there is somebody else in your life now. Whom are you seeing these days? Who is that bitch? I will kill her.” B will not even realize what is meant by ‘spiritual growth’.
What is love? Look at the people who say that – “We love somebody.” What are they filling the other’s mind with?
Listeners: Their own beliefs.
Speaker: Their own beliefs. You know there is another aspect to it. Let me come to it. Whenever two people come in touch with each other, the man would always remind the woman of her body. He looks at her, and she realizes that he is greatly interested in her body. And this mind which would otherwise have been calm, now gets filled up with the thoughts of the body. The very presence of the male makes the woman body-centric and vice versa.
He or she used be calm, nice, decent individuals. But since they have entered each other’s life, all the time they are sexually aroused. And when they are not sexually aroused, they would get some message, or some picture, or a thought, which would make them all body, rather all genitals. From head to toe, this woman is only now genitals. Nothing else has remained. Brains have been eaten out. That is what the man has done to her- made a huge genital out of her being. That’s what she has done to the man as well. It is applicable to both sides.
Is this love? This is exactly what spiritual growth is not. Your presence is reducing the other person to a corpse, to a mere huge piece of flesh. Is that not what husbands do to their wives? The husband is horny, and the two are on the bed. The husband wants to have a go at her, and she is reading a book of Krishnamurti. Now what is the husband going to do? The husband is read to attack, and she is reading a Krishnamurti book. Now what is the husband going to do? Many of you are married so you know what happens. “This old man, is he sexier than me?” This is the effect that lovers have on each other.
She used to be a nice woman. And then he will get her pregnant. Now she is all body. At least for nine months, she is nothing but the body. Body is constantly reminding her of this and that. Then the baby comes and she has to definitely remain a body. This is the effect that so-called lovers have on each other. Where would you find reading happening when people are in love? Then they only read SMS messages.
(Laughter)
And you say, “I am in love, bliss.” It is so difficult to even imagine that there can be lovers who actually wish each other well. Is it possible to have a husband who realizes in the middle of sex that – “Did you do your daily reading today? No. I am getting-off. Where is your book? First read. Finish your twenty pages reading.” And she is saying, “No. I will read tomorrow.” He says, “No. Today. Otherwise how will you attend the Clarity Session?”
(Laughter)
From where will you find such a man? You have wives, you have husbands who are of entirely different nature. Where do you hide Krishnamurti’s book, by the way, in your house? Under the pillow, over the AC? As if it is some dirty book and should not be found?
(Sarcastically) “So this is what you have been reading these days? Have you fallen so low? Do you see the effect it will have on our kid? This is the example you are setting. You will get brainwashed after reading this.”
That is the quality of our love. I have seen people come here, and their spouses would wait for two hours downstairs, but they won’t climb up. Spouses, fathers, mothers, friends: they will wait downstairs, but they will not climb up. And if they happen to see me, “This is that man whose face keeps popping out of her laptop all the time?”
(Laughter)
Now what is this? Is this love? Do you really wish each other well? If your wife doesn’t like you coming here, does she really wish you well? Or is she really your enemy? Help her! I am not saying that kill your enemy. I am saying that help your enemy. Help her, she needs treatment.
This is a very pertinent question. One basic characteristic of real love is that you help the other person really grow. That growth is nothing but self-revelation. And that self-awareness is through your presence. Are you really helping the other person, or drowning him in some kind of intoxication?
Real lovers help each other grow spiritually. They help each other become more self-aware.

Read more at: prashantadvait.com
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Q&A:
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What is Ultimate Desire of a Human being?

Dear
Only the spiritual path can dissolve the question of yours.
Read this Quote
I once had a thousand desires. But in my one desire to know you, all else melted away.
-Rumi
Speaker: “I once had a thousand desires.” We all have thousand desires. You all have thousand desires. What does each desire say? Each desire says, “Fulfill me, and you will get satisfaction. Fulfill me and you will get satisfaction.” Now, what is this satisfaction? When you are satisfied, do you still have desire? Does the desire say, “Fulfill me and still I will remain”? What does the desire say? “Fulfill me and I will go.”
So what does each desire want? To be fulfilled. And to be fulfilled means- the desire gets vanished. So each desire wishes for its own disappearance. So the desire only desires the disappearance of itself. This is what every desire wants. That is the nature of desire.
So there are thousand desires, and what is each desire desiring?

Listeners: Its own disappearance.
Speaker: Rumi is saying, “I once had a thousand desires, but in my one desire to know you, all else melted away.” So a thousand desires are there. But what is the common desire that each desire has? The disappearance of itself.
So now you know what is the one desire we have, behind our thousands of desires?
Listeners: The disappearance of itself.
Speaker: Can this desire please disappear? Because we do not know any other method of disappearance of desire, so we apply the only method we know. And what is the only method? To fulfill it. Had you known any other method to dissolve the desire, you would not have fulfilled the desire. Understand this.
You fulfill the desire because you don’t know anything else. You do not know any other method. If you could be assured that even without fulfilling the desire, the desire can vanish, won’t you take this option very quickly?
Let us say, you are craving for a pizza. If you were told that even without eating the pizza, even without paying the bill, even without consuming these calories, the desire to eat pizza will go away, and you will feel exactly as desireless, as satisfied, would you still pay the money, travel to the shop and consume the calories? Would you still to do that? You won’t. You eat the pizza because you don’t have any other option. You crave for pizza, and then the desire asks for its completion. You know only one way – eat. So you eat. Right?
Desire actually does not ask for its fulfillment. It actually asks for its disappearance. And there is difference between dissolution of desire, and fulfillment of desire. The worldly man tries to beat the desire by fulfilling it. The spiritual man actually beats the desire, by dissolving it. This is the difference between the worldly man and the spiritual man. Do you understand this?
“I once had a thousand desires. But in my one desire to know you, all else melted away.”
Knowing you, is knowing your own state of desirelessness. That desirelessness is not just an empty state. When you say, “Desirelessness”, the word indicates the absence of something, desire – lessness. But actually you cannot be desireless without having something very big, very bountiful, very worthy of desire. Do you get it?
When we just say, “Desirelessness”, the image that the mind gets is, just of an absence. “I don’t have desires.” What you have, that cannot be captured in image, because that is too large to be contained in an image. What do you get? That which you do not have. And what do you not have? Desire.
It is like the richest man saying, “I am not poor.” He is not lying, but he is making a terrible understatement. He is not lying, he is right. He is not poor. But he is making a terrible understatement. So when you say that the highest state is of desirelessness, then you are right. But you are very humble. You are, in fact, too humble. You are making a great understatement.
Remember: To be desireless means to be with something which is so large that no more desires are needed. “I have something so big now that all these small tit-bits have become irrelevant.” That is desirelessness. Right?
The world is afraid of desirelessness. If you tell somebody, “I don’t have any desires,” he will taunt you. He will say, “Have you become a sadhu-sanyasi? Oh! You don’t have any desires.” He will think that you have lost something, and the word itself is in negativa. You have lost something.
I am repeating again: What remains obvious is what you have lost. What have you lost? Trivia, desire. But what remains hidden is the greatness that you are now situated in. It is so great that it does not have a limit. And because it does not have a limit, so you cannot name it, or indicate it.
To be desireless means to have fulfilled the climax of the desire.
The worldly man has been trying to fulfill it, and you have fulfilled it. Remember, in trying to fulfill, there is only trying and trying. But in dissolution of desire, there is the actual fulfillment. So those who keep trying to fulfill their desires, all that they get is trying. Those who dissolve the desire, get fulfillment.
But remember again: Dissolving the desire is not the first thing. You will not be able to give up the desire without first having something that is more worthy, precious, important and immense than all that you can desire. And then the desire drops on its own.
Even then it does not mean that you will not be desiring anything. It does not mean that you will be thirsty, and you will not ask for water. It only means that you will not be taking your trivial desires seriously. You will be happy with desires, and you will be equally contented without the fulfillment of desires. You will say, “Fine, small matters. I am so rich. I do not worry about small losses and gains.”
“In my one desire to know you, all else melted away.”
That you is that immensity which is the climax of desires, that you is that which all your desires are chasing. When you ask for a pizza, you are not really asking for a pizza. You are asking for That. But because you have no way to come to That, so you take an ugly substitute, an ugly shortcut. So what do you order? A pizza. But what do you want? Parmaatma.
So you want God, but that is not being sold in any of these huts. So instead you go and say, “Pizza with extra cheese, seasoning and this and that.” That waiter is an idiot. Had he been a realized man, he would have said, “We don’t sell God. And that is what you need.” You want That, but you are running after some woman or some man. You want That, but you are running after money, and prestige, and recognition. All your desires are desires of That only, who is been referred to as ‘you’ by Rumi.
You have never wanted anything else. Anybody who has ever wanted, has wanted only That. Nothing else can be wanted. But we are ignorant, and we also don’t have a way to reach there. So instead of asking for That directly, we keep asking for this and that.
So, you keep asking for more marks. Who wants marks? What will you do with these marks? You actually want that great contentment which marks unfortunately are never able to give. Such is our tragedy. We want something, and we keep asking for something else. And imagine your disappointment. Even when you get that something else, you are still defeated.
You need to shoot inwards, and you are shooting here and there. You need to shoot upwards, and you are shooting left and right. Now even if you hit the jackpot, what do you get? Just disappointment. You don’t hit the target, what do you get? Disappointment. You hit the target, you get more disappointment.
“In my one desire to know you, all else melted away.”
Hit the real jackpot, shoot upwards. And if you are really courageous, really, really courageous then shoot inwards. Stop shooting here and there. Just shoot yourself right in the mind. “Goli maro beje mein” (“Shoot your mind”, an excerpt from a Bollywood song), and you are done. You have hit the real jackpot. Will you remember this? Stop shooting left and right. Stop targeting this and that. The real target is there (pointing upwards) and if you want to target this distance really quickly, then shoot here (pointing inwards).
Listener 1: Sir can you name that greatest thing, that immense thing, after having which all other desires become so small. Can you name that?
Speaker: Yes, you can name it. It is like drinking tea.
Listener 1: What is it?
Speaker: Everything. Everything is colored in that. It is not a separate desire. It is the essence of every desire. So why do you need to give it a separate name? You can’t even give it a separate name. It’s like your lover asking you, “Can you tell me when do you love me?” When do you love him or her? When exactly? If you are in love, when do you love? Every time. Or is there a specific time slot marked by alarm bells?
Similarly, that One in your own words, is immense. And what is immense, is boundary-less. You can’t say, “It begins here and ends here.” So, you are feeling like eating papaya. And even while you are eating papaya, you are with him. On the surface it appears that the desire is of eating papaya and you are taking a piece of papaya and having it, but it’s like eating papaya while sitting with your beloved. Don’t you take breakfast with your beloved? And when you have breakfast with your beloved, what is important, the breakfast or the beloved? On the surface if somebody sees you, he will say that you are having breakfast. But you know what you are doing? What are you doing?
Listeners: Sharing love.
Speaker: Yes! It is like that. You will keep doing everything else and you cannot even say that, “Now I have met the beloved. Now I have been with him. Now I am remembering him. Now I have attained him.” When you put some salt in the sea, where do you find the salt? Nowhere and everywhere. The sea is always salty, you pick the water from anywhere.
The spiritual mind is always with him whatever it is doing, or not doing: eating, running. And it will never say, “This is the time that I have reserved for the beloved.” You will be surprised. You will actually accuse him. You will say, “This man never finds time for the beloved.”
“We have a separate time for chanting, we have reserved some time for reading, we have reserved some time for discussions. This man, he never goes to the temple, he never reads, he never does these rituals. Why does he never appear doing anything for the beloved?” Because he is always with the beloved.
You asked a name for That. (Pointing at one of the listeners) So, right now I am talking to Ayush, what is the name of the beloved?
Listeners: Ayush.
Speaker: Ayush. Right now I am reading these questions. What is the name of the beloved?
Listeners: Questions.
Speaker: Questions. (Pointing at another listener) I look at Ved, what name has the beloved taken now?
Listeners: Ved.
Speaker: Ved. You want to be possessive? You want to have only one name for the beloved?
Listener 2: Sir, it is like thinking about something, I have never seen before. I don’t even imagine about the thing which we are dealing with.
Speaker: But it is so simple.
Listener 2: It is not simple. It is so much complicated that I can’t even think.
Speaker: You are Ayush. It is as simple as that.
Listener 2: I need more time to think.
Listener 2: There are these lines in the song, “Yahan dum-dum men hoti hae puja, sar jukane ki fursat nahi hai” (My every move is prayerful, I don’t wait to bow before someone).
Sir, also we have seen that Muslims usually keep their name starting with Mohammad like Mohammed Azaz. Is to signify the same, that always be with the beloved? Is this the logic behind this ritual?
Speaker: Yes, it wants to convey the same thing. That the beloved should always remain connected, always. In the same way in the Sanatan Dharm, the trees, the mountains, the rivers, the rocks are worshiped. They too signify the same – that whatsoever it is, it is That. Haven’t you seen in India that one sees a stone and starts praying, one sees a tree and he would keep an idol of any deity, lit a lamp, and start praying. It is to signify that – whatsoever it is, it is That.
Whatsoever you find, start praying it. One sees a cow walking, bow to it. But the problem is, one should not then only bow to a cow but to a pig too. There is no problem in bowing to a cow, problem is in excluding a pig from being bowed. One should bow to a pig too. And it has happened that in India there have been religious groups who have bowed to animals which you consider as untouchables. They have prayed even to the dead. This only signifies “Jit dekhu tit tu” (Wherever I see, I see you).
“Jo mehndi ke pat me lali lakhi n jaye” (In the cauldron of henna (which is green in color) vermilion color cannot be seen).
Have you seen henna, it is green in color. Are you able to see the red color in it? It is because the red color is everywhere, hence we are not able to see it. The beloved is like the red color in henna, because it is everywhere, hence it is not visible.
“Sahib teri sahibi har ghat rahi samaye” (God your Godliness is expressed in everything).
Godliness is expressed in all the things but it is not visible.
Listener 3: This song means the same, “Prabhu ayen haen kukur ke libas men”(God has come in the form of dog).
Speaker: This is the mark of a spiritual mind. He is able to see God in anything, anywhere. You will be surprised how he could see this. And he would see, and get immersed in it. As it happened with Guru Nanak that he was counting and counting, and he remembered That. Ramakrishna was going somewhere one day, he sees an animal being followed by its off-springs, and Ramakrishna right in the middle of the street starts singing, “Ma'(Mother, lovingly addressed to God).
Wherever one see, one sees That.
When your eyes start deceiving, then you should believe that you have really seen. What is being seen, is really not seen. Something else is being seen. Then realize that you are seeing It.
– Excerpts from a Clarity session held at Advait Sthal. Edited for clarity.
View the session at:

Q&A:
http://www.querynanswer.com/question/what-is-ultimate-desire-of-a-human-being/ 

I was reading the Bible and it said that, “The forbidden fruit was eaten by Eve out of temptation”. What does it means?

Dear Friend,
A Question was asked to me in one of my Clarity sessions in Adavait office. So, this is the answer I had given to him. It will be useful to you. Transcription is long but read it, It will clear all your doubts.
The mind cannot really be understood by itself. The mind can at most observe itself. It cannot understand.  The mind can at most go close to its functioning and note the details. That is the maximum the mind is equipped to do. No machine is blessed with power of understanding. But yes, the mind is a very nicely designed machine that can observe, register, make notes, store and compare. These are the things that the mind can surely do. The mind should be utilized to these purposes and nothing more should be expected from the mind.
Let us understand a few basics here. Understanding is the dissolution of all observation, comparison, analysis and conclusion. These are the things that the mind does. When these activities of the mind either reach their climax or come to their eventual defeat. That is called dissolution of mental activity.
That dissolution of mental activity is, understanding.
Now what is the mind equipped to do? The mind is equipped for activity. The mind is equipped only for activity. There is nothing called a still mind or a silent mind. When you say mind, what you mean is a mechanism that is functional, moving, changing. Things are coming and going; thoughts are rising and falling. Mind is activity. And understanding is the sublimation or dissolution of all activity. Mind cannot understand but mind is a nice machine that can do what it can do, what it is designed to do.
The mind is designed to ask questions like the one you are asking. You are asking, “Why is the mind tempted”? Now if you keep asking why is the mind tempted? You will only get an answer within the lexicon of the mind. It seems like an important and intelligent question but it is actually a worthless question. Why is the mind tempted?
You will get some answer. If you ask this question, you will get some answer. But that answer will just be a rephrasing of the basic fact that the mind is tempted. Your answer will not take you ahead; your answer will not take you towards silence. Your answer will only rephrase your question and keep you moving in circles. And that will not help you; that will not help you. It will be a chicken and egg story.
Observation is not about asking the question, why? Right now you are standing at a point, if I go by the quality of the question you have asked. Right now you are standing at a point which is not even observation. Your question is below the level of observation. You are not observing, one cannot observe with curiosity. One cannot observe with a motive in mind. Observation is not about asking questions because every question is a motivated question.
No question is an innocent question. Behind every question there is a hidden expectation of some kind of answer. No question is so innocent question that it will admit all possible answers including silence. No question is so honest and innocent. Every question is a tainted question.
And observation is not tainted. So right now you are not even asking a question which pertains to observation. Right now you are just trying to satisfy mental curiosity, which will only continue mental activity and mind in activity. You are only seeking to continue mental activity, through this question.
First thing will be to drop the question which asks, “Why is mind tempted”? Drop this question and just concern yourself with the fact of temptation. The mind is tempted and that is sufficient. Not why? ‘Why’ seeks for a cause. And you will never get a cause. You will never get rather, a true cause. All cause and effect is within the same mental activity that is bothering you.
And you are asking ‘why’? ‘Why’ means time. ‘Why’ means something that pre-exists what you are seeing. Do not ask why? Just ask, “What is this that is happening”? What is this temptation? And if you can be a little more subtle, do not even ask, “What is temptation”? Just observe the fact of temptation namelessly. You do not even need to call it temptation.
Just see that this is what the mind is. Something that is restless, something that wants to go somewhere and hence it is always being tempted in different directions. And when you observe all this, you need not even use the words that I have used. Observation is more, much more subtle than words. Behind every word there is some thought. And observation has to be as thoughtless as possible.
So I have said that, “Firstly your question is not even at the level of observation”. Then I said that, “Observe without asking ‘why’”. And then I go back to what I had previously said, “That even observation is not understanding”. Because observation will deal with an object; mind is watching mind, mind is observing mind, and yet there is a subject and an object. The mind itself is fragmented into two. Mind is observing mind, mind is observing itself and yet there is a fragmentation, a final fragmentation, nevertheless but yes.
Understanding will come, when even this fragmentation stops, when observation reaches its zenith. That would actually simply be the point where you are not even asking, “Why is the mind tempted”? Where you are not even observing that the mind is tempted? It is so. It is so.
Yes, what we call as the mind is nothing but temptation. It is so.
But that understanding again, is not mere words. I may say a few nice things, wise phrases. But that is not, understanding. Understanding is a different quality all together.
Observation turns into understanding when the distance between you and your object reduces.
How does that happens? That happens when the boundary that you have built, the boundary that you call as ‘I’, the boundary that separates you from the object, that comes down.
That is the point when you understand.
Remember, understanding is not something that happens when you come to a conclusion. Usually that is what people mean by understanding. They say that now we have come to a frozen and settled conclusion. So we can say that we understand the matter. In fact the mind feels very secure in dishing out one particular statement, as the statement of understanding.
Understanding is not about coming to conclusions.
Understanding is about being free from the need to have conclusion.
There is no conclusion. It is just like this and I am alright with it. Have you ever noticed that whenever people state something, it is never complete? Never, never complete. Whenever you say that, “You are going somewhere”. It is never a complete statement. There is expectation hidden in it. There is hope or motivation hidden in it.

For example, at this moment if one of you utters that this room is quite cold. This statement is not at all complete in itself. The moment you utter this there would be an expectation that somebody would take care of the air conditioning. Now that I have expressed the room is too cold for me, something would be done about it. Are you getting it? You never say, it is just so. It is just so.
Understanding is, I repeat, “Being free from the need to conclude”.
It is just so and it does not mean anything. Yes, it is quite cold and that does not mean anything. Yes, it is quite cold and that does not demand any follow up action. It is just cold, that is it. Full stop. That full stop, is ‘understanding’.
That deep, deep object-less settling down, is ‘understanding’.
It is this way.
Yes! And then somebody who is not initiated will say, ‘So’? And you will say, “Nothing. That stops here.” There is no question of so, it is this way. That is it! And then you know; that you understand. But remember, you being you, there would be demands and there would be extensions into future. It is very rare when you can just know what it is like and not extend it this way or that way. That is understanding.
Now, do you see; what your question is doing? Your question is actually trying to extend and prolong the whole drama; now why is the mind tempted? Will this question settle down the mind or is this question is going to extend and prolong and stretch the mind?
Listeners: Stretch the mind.
Speaker: There is temptation. Now why is there temptation? So, ten things about temptation. And then, ten things about those ten things. There is temptation, is it bad? Silence. Is it good? Silence. Where did it come from? Silence. What would it lead to? Silence. But there is?
Listeners: Temptation.
Speaker: Temptation. And you know when it does not come from anywhere and when it does not lead to anything; you find that it becomes absurd to give it even any meaning on its own. Because whatever meaning you assign to anything, have to be dependent on others and time. Are you getting it?
You cannot have a thing without it being linked to other things.
The moment you sever those linkages now, not only the thing is not related to other things. Actually the thing in itself also ceases to exist.      
You see, a man walks in and you say, “He is a family man”. Now you have created the whole story including others. The thing is depending on other things. The husband is depending on wife, the father is depending on kids, the son is depending upon parents. When this thing stops depending on other things; when this thing is no more linked to other things, will this thing stand by itself?
The groom walks in. The story is not complete for you. Is it ever complete? The groom has just walked in. It requires a Zen master to say, “That is it”! The worldly man will say, “Where is the bride”? Now the story is not yet complete. The groom is here, how do I this is it say, full stop? I cannot say this is it, full stop. I have to ask for the bride, I also have to ask for the wedding party. I also have to ask for the celebrations and the dinner because the thing is related to many other things. As is the nature of things; no things exist by itself.
That is the very definition of a thing, a concept; a thing is something that depends on other things for its existence. What is a thing? Something that depends on other things for its being. What is a concept? Something that depends on other concepts for its being.
Now when you come to this point where something is not related to other things and you are able to say, “Full stop”. Temptation means, temptation. Temptation does not mean sex, temptation does not mean money; temptation does not mean the biblical stories; temptation does not mean what is forbidden in the scriptures; temptation does not remind me of my past. Temptation is temptation.
Then not only do the other things related to temptation fall.
A miracle happens, temptation itself falls.
In fact you will find it difficult, to even call it temptation any more.
Just as it is very difficult to call one man, one solitary man as a groom; when neither a bride nor fireworks, nor the wedding parties, nor the guests, nor the food, nor the dress associated with groom. When nothing else is to be seen? When other things are nowhere to be seen? It becomes difficult to call that solitary man as groom.
Similarly temptation would be difficult to be called as temptation, when there would be nothing that temptation is associated with. But you will not be able to come to this, if you keep asking, “Why is mind tempted”? Do you see what you are trying to do? The groom is here and you are inviting the wedding party. ‘Why’ means come all the other thoughts. Through ‘why’ you are doing the exact opposite of what you ought to be doing. Through a ‘why’ you are inviting all sundry.
Don’t invite anybody, don’t ask, “Why this? Why that? Why have I been selected for punishment? Why is everybody else so lucky? What is this”?
This is it. This is it.
And this is it firstly destroys the world around what is. And then what is, in absence of worldly support itself falls.
And all you are left with the silence called understanding. Now you understand.
Do you get this?
Listener: Sir, does this mean if we attach any meaning or any conclusion it prolongs the mental activity?
Speaker: Yes, of course. Whenever you will try to understand something using mental logic, comparison, this and that; you will end up achieving the opposite of what you really want. You really want to understand, right? And understanding is the cessation of turbulence, not the prolonging of turbulence.
Instead of getting turbulence to cease, you end up adding fuel to it. This is it. I have come to this point and this is it, does not matter from where I came, doesn’t matter what it would lead to. This is the point. This is the point. And this, this is. Whatever it refers to, could be anything because anyway it has no sanctity or truth about it.
There is anyway no sanctity or truth about it. If she is thinking about temptation then temptation is it. Nobody has a right to go and tell her that, “No! No! You should stay in here and now”. And here we have a sacred session going on. So, why are you thinking of temptation? If the mind is in temptation, this is it. Now do not bring in guests like moral police, comparison or whatever.
See, the whole thing around here and now has been badly misunderstood. Here and now does not really pertain to an objective reality because there is no objective reality. Here and now pertains to the state of mind that the mind is in. All that here and now means is that when the mind is in a particular state, then that state is all that there is. Mind is in temptation; then temptation is all that there is. Mind is anger; anger is all that there is.
Here and now is meaningless. Even though we all are sitting in this physical location right now yet here and now means different things to all of us. So here and now cannot mean something objective because what is objective then should not vary with the subject. Because it is objective not subjective so how can it vary with the subject? Here if you have these many subjects then here and now will be different for all these subjects.
Here and now simple means that be alert to what is in the mind. Full stop.
And whatever is in the mind? That is in the mind.

Now do not try to suppress it and do not try to find justifications for it. Just know that this is what is there in the mind? And that we said in the beginning is the appropriate mental activity. The mind is the machine, well tuned, nicely designed for both analysis and observation.
Use it for observation. You use it only for analysis and comparisons.
Use it for observation. And if the observation is honest then the object of observation will drop.
With the marriage party gone and the bride nowhere how will the groom stand on his own? Observe honestly and you will soon find that you have gone beyond observation. Observe without motive and you will transcend observation.
So in a nutshell, what we have said is that the base level of mental activity ismotivated analysis. We stay there. Even in spiritual matters all we do is analysis and no analysis can be spiritual analysis. All we do is analysis.
Then a higher level would be motiveless observation. I am asking you to move from the third level to second level. What is the third level? Motivated analysis. And mind is capable we said of both, analysis and observation. Mind is capable of being in both state two and state three. We usually live in state three. Which is? Motivated analysis.
I am asking you to move from state three to state two. State two is? Motiveless observation. And then I am saying that a miracle happens on its own if you are honestly in state two. You are pulled to state one and state one is silent understanding. It is you prerogative and your personal responsibility to move from three to two. This much you will have to do. This much you will have to do, move from three to two.
But if you have really moved to two then some mystical power will carry you to one.
Two to one cannot come through your effort; it comes on its own.
It is Grace.
~ Excerpts from Clarity Session held at Advait Sthal. Edited for clarity.
Watch the session at : www.youtube.com/watch?v=HaFUoSJCLPY
For, Further clearance or  Similar queries or any Life related problems, you can visit my Blog ‘Words into Silence’.
Or, you may visit my you tube channels for further clarity-
1) www.youtube.com/c/ShriPrashant
2) www.youtube.com/c/PrashantTripathi01
http://prashantadvait.com/life-education-fundamentals/

Q&A:
http://www.querynanswer.com/question/i-was-reading-the-bible-and-it-said-that-the-forbidden-fruit-was-eaten-by-eve-out-of-temptation-what-does-it-means/