SNAKE IN AN ICU

Every moment around Sri Sri Ravi Shankar is a lesson in the Art of Living!
I heard this latest story from Sangeeta Jani-

Recently a big King Cobra had been lying inside a water pipe in Guruji's Kutir.
When Guruji realised that the the snake had not moved for a couple of days, he had the snake gently removed from the pipe and called a veterinary doctor. The doctor dioganised the problem as that of food poisoning. Guruji was so concerned about the health of the snake that he had the snake moved to an intensive care unit in a veterinary hospital in Bangalore.
This is another glimpse of our master's unconditional love. His love is constant, be it male or female, rich or poor, human or animal.

Field of comfort

What you are looking for in life is comfort. Why do you need money? Because you want
comfort. Any need in any direction boils down to one word - comfort.
There are many levels of comfort. One is physical - if you are sitting on the grass you think, ‘oh, it would have been better if there was a cushion’’. Then there’s mental comfort - this is even more essential. If you have a comfortable home but the mind is not comfortable, you will not be able to sleep even on a comfortable bed.

Another type is emotional comfort - you have everything, but if someone close to you doesn’t speak to you or does something that hurts you, then your emotional comfort is gone. Then there’s spiritual comfort - this is comfort of the soul, which means total peace, an uninterrupted flow of peace, and joy from within.

Comfort means to be yourself. But where is comfort? Is it in the body or mind? It is in a combination of both. Sometimes when the body is not comfortable, the mind is also not comfortable and vice versa. You may have a very nice bed to rest but if you are disturbed, you cannot sleep. More than the body, comfort of the mind is important. The mind is three times more powerful than the body so mental comfort is three times more important than physical comfort.

And your comfort is based on commitment. So people’s commitment brings you comfort. For example, the milkman’s commitment to bring you milk gives you comfort. Similarly, your commitment should bring comfort to everyone else. Sometimes one says, ‘‘Oh, I am stuck with the commitment so I am unhappy.’’ Now, don’t think every commitment will be smooth from the beginning. If you are committed to complete your medical course, then there is bound to be some rough time in between.

But commitment can take you across all obstacles. And the greater the achievement, the greater the commitment. The more you commit, the more your capacity and capability to do any work. Commitment is always about something a little more. You don’t say, ‘‘I am committed to drink a glass of water or walk one kilometer’’, which you do anyway. If you think, ‘‘I can only do this much work’’, then your commitment has to be more than what you think you can do. Commitment is about stretching your capabilities.

Self confidence
Today we do not instill confidence and commitment in our youth. That is the main reason for poverty. So the youth keep blaming someone or the other, the government, the people, their parents or someone else. They don’t take responsibility for themselves. That makes them weak and they become dependent. And when there is so much dependence on everything around, there cannot be happiness or comfort.

So youth, wake up! You need not be bogged down by commitments. Have confidence, faith. At the same time, keep an open mind. Don’t get stuck miserably. A few minutes of quiet meditation, a few minutes of deep relaxation, a few minutes of singing from your heart will help you get through your commitments successfully.

There is so much talk about success everywhere. Everyone wants to be successful. Have you ever thought about what success is? It’s simply ignorance about one’s capabilities. Success is ignorance about the power of the self because you assume you can do only that much. So you have set a limitation to your self and whenever you cross your own boundary or limitation, you claim success.

You never say, ‘‘I successfully ate a banana!’’ When you put a limitation, then you are limiting the power of your own self, your own consciousness. Every time you achieve something, you feel proud about it, isn’t it? Actually, you should feel sorry about it. You are just proud about what you can easily do because you do not know you can do much more than what you are proud of. When you are successful, you are proud of it, and if you fail - you feel guilty and upset. Both can drag you out of your joy, out of the greater potentiality that you possess.

So the best thing is to surrender to the divine. If you are successful, so what? It is another happening, another thing that you did, and you can do much more. And if you couldn’t do something well, then, you couldn’t do it, that’s all. This moment, do you wish to do it again? Then have that Sankalpa, the intention - ‘‘I have to do it!’’ Then you will make good progress in that direction, without feeling guilty, or being judgmental.

Traits to watch out for Your craving, anger or aversion comes from hearing. When you are in a group, you have to watch out for two things - one is craving and the other is aversion. In the group when you see someone good, or nice, then your mind goes there, clings on to it. The cravings start developing in you and they eventually lead to anger, demand, frustration, etc. When you give anything to somebody - any help, kindness or love - with that craving, then that love will start to demand - ‘‘Look, I have been so good to you, you better be good to me.’’ Then all the negative qualities in you pop up and beauty is lost.

Watch out for cravings. A craving happens first for appreciation of talents and then you start getting attracted to it. Then attraction turns back into craving and all these things go on. The world that begins for you then is not a Divine world but a demonic world. So watch out for this craving in you, it will cling on to anybody. And then you will send a, ‘‘I miss you so much’’ card and tell, ‘‘Oh, you put me into so much longing, you are so good, I never met anybody like you!’’ and such expressions. All this happens not out of surrender or gratitude, but out of craving.

The other thing which you have to watch out for is aversion. When you are averse to
somebody, then also your mind is stuck. And body goes through a lot of physical twisting. It happens that you see the person and your stomach churns and you feel like walking away, running away, getting away. Not only that; you go on speaking about your aversion, about a thing or a person or a situation. Often your aversions reflect your own nature. What ever you are averse to and avoid doing, you will find that same thing in some form or the other. The same aversion reflects through your
own consciousness. Only the flavour may be different, the quality may be different but basically, you will also be stiff. Kick the complaints off your head! Kick out all the complaints from your head for if you keep them, then that head is not going to be very useful. It is such a good point! Because only then your consciousness which is like a flower is all blossomed, brilliant, blissful, peaceful, and full of love.

Cravings and obsessions take over you because of three basic reasons. One is when you are not focused. The second is the time in your life - there is a certain time when these obsessions and cravings reach the peak and come down. However much you understand, read books and tell your mind to avoid them, these forces become so strong that they take over you.

The third thing is the nature in your body. When there is too much rajas or rajogun or too much energy that is not channelled properly, then there’s obsession. This can also happen because of lack of nderstanding about the obsession or lack of understanding about truth, the reality.

But if you fail to conquer your obsession once, twice or even thrice, don’t lose heart. Don’t start to blame the knowledge and lose faith in it when it doesn’t work to control your obsession. It is working and it is controlling. Your weakness will enable you to pray deeper. So, when you really feel weak and incapable of doing something, prayer starts. When you want to be free from certain things, that wanting to be free can uplift you, elevate you. That is devotion.

Love all lovely

You cannot understand the sayings of Jesus if you are not alive with prana, with the life force. The knowledge will all be just a concept in the head. Only the heart can feel that heart Jesus and love are synonymous! If you say love, you need not say Jesus. If you say Jesus, that means love. Jesus said once, ‘‘If you call God in my name, if you ask God in my name, whatever you ask, shall be given... For God is love.’’ Such a complete expression of love is found in Jesus. Whatever little glimpses you may get here and there indicates that fullness, the ultimate expression of the inexpressible that life is striving to express throughout time.

Love goes with courage. Look at the courage Jesus had. He completely overthrows the
common concepts of people such as the strong will inherit the earth. He turns it around, ‘‘The meek shall inherit the earth. The meek shall inherit heaven.’’ For love makes you meek. However strong you are, when you are in love you are the weakest. Love is the strongest force in this universe and yet, it makes you meek... it makes you weak. Even a macho man will cry when he’s in love. Love makes you weak, but brings you the kingdom of heaven.

Jesus says, ‘‘Love each other as much as I love you.’’ It was impossible for someone not to recognise the love Jesus was, but since love makes you weak, it is also scary. Among thousands, just a few followed him. Many heard, but just a few came. That’s why he says, ‘‘Many will come and hear, but only a few will understand. Very few shall pass through the narrow path.’’

Even after showing all those miracles, only a handful could recognise and follow Jesus. They were not high intellectuals but simple innocent people. When Jesus said, ‘‘the kingdom of heaven is within you’’, they did not understand. They said, ‘‘which side of God will you be sitting, the right or left?’’ Once you go within, there is no right or left! There is no front or back. Jesus’ patience and compassion can only come out of love.

Very few understand what Jesus meant when he said: ‘‘I have put man against man, father against son, daughter against mother’’. Who you think are your friends are really not your friends because they make your faith in material things strong, and spirit less. ‘‘I have come to put one against each other. I’ve come to put fire, not make peace.’’ If Jesus had to say this, it is because he has seen the depth of slumber in people! When you talk something nice and peaceful, everybody will go to sleep! When there is something sensational, people wake up and hear. Newspapers are filled with such stories! This is the human mind.

Jesus did all he could to help one cross the mind and get into the soul, the spirit, the source of life, the Self. You break through the limited concept of relating yourself with something, or somebody, or identities, and recognise the Divinity within you, that you are much more than just a human. You are part of the Divine and you will inherit the kingdom, which is right here, right within you.
Somewhere he has said, ‘‘It was better if Judas had not been born at all.’’ Those words are not coming out of anger or frustration. Many times, when people don’t like somebody, they say, ‘‘I wish they were never born.’’ Here Jesus is saying, ‘‘Judas... I wish he was never born,’’ because he could feel the pain that Judas was undergoing. Judas played the role that he was ordained to play. He had no choice! And Jesus could feel that pain, that suffering that Judas was undergoing.

At one point, in the end, Jesus says, ‘‘I am not yet one with my Father, but go and tell them that I am one with my Father.’’ Scholars wonder why Jesus would tell such a lie. Also, that last moment when he said, ‘‘Forgive them, for they know not what they are doing.’’ Or when he said, ‘‘Oh, my God, my Father, have you forsaken me?’’ That one idea at the last thought that, ‘‘God has forsaken me,’’ kept the distance between ‘‘me and my Father’’. So Jesus said, ‘‘I am not yet one with my Father. I am at the doorstep of the house, but you tell the world I am already at home.’’
When someone is at home, it’s much easier for them. When they’re standing at the doorstep, waiting for the others — waiting in the rain, in the snow, in the storm, in the sun — that can only happen when there is so much love, so much compassion. Practically he is at home for the whole world.

The renowned sage Bodhisatva once said, ‘‘I’ll stand at the door of heaven, till all the people go in. I’ll be the last one to enter heaven. I’ll wait at the doorstep.’’ The same thing was true with Jesus. ‘‘I and my Father are one, say this to people.’’
You cannot understand the sayings of Jesus if you are not alive with prana, with the life force.

The knowledge will all be just a concept in the head. Only the heart can feel that heart. Otherwise, in the name of Jesus, in the name of God, in the name of religion, people kill each other. In the name of God, many wars have happened. For centuries men have fought on this planet in the name of God, in the name of prophets, in the name of religion. They had no clue of Jesus.
When there is authority there cannot be love, and where there is love there is no authority. Jesus is opening his arms and saying, ‘‘Come, you are my friend, don’t be afraid, don’t put me on the altar. Give me a seat in your heart. See me in everyone you see around you. Love everyone as much as I love you... Or as much as you love me, share that with everyone around.’’ What more do you want to see in that embodiment of love? But people still wanted proof. If Jesus came today, he would still be asked, ‘‘Prove to me you are the son of God.’’ So in those days too, he was asked to prove how he was the son of God, even after turning water into wine. This is because the mind dwells on proof. The mind cannot understand Jesus, only the heart can feel the presence of Jesus.

Those who crucified Jesus were not bad people... they were ignorant. They were stuck in their head. They were not born out of spirit, but they had read all the scriptures and books. They thought he was being blasphemous, that he did something criminal. Jesus never said, ‘‘I am suffering for your sin’’. That was just a way people used to awaken other people.The wise have many ways to lead one towards the truth and that was one of the ways. There are many things said like that, ‘‘Look, doomsday is coming, come on, wake up!’’ When Jesus was on this planet, those days were the darkest period. People were slaves; they were not highly educated nor aware. It was necessary in those days to say, ‘‘Come on, wake up! There’s going to be disaster!’’

Fear wakes one up from slumber. Otherwise, one is doing the same thing, repeating the same thing and not open to knowledge. The teachers in those days knew this psychology. Fear need not be a tool for someone who is sensitive, but it works for someone who is thick-skinned.

Jesus himself has said that the Divine is in the present. ‘‘Your mind has been stolen by the past or the future. I am here to bring it to the present moment. I am the only way. If you cannot see the Divinity in me when I am right in front of you, do you think you are going to see the Divinity in the future or in the past?’’ Jesus leads you to your own Being, your own self, your own Divinity that is deep within you.

The spirit is eternal and beyond birth or death. Spirit is love beyond name and form. When you are truly in love with Jesus, you will see Jesus in every name, in every form, in every nook and corner of the planet and beyond. If you are just imagining Jesus as a form limited to a certain time of history and place, then your growth is also limited, because you are limiting Jesus. Of course, if a name or form is very appealing to you, you can have it as your personal master.

Just go to the values that the Master truly represents and live them. Then he is not of the past, he is here now. And he will be in the future, also, forever and ever and ever.