Diwali, The Day Of Enlightenment

Today, seeing the audience, I wanted to stand and then speak. I used to do this when I was a poet, although I have remained a poet throughout. Basically I am a poet, and a poet has a heart which is very much near God. In the beginning, the first poet was God. He thought, “How to make the sky, unfold the sense of knowledge, and then whisper?” [The sky makes sound possible.] But then the poet thought, “How can I touch the sky?” So God made the air, so that he could touch the sky. Even if he made the air to touch the sky, how could he feel the light? So the air not only touched the sky, it rubbed the sky, and rubbed it so much that light was created, and it was the sun. Light was manifested, the sun came out, and then God thought, “How should I have a taste of water?” So the heat became very hot, very hot, and when it became too hot, it turned out to be water. So water came into manifestation. Then God thought, “How would I be walking, and walking on what?” So he thought of gandh (we translate it as fragrance, but it is the tanmaatra, the subtlest reality of earth), and thereby earth came into existence.

Still, it was not enough. How would God think? It was only the idea that existed, which means it was only imagination. Before imagination was God—it was all Pure Consciousness, or Pure Existence of Consciousness. The imagination thought that sky came into existence, so the sky is the creation of imagination—because it is imagination that thinks of making a form. So sky came into form. Then air, sun, water and earth came into form. On earth, when all the five elements were prepared, then God thought, and the same imagination became the creator of making a human being out of those five elements. You can make anything out of those five elements. So the five elements and imagination are one reality. They are all insentient. Imagination is the mind, and this, as well as all the five material states of existence, are insentient—they don’t have such a sense that they can think further and speak.

As he had designed out of himself imagination and the sky, air, sun, water, and earth, so God himself designed out of himself these five material states of existence in the form of a human being. And when he became a human being, he began to cry, “Where am I now?” He lost his own existence. Then he started growing, thinking he would revive his own state of existence—after thinking and thinking, seeing the forms, hearing the sounds, and experiencing all he had made out of the five elements.

I have described this, but it was a poet’s imagination. So I introduced myself that basically, I have been a poet. Thus it was possible for me to realize the existence of the Self, which is my Self. Because the Self has never become anything else. The Self has been the Self, and the Self became consciousness, which was like a rock consciousness. There was nothing absolutely, it was only like sky. So then out of that consciousness, the imagination created existence, and that existence is now in front of everybody’s eyes—existence and consciousness.

Whenever a human being sees and thinks, imagination will always remain. Imagination is never devoid of sky and sky is never devoid of imagination. Air, water, fire, and earth are never devoid of imagination. And a human being came into existence. Now the question is, How and who created the human being? The very human being has forgotten who he himself is. He has never become anything else other than the very Being, the very Self, that is one without a second. There is no such thing as sky and the air, one or two, or imagination and all the five elements. It is one without a second. We call it adwait.

Now, how is that one without a second? People use the word adwait but are not able to figure out what it means. One is that where a second is not. One is without a second, so it is one. A second is that where it is without one. So neither a second nor one are there: that is one without a second. For if one comes, then there must be two. And if two becomes, then there must be two and one. A human being is in this state of figuring out what is that which is consciousness and what is that which is existence. Existence and consciousness are not two different things. But check: when the human being was made, then forgetfulness, the ignorance of the Source or Self, has taken place.

So the Source is the source of imagination. If you think that imagination is consciousness, then the Source already had it in its womb, in its Being. And if you say that imagination is existence, then the Source is existence. So consciousness and existence were never there. It was only that Source, which you call God. We have no name for that, so we began to call it God. But it was all Knowingness, all Pure Consciousness. … A human being thinks that bones are insentient and he is sentient. A human being has this difficulty. It is not that anyone has made it. He himself has made it, because his source is nothing but God. But we cannot speak to a human being that “You are God,” because he can never imagine this, and his life begins from imagination.

When he imagines, what does he imagine? That this body is solid, bulky, material stuff. But then he has knowledge in it, because the very Being, who has never gone anywhere, became imagination, sky, air, fire, water and earth, and at the same time he sat in the heart of that imagination as himself, and got hidden. He is still sitting there, because without him, no knowledge will come to imagination. When imagination is not there and you are not making any forms and are sitting quiet as an artist, knowledge is still there. Out of knowledge, imagination will come—you call it an idea, “What a great idea.” So all this is coming. What a great idea that airplanes and cell phones came into existence. What an idea that a child came into existence, that a mother and father became together. Everything is nothing but an idea. You cannot say that an idea is gold, silver, wood, earth, cotton or anything. …

Human life is nothing but five elements and imagination. … During the period in which he made forms out of five elements and imagination, it became time. Wherever these things stayed, that became space. So objects and persons are in time and space. All the material forms change, get eliminated and get dissolved. But what never gets dissolved? The very Being, the Source, never gets dissolved. The Source is all that there is. But all that there is is not the Source. … Existing material forms get eliminated and destroyed, but what does not end? That which never began. Who never began? That Being. So Being is without appearance and disappearance, without birth and without death. Again, if one can hear this and understand it, but one does not identify “That I am,” it will not be realized. So the knowledge started. Because the sky was there, so sound, word, the scriptures started—all the scriptures, all the sounds, are nothing but from sky. And whatever kind of powers are there are from fire. This goes on.

What do I mean? A human being has the kind of inquiry, “What is my reality?” Because he thinks reality is that which his mind thinks and his senses know, so he always travels and interacts among things. Without things, he cannot interact. Since many times without mind he cannot interact, so he thinks that he is the mind and so he interacts. But in deep sleep, without the mind the whole body is lying there, and since the mind is not there, so imagination is not there. But a human being cannot say that in deep sleep he is God, because how would he explain this without the mind? So through the mind, he explains only those things concerning the five material elements and their subtlest aspects of the senses, or the imagination. Their source is one without a second, the Self, the Knowledge, the Existence Pure, which is indivisible because there is nothing to divide it.

All the material forms cannot make God. They can be dissolved, but God can never be. God is not to be treated as a human form or as a form of the five elements. Being alone is, Guru says, because Guru and that Being are one and the same. Without this unfoldment, a  human being suffers and continues inquiring, “What is That?” He understands it intellectually, but he does not understand, “I am That.” So then Guru comes on earth. Whenever the inquiry came from man, Guru knew, “They are all Me, but they only have a baby consciousness, they are forgetful. Let them be developed and they will become Me, which means they will come to know Me.” So Guru says, “You are Me. Me is you. You and I are one.” The one who knows I knows you. So then, it is the Knower. I goes away, you go away, but the Knower remains. Yet a human being does not know where the Knower is. I have introduced myself that basically I am a poet, so I can imagine anything. But it is to imagine that which is worthwhile. Poets generally only talk about forms. But that which is immortal, unchanging, the Knower, a human being has to identify with. Unless he identifies with the Knower, he cannot know, “I am That.” ….

Today began with the offering of garlands. Why have garlands become very important in India? There is a story, or knowledge behind it. Garlands are made of flowers, and each flower is different. As long as it is part of the plant, it is all one. Flowers and the plant are the same up to the root, even up to the earth. So flowers are one. A human being is nothing but a flower. But how is it that flowers should be joined together and should become one? There must be something for this to be possible. So the thread represents the source of unity, the means of unity, for all the flowers. When in your garland all your flowers are given to you, you come to know that the unity of the flowers depends on the thread. If the thread were not there, they would all be scattered and would be dried and useless.

So, what is that? We call it a sutra [thread, or aphorism]. Patanjali has written the sutras. Sound is a sutra. I am talking. My sound starts with a. The same becomes …  [He sings the Sanskrit alphabet.] Language came from where? From a [The beginning of the alphabet]. And language finishes with ma [The end.] … After ma is maun, silence. … Sanskrit means the prakriti [creation] and the sa, swami, the Lord: Sanskrit, Sam-skrit. It is the Being and the creation, then it became Sanskrit. From Being and creation you can make anyone have sanskaar, or that knowledge. … All of you are the representative of sound, form, consciousness, existence, senses, intellect, mind, ego—and the soul, which remains in the middle of the heart. That soul is the Aatma [Self]. Aatma means one from aa to ma. In one word, you can know the source from where aa came and you can end the form with ma: Aatma. Aatma is Oneness. …

All human beings are nothing but different kinds of flowers. Who is the thread? That is Guru. I’ll wind up by thanking all of you … and wishing you the knowledge of unity that is your thread. If you keep the thread strong, the forms in the family will be united. It will be one garland. If you keep the unity thread strong, which is your awareness, then you will come to unite the whole world. All the figures in the world, all seven billion people, are nothing but flowers. All the flowers will be threaded in one sutra, one thread. That thread is Guru. I expect you to not see it broken. It should remain forever united. Thank you very much everyone. God bless you. Amaram Hum Madhuram Hum. Amaram Hum Madhuram Hum.

… I offer my garland and put it on your neck so that I can see your face and my garland at the same time, and I hope that you will never see it broken. It is nothing but the love of your heart and the love of my heart, and it will remain forever together. Thank you very much. God bless you. Amaram Hum Madhuram Hum. Happy Diwali to you everyone! [Applause.]…

The main practice is for you to identify with Pure Free Forever, which means, you just know. You can decide this day, maybe it is October 28th 2008, Diwali night. You are the one who can decide. You just decide. Take a decision that “I am that Pure Free Forever.” That’s it. It will remain held always. You became realized that way. Other things will be there, according to your rules of the senses, the rules of grammar and language, the rules of your conditions, country, culture, parents, and of your own. That you can make by yourself, it will continue. But what has been the dictate of scripture? Realize the Self. Act and be in interaction anywhere in time and space with your body, but you have come to realize that you are Pure Free Forever. What a great joy will be felt by you, being uninvolved and free! ….