Divine Way to Atma Darshan Samadhi

What I've actually done is very simply taken the beautiful Jesus prayer and made versions out of that to resonate with all our different personas or different conditions. So we all have a particular set of conditions which make us resonate with a particular aspect of God. Remember that it is to pray to lead to the unfathomable, the Nirguna reality of God itself, you see. So the Krishna prayer is: Hare Krishna, incarnation of God, have mercy on me, a sinner, bless my heart with the light of Atma. So: Hare Krishna, incarnation of God, have mercy on me, a sinner, bless my heart with the light of Atma.

So how is this very simple? Why am I relying so much on this? First is that it's very devotional in nature and it makes a very specific call to that aspect of God that we resonate with. So when we say the first line, which is an invocation to Krishna, 'Hare Krishna,' then like in the Jesus prayer it is said 'Son of God,' here we say 'incarnation of God' to remind ourselves that this is truly about a God that we cannot fathom, we cannot understand. And the aspect of God that we call Krishna derives everything from God itself in His aspect. Which means that there is a Nirguna aspect to God and there is a Saguna aspect to God. So when we refer to God here, we're talking about the unfathomable of which Krishna is an incarnation.

Then we say 'have mercy on me.' This is a request for grace. 'Have mercy' can seem very strong to some of you, but it really puts us in a place of humility, which is very important. It is very important not to approach our spirituality with any sort of pride, because the spiritual ego is the most dangerous invention in this world. I feel that if we make our spirituality egoic and it becomes special and proud, it becomes an entitlement, you see. So we are not saying that our prayer entitles us to samadhi, you see. We are not saying that our prayer entitles us to God's light. We think that it will come only if it is Your grace, if it is Your mercy. So that part is really important, that it is God's grace. Like I've been saying, our job is to set the table, but we cannot be entitled. To expect, 'Oh, but I have been praying so long, this is why haven't You come,' these kind of things will just not do.

So, 'have mercy on me.' And the two words which maybe are causing the most resistance to all of you is 'a sinner,' because many of you feel like you escaped the notion of sin from other traditions and came to Advaita and things like that because there was not much talk here about sin and things. So now, one child told me that it's very scary, that it is reminding me of my childhood and things like this. So I'm going to clarify this a little bit. But remember that most importantly we have said 'Hare Krishna, incarnation of God,' which is such an awesome invocation—and I don't mean awesome in the way my kids use the term, I mean filled with awe. So deeply filled with awe that we can invoke God. And as the prayer is said very symmetrically, the position is made clear on the other side also: that on one hand You are full of wonder, beauty, love, knowledge, all-pervasive reality; on the other hand, what is left of me? This means an idea of separation, a need to live separate from God, or a need to live by individual will, you see, to live on our own terms.

And the way I am using the term 'sin'—and we deeply contemplated whether we should continue using it and I feel like it is fine because fundamentally, even in the other traditions where this word is used, I explored the meaning of it and fundamentally the sin is to live in reliance through our own terms, you see, on our own plans, on our own will, our own knowledge of good and bad, rather than to live in God's will and in God's light, you see. So that term, with this definition, means that whatever is left of me likes to live in my own terms rather than living in Your light, in Your guidance, in Your will. So this term then applies in that way to all of us, you see. And even the greatest sages are not exempt from this, because even the greatest sages have moments where they follow their mind for a moment or two, you see. So I feel like it's very important to keep humble, to put ourselves in not a glorious position but like a bow-down position of someone asking for mercy and needing God's light and grace.

Because the last part of the prayer, which is 'bless my heart with the light of Atma,' it is the same as saying 'bless my heart with the light of spirit' or 'bless my heart with Your Noor.' So whatever term we want to use, it is only possible for this discovery to happen by grace. Only through God blessing, through God's grace, can it happen. Only God can make it happen. Even your Master cannot do this for you. He can bless you and say, 'May this be true, may what was discovered here through my Master's grace be also true for you,' but the Master, the Guru, cannot impose upon God, cannot impose upon God to bless you with God's light, with the presence. With the light of Atma, only God can direct it in this way. Okay?

And that's another topic for another satsang probably, but although God and Guru are themselves fundamentally the same, in this play the Guru can bless you, he can guide you, he can represent the Atma and the guidance from the heart very beautifully, but the Guru cannot force God to compel this version of the Atma within yourself. So we must all bow down and request God's grace for this to happen, you see. So this is the request at the end of it: 'bless my heart with the light of spirit' or 'bless my heart with the light of Atma' or 'Noor,' whatever we want to call that. So in such a simple prayer, it takes three or four breaths to complete. Have you noticed the beauty and the simplicity and how wonderfully graceful it is? But just my guidance would be to follow the simplicity of these words because they've captured the essence of what a prayer should be.

So, in-breath would be 'Hare Krishna,' out-breath would be 'incarnation of God.' Now one child asked very sweetly, 'But when I'm breathing in I can't speak, so what do you mean?' So what I'm really sharing, because I am speaking actually, it is just for you to do inwardly while the in-breath and out-breath are happening. So you would basically go—and you don't have to breathe in any particular way—so when you're breathing in, chant 'Hare Krishna.' When you're breathing out, remember 'incarnation of God.' Then as you're breathing in, say 'have mercy on me.' As you're breathing out, say 'a sinner.' When you're breathing in, say 'bless my heart.' When you're breathing out, say 'with the light of Atma.'

If you were using, for example, the Jesus prayer, you would say 'Lord Jesus Christ' while breathing in, 'Son of God' while breathing out, 'have mercy on me' while breathing in, 'a sinner' while breathing out, 'bless my heart' while breathing in, 'and the light of spirit' while breathing out. So this is three breaths. You want to all try? It's all right. Okay, maybe I read out the prayers so that all of you have quote-unquote your favorite one and you can use that.

Okay, so the Ram prayer is: Ram Ji, incarnation of God, have mercy on me, a sinner, bless my heart with the light of Atma. The Krishna prayer is basically the same: Hare Krishna, incarnation of God, have mercy on me, a sinner, bless my heart with the light of Atma. So the Jesus prayer is: Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner, bless my heart with the light of spirit. The Allah prayer is: Ya Allah, God Almighty, have mercy on me, a sinner, bless my heart with Your Noor. The Shiva prayer is: Om Namah Shivaya, Supreme God's house, have mercy on me, a sinner, bless my heart with the light of Atma. The Durga prayer is: Jai Maa Durga, essence of God, have mercy on me, a sinner, bless my heart with the light of Atma. The Kali prayer is: Jai Maa Kali, God's fierce love, have mercy on me, a sinner, bless my heart with the light of Atma. Then the Satguru prayer is: Om Satguru, God's holy presence, have mercy on me, a sinner, bless my heart with the light of Atma. And trust that they work. These prayers just work. So you can try the three breaths, and when I say three breaths, it's in and out both. So one round of breath is one breath, and then there's a fourth which we'll come to in a moment.

Bless my heart with the light of Atma. The Kali prayer is God's fierce love: 'Bless my heart with the light of Atma.' Then the Satguru prayer is: 'Om Satguru, God's holy presence, have mercy on me as I know, bless my heart with the light of Atma.' And trust that they work. These prayers just work. So you can try the three breaths, and when I say three breaths, it's in and out both, so one round of breath is one breath. And then there's a fourth, which we'll come to in a moment. We will also—I was just going to say that, thank you, media—so we will also have versions of these prayers in the Kannada, Gujarati, whatever we need, Malayalam. So we will create those, but just to start off with, start with these, and then those will come to you as well. Okay, you want to try? Let's try. Oh, great. One, two, and three.

Simple resistance is to be expected when something new like this comes. Some of you, I know, are also on this mindset that 'I know this stuff already, this is for the kids, I have been praying for 50 years.' You see, before Ananta was born also. But I will just remind you that what has come from God's light and it has come in your field of view, the better approach you take is to trust and to follow. There is nobody in the Sangha, including this boy Ananta, who is free from completely following the mind. So don't get into any sort of pride. And finally, whether you use the gift that is available to you or not is completely up to you. Like I said, I cannot, you know, force anyone to pray. This is the way of the Leela. So the Leela is designed to pull you into this game more and more. Your most resistance will come for that which is most potent.

The resistance is the mind telling you that, 'Oh, but this is too different. I don't need this. I am already open and empty. I already am living with God,' you see. And you're buying those ideas, you see, which is itself proving that none of that is true, you see. Because if it was true, then you would just hear all of this like music and not bother. You will be fine, you're just opening. But because you—I'm not saying just you, I'm saying all of us—the resistance means that it is possible for us to still buy into our mind notions, you see. And those mind notions may be claiming that, oh, we are already so empty, which is a contradiction. So don't fall for these simple tricks of the mind. Only here, some trust will really help. If my master has emphasized so much on this, then it must be coming from God's light to be guiding all of you on this. So I can only propose and please and provoke and do all of that. And what to follow is completely up to you.

But I also want to say that I have so much faith in this what is unfolding that if I have to start sharing from scratch again with a completely new set of people, I'm completely happy to do that. Not—I'm not saying that we will get there. I'm just saying that if it has to be that way, then God is guiding me to guide everyone in a certain way. And if my existing Sangha, my children, don't at all accept that, then I have to still follow God's guidance and do that. Um, so you can pick between your mind and your teacher's heart and heart guidance. Yes.

So with all the prayers, the second part, maybe I share this now so everyone is clear. So this is the fourth breath. So if it's Krishna, we say Krishna seven times, which is four times Krishna in the in-breath—Krishna, Krishna, Krishna, Krishna—and three times Krishna in the out-breath—Krishna, Krishna, Krishna. So if it's the Jesus prayer, then say Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus. As we settle into the rhythm of the prayer, the chanting, you will notice that your mind starts to dissolve. You are effortlessly open and empty, and soon you will find the presence of an unconditional love in your heart. When that love for God is apparent, you can leave the words of the prayer and just stay with that love.

At this point, you will be able to notice that you will experience that love and you can actively love God as well. And I know that this part is causing some confusion for some of you, but you go really slowly. And as you taste these various aspects of this beautiful process, I can help you spot some of this and outline it more clearly for you. But your love for God, unconditional love for God, God for God's sake, will deepen in this and you will remain in the no-mind, anchored by this love. This is called Bhava Samadhi. It is literally translated to emotional—this is literally translated, it is emotional, but actually, it is a love which is beyond emotion. So to be in the unborn, to be open and empty, to be in the no-mind anchored just by this love, is going from Laya Samadhi to Bhava Samadhi.

And some of you have questions about—it's very natural for you to stay just in that love directly. Do you need to start with Laya or can't you just start with Bhava itself? Um, you get there, don't worry. You don't have to rush. It's all beautiful. Every aspect of this is beautiful, so we don't have to rush. It's not a competition. Nobody is going to win, nobody can lose. It's all for love for God. So this is the Bhava Samadhi, to anchor it just with love. But what happens is that most of you will get distracted by the mind from time to time. When you attempt to stay in that love for God, there you use the word that you chanted in your Laya Samadhi. So if it was Ram, you are anchored in that love for God, but the mind is offering you something which seems tempting inwardly, just say Ram. So then that becomes your like a backup anchor, your shield for your sadhana, for your samadhi.

So if the distraction is really strong, then just saying it once doesn't help. You can say it seven times like you did earlier. And if it's really strong and you're not able to actually stay just in that love, the presence of that love, just go back to the previous Laya Samadhi and repeat the prayer and the chanting. It's all very simple, very, very straightforward. As you progress like this, there is lesser and lesser to quote-unquote 'do.' To be anchored in love, to deepen in love, is less gross than saying words, repeating, using the breath. After this point, it's all up to Grace. It's all up to the Satguru presence, you see. And what may happen is that you deepen in the love so much that you find your holy presence, your Atma within, and all that remains is this presence.

So there'll be a various spectrum of reports that you may give. So some of you may report the presence is so palpable, there is no mind, and not just the primordial vibration of Atma's presence, but also the unlimited nature of God is palpable. And some of you will report that the perceptions of the world, they continue. The hearing of the world may continue, even sight, if your eyes are open, may continue, but nothing is holding on to anything. You cannot find 'me' there. Some of you will report that only presence remained and unlimited being was intuitively apparent, but you will not find any world to report about. So both of these are forms of Savikalpa Samadhi. For now, just look at it as a sort of a Saguna Samadhi. It is samadhi with attributes. And don't worry about the word, you see. What's important is that you're meeting God's light. Your prayer is answered and you're tasting the holy presence within yourself.

Okay, so this becomes natural and you may actually stay like this all day. All day you can do your work, everything can happen, but there is no 'me.' You will not be able to find 'me' that you are relying on reporting on, because your mind is no longer activated. It is no longer getting any beliefs. So you live like a sage at this point. You're just empty to any identity and God's light is just so apparent that the flow of life may continue, but there is nowhere where any identification is landing or anybody that you're taking yourself to be. So then your life itself becomes a satsang. The words themselves become the words of satsang. Everything becomes natural and you come to this darshan. This happens only by Grace, but you have set the table for Grace with your Laya and with your Bhava.

Now by Grace, and may it happen for all of you, you may come to a point where the world vanishes, the body vanishes within your being. It is not palpable. It's almost like you're asleep, but you're not asleep. So the tiniest sliver of beingness may remain, but in reality, only awareness, the absolute reality, the Self remains for you. Externally, many things may happen to the body, but you are not bothered. After the world reappears, you may report and say, 'But I did not breathe for three minutes. How did that happen? You know, I didn't breathe for a long time. I don't know how long. How did that happen?' All these post-mortem reports may come. But during Nirvikalpa Samadhi, which is like an asamprajnata version of samadhi, you will not be bothered about what is happening to the body, whether there is a body or not.

This is the highest possibility in the human condition, to come to the purest self-recognition. Purest self-recognition is not even beingness. You recognize that which is in the sleep state, but you recognize that in the waking state. That is the highest enlightenment. Because this that you discover, although it is not perceivable light, it is the light so strong that even the light of Consciousness is born within it. It's self-effulgent but not pure perceptions. It is the only uncreated. It is your highest reality. This is the highest unborn, the truest moment, the truest open and empty. The true nature is recognized and the words of the Ashtavakra Gita and the Ribhu Gita are recognized to be your reality. The possibility of this gift is so immense. The pure Grace could be so immense in return for what? In return for chanting God's name, in return for loving God.

If you're going to worry about it, it's better that you pray about it. Because there's no point saying, 'I can't ask God for anything specific' and all of that, and then spend half your time worrying about those specific things. So instead of spending time in worry, might as well take it to God and say, 'I know I need to be empty, but I'm really concerned about this particular thing.' And hand it over whichever way your prayer goes. You can speak from the heart and you can start with that, you see. I would say start with that. Get all of that out of your system and then embark on this, you see. So maybe that's not a bad start. So you just empty yourself in that way with all your worries and concerns and then go to the broader request for Atma Darshan, for God's light in your heart. That's not a bad way to start. That's completely fine.

If you find yourself tasting unconditional love, the presence of love is palpable, you see. And it's not a personal attachment posing as love, but true love. Then the words that emerge from there can be trusted to be God's words. So some of you may say that even this I don't know if I truly taste. So then to them I would say just follow what you're hearing in satsang. Remain open and empty and allow what unfolds when you open and empty to unfold. Then that itself is God's will, you see. And then remaining empty in that way, you will start receiving guidance in this way, see. So we don't have to rush to it. If it is not—after this advice also it is not clear—then leave all words. Allow your feet to move in God's light. Allow your body to move in God's light without any mental constructs. And as you let go, you learn to let go and surrender, then God will use you as an instrument in this fashion. No specific guidance as well.

Right now it may seem like it is a lot of steps, but actually what is being asked of you is just prayerful breath for some time and then just allowing the love of God to take us over. Those are the steps that we have to do, okay? Everything else is Grace, you see. Actually, even between step one and two is Grace. But I'm going to share more and more about what I've been calling an active love, but maybe I don't want to rush into that so much. But if you look at the steps, they are just prayerful breath, you see, and breathing we—

Actually, what is being asked of you is just prayerful breath for some time and then just allowing the love of God to take us over. Those are the steps that we have to do, okay? Everything else is Grace, you see. Actually, even between step one and two is Grace. And I'm going to share more and more about what I've been calling an active love, but maybe I don't want to rush into that so much. But if you look at the steps, there are just prayerful breath, you see. And breathing we are doing anyway, so it's not a new task we have to do.

And just tasting and actively loving God, that's basically it. I won't get into the fact that these words are pristine and their vibration and all of that; that's okay, that's all fine. But really, you're using these words not so that you cannot be angry anymore; it is just because you remembered that you're living out of your own individual will and you need to return to God's light, you see. Now, from God's light, if you need to become a tiger or a mouse is up to God's will, you see. So that is the main difference. And I'm not providing any Advaita excuses for bad behavior. I'm just saying that truly it is a surrendering because Hanuman, who was Ram's greatest devotee, was a fierce warrior as well. So we cannot say it's always only going to be Shanti, Shanti.

So it is not bottling up, but more of a handing over. And the handing over is the opposite of bottling up because we just completely open ourselves up to God and allow God's will to unfold. Whereas if you're using it as a medicine for anger, then what you would say is—and it may work like that, but I'm not suggesting we do that—you may say, 'Okay, I'm getting angry, Ram, Ram.' Is anger gone? Okay. This is saying that I was living by my own terms, you see, and maybe it is these thoughts which are making me angry. Now I'm going to come to my true place, which is to live in God's will, in God's light. It's more also of a recognition. The intention leads to a recognition of our lack of conceptual knowledge. Like, we don't really know conceptually how to deal with any situation. So whether anger is the best response or peace is the best response, we don't really know in most situations. So because we don't really know, it's better to hand over to one who does, you see. And it is the Satguru within who does, God's presence within who does.

A lot of things are going to happen. They want to unfold. Some of them will be very sweet, some of them maybe will try to scare us away, some of them will sound absurd or miraculous to the mind. Some of the things we will not be able to fathom also. In all of this, that's why I said—and it's very important for me to repeat—is that remember not to get attached to any benefits or spiritual experiences or any of the byproducts. Just keep your eyes prayed on God, that's all. It's all about God, for God. And really, it doesn't matter what happens to me or what's left of me and the instrument you call the body-mind; it's completely irrelevant to the reality of God.

As I was saying—I don't know if all of you heard that—if after doing all of this I hear reports about astral travel and akashic records and karmic koshas and getting different beings talk to us, all of this stuff, things still do happen on an energy level. I don't know. That's what I'm saying, that I'm not saying that must not happen, but they are the byproducts. Keep your eyes on God alone. Yeah, keep your eyes on God alone. And otherwise, those could end up becoming distractions for many lifetimes.

Thank you so much for this guidance for me. Thank you for everything, for being an example to try everything you do.

Yes, yes. Just be empty of self-concern. Yes, keep your eyes on God. Give the rest to be His business. Don't keep your eyes on God so that something... because He knows that, so that something better than we could ever know. So just that, that helps us to remain empty. Because what can happen—and you've heard about this for at least ten years probably—when the checker can come in and say, 'Okay, now how open am I really?' And the tracking itself can become oppressive in that way. So yeah, just God, God. What's happening to you? God, God. Are you doing well? God, Ram, Ram.

Because I realized that we don't realize what we are doing. We are privileged to have a name that we can refer to God with. Amazing. So it's like a doorway or a pathway to God which is unfathomable, and yet there's a device or a tool that is available to us. But what happens is that in the hypnosis of the mind, we spread trash all over that pristine tool, the pristine path, you see. And we don't realize. And I didn't realize when I was a youngster as well. So, but I feel, I see the wisdom so much in that. What sounds like such an archaic, old guy thing to say: 'Don't use God's name in vain.' But now I can't imagine, you know, I can't imagine saying something like that.

How often do we repeat the prayer each time?

As often as needed before either we come to a complete open and empty, or we find the anchor of unconditional love in our heart to stay in bhava samadhi. That's what I meant, that although each of them, each stage, can be independent and to bring us to the unborn, to the normal, and may be enough, and yet this beautiful sequence which is possible as well. So I'm not setting a rule or a guideline. I feel like, at least I feel to say, at least ten times you can repeat the prayer. After that, something just takes a life of its own. But there are nuances and subtleties that we will discuss as we go along. So that if you repeat ten times, that's what, forty breaths? That's not too long. It's fine.

Repeat the instructions for the second part, okay?

Yes. So the second part is just repetition of the shield word, of the shield mantra. And if your prayer is to Krishna, for example, it will be Krishna, Krishna, Krishna, Krishna, Krishna, Krishna, Krishna, also seven times. And don't ask me why seven times; it just came as guidance to do this seven times. So how it happens is in the in-breath four times and in the out-breath three times. Very straightforward. Use one syllable as much as possible so that that becomes your like your arrow prayer, your shield word. That again, with exceptions of like if you want to say 'Om Sri Ram' or something, that's fine. 'Shiva,' that's fine. But otherwise, just try to use one syllable. Thank you all so much for being in satsang today.