DARSHAN
Transcription of Pre-Darshan Speech
by Sri Swami Vishwananda
Rise above your limitations
December 26, 2009
Sri Swami Vishwananda: Jai Gurudev! (audience: Jai Gurudev!)
Firstly, Merry Christmas to all of you. To all who were not here, hope you have had a wonderful Christmas time and that you were filled with a lot of joy and happiness. Like I was saying a few days ago- it is a time of change. It is a time that we have to change ourselves. A time that we have to start taking responsibility. As long as we don´t take responsibility we weaken ourselves. Often we will see that we let ourselves be dominated by our mind. And you will say: “But, Swamiji, we try our best, but we don´t succeed. Why? We know very well, why we are here. We know very well what we are searching for. And it’s all inside of ourselves. But yet- why is this mind always troubling us? Why is it so difficult to let it go. Why? It is simple. The answer to that is: We like our limitation. Just that. We like to limit ourselves and we like to dance on this limitation. That´s how, when we analyze ourselves, we see our own limitation. But yet, deep inside ourselves there is another voice that says: “Hey you have to wake up. There is something greater than that.” But yet, the limitation of the mind shows that…“that’s it”. We are in our own game and we don´t want to jump out. It is, like we are caging ourselves like an animal and we run from one side to the other. Then we are back again to the same place. Like that we let our mind darken our true Self. But from time to time, through the grace of God, through the grace of Divine Mother, there are some rays of light and the gate is opened and you go out. But then, out of fear, you run in again. Where does that lead you to? Krishna has said to Arjun: “Dear Arjun, be free. Be like a Yogi. Raise your weapon and fight.” When he said that to Arjun, he did not say that to Arjun only. He said that to all of us. We are all Yogis but we have to be free. What is a Yogi? It is somebody who is – free! But yet when we see our limitation we see that we are not free. Whenever a fear arises, whenever a thought of: ”Oh, I should have done this, I have not done that”, you know, we run around always in circles. We don´t free ourselves. Because we are scared. We are scared to look at that limitation. What if this limitation is everything? No, What you have to do is to face it. You know very well that this limitation is not you. It is not that for which purpose you are here for. Face it. Look deep into the eyes of this limitation and let go of it. As long as you don´t look deep into the eyes and face it by yourself you will always be into this game. Unless you like it! I don´t know, you have the free will of choice about that. Like a great Sufi said: You have the choice of life to take this way or that way. It is your choice. You are free in that choice. But you will come to a point where the yogi which is inside of you, the greatness which is inside of you, will have to take the choice also. Your true self will have to take the choice. And this true choice of which is inside of you will overtake the limitation of what you think it is. So, cross over this limitation, face it, don´t have fear. Start firstly with little things. You know yourself. You know that God will always provide for you. If an animal knows that - we are bound by more qualities than an animal. So we can realize who we are. We are all one family, that what we call humanity. Everybody talks about humanity but very few really behave human (laughter). So, if we call ourselves we are part of this society, we are part of humanity, we have not to behave like an animal. Even animals behave better in society. Because they know who they are and they know where they are leading to. They trust in the higher consciousness that God will always provide. But poor us human being, us who have more than just an animal, we like to degrade ourselves. We like to make ourselves worse. It is time to cross over this limitation. It is time that you really let, what you have inside of you, awake. How many among you, out of fear what people think, you are not doing something? (some raise their hand) Many. But than you are limiting yourselves. Be free. That is what your inside is calling you. To be free, to learn and to move on. So, life is the most beautiful thing that God has given you. Don´t waste it, you know. Cause at the end, when life is departing this body and you look back you say: “Oh my God, I have missed so many choices, so much chances God has sent to me, but yet, my mind has been ruled by so many matrikas. I blinded myself.” Why do I say, I blind myself? Because the choice to be blind or to see is up to you. How to do that? You do your sadhana every day, no? Do you, or not? How many among you do your sadhana regularly, I mean every day? (many raise their hand) Good. You see the spiritual sadhana helps you to free the mind, helps you not to get entangled into this limitation. Once a student went to his Guru and said: “Master, I am troubled.” The master stood right in front of him and came very near to his face, like this microphone, and said: “Why do you hang on the illusion? You know, whatever is in this mind is an illusion, why do you hang on that. You know very well that deep inside of you only God resides. Why you don´t find joy inside of this?” Then the master said: “My dear child, recite for 24 hours nonstop your Guru mantra and meditate intensely for 4 hours and you will conquer the mind.” Of course the grace of the Guru was there. But the same thing- the grace of God is with you. Chant the name of God if you can 24 hours. And you will say: “What if I sleep?” How can we chant when we are sleeping? But that is the secret of mantra japa, you know. The more you train yourself of chanting throughout the day the name of God, the more you train yourself in reciting continuously, in every action to remember the Divine, the more it will become automatic, even when you sleep it will carry on chanting and will carry on singing the Divine names. And practice your spiritual practice, because your spiritual practice is like a shield, like an armor, that has been given to you to protect you. And when you are protected you don´t need to fear anything. But if you have been given an armor you put it in a wardrobe and here you have many enemies attacking you, how will you protect yourself? Tell me, would you be protected? No. So why putting the armor inside a wardrobe! Wear it and be disciplined about it, self-disciplined. Jai Gurudev! (audience: Jai Gurudev)And, happy New Year also! Hopefully next year we have many great yogis amongst you all. Well, it´s good to hope something, you know. We have to keep hoping! (laughter)
(starting to sing the bhajan “Bole Ki Jay Jay, Shivaji Ki Jay Jay”
