Yoga of Sathya Sai Baba

Probably someone, during our past conversations, waited: when we would talk about hatha yoga?

After all, in the minds of many people the concept of yoga is related to hatha yoga only! There exist organizations of such “yoga”; people arrange festivals and competitions of “yogis” who do not even know the meaning of the word yoga! Sometimes they even proclaim the slogan “yoga without religion!”, being unaware that the word yoga has the same meaning as the word religion, i.e. Mergence of individual souls with their Creator, or at least a Path to such Mergence! (In the former case the word yoga starts with a capital letter, in the latter case — with a small letter).

As for the word hatha (or ha-tha, to be more precise), it is translated as sun-moon. What does it mean? It concerns the ambiguity of the results of the use of the methods of yoga: they can have not only positive but also negative effect.

The point is that they who dedicate themselves completely to hatha yoga enter on a very dangerous part of life path. Hatha yoga is a system of training which uses, first of all, special gymnastic poses (asanas) performed with special concentration. It is good for the body. It also teaches to concentrate the attention. But when one performs asanas, energy transformations take place in the organism, and their effect can be correct or incorrect. It depends on whether one observes the ethical principles suggested for us by God. This concerns the way of nutrition (it has to be killing-free) and the control of one’s own emotions (which means that one should avoid coarse emotional states and accustom oneself to subtle states). However, almost no one pay attention to these principles when teaching or learning hatha yoga — and this results in coarsening of the consciousness and thus leads one in the direction opposite to the true goal of yoga!

Another dangerous trap in hatha yoga is that practitioners develop sometimes the feeling of personal superiority over other people (I can do such things with my body!), also the feeling of the already-achieved personal “perfection”. These things do not allow one to grow further; on the contrary, they contribute to development of egocentrism, which opposes realization of the true purpose of yoga: cognition of the Creator by means of perfecting oneself (as a soul, consciousness) and Mergence with Him.

All such errors result from philosophical incompetence of both the instructors and the students. Therefore, it would be correct for those seeking to walk the spiritual Path to concentrate their efforts, first of all, on studying what is recommended for us by God. Only having accepted and realized this in life, one can safely choose for oneself certain methods of development.

One should also understand that hatha yoga cannot lead to significant spiritual achievements: it can help only to become prepared for the progress on the spiritual Path. Therefore, hatha yoga should be regarded as a preliminary stage of yoga proper, a preliminary stage which is not necessary for all spiritual seekers. And therefore it is not serious to dedicate to it a significant part of your life!

… On the other hand, it would be unwise to deny completely the usefulness of certain elements of hatha yoga, for example relaxation asanas (we described them in our book Ecopsychology). Some asanas can be also quite useful for prevention or for treating certain defects of the backbone.

* * *

So, today we are going to continue to talk about the Teachings of yoga which were developed and continue to be developed in India. We have discussed this subject in our conversations about yoga of Vedanta, about the Teachings of Krishna, about kriya yoga founded by Babaji, about kundalini yoga and laya yoga.

Let me note that all these variations of yoga considered by us in our conversations are related to the stage of buddhi yoga — by the criterion of their psycho-energetical component. They differ from one another only by accents put on certain nuances of development. And all they lead their adepts to one common Goal. Therefore, it is clear that the common use of the spiritual treasures accumulated in every one of these directions contributes very well to the advancement of the practitioners.

… By the way, does everyone understand the difference between stages and directions (traditions) of yoga?

There are three principle stages of the psycho-energetical direction of spiritual Path: it is hatha yoga (a preliminary stage, which is not necessary for everyone), then raja yoga (i.e. a stage of putting in order the energy structures of the body and the cocoon surrounding the body), and then buddhi yoga (a large stage consisting of very many particular stages of development of oneself as a consciousness with the help of meditative methods).

There are also historically formed variations (traditions) of mastering spiritual Path, which are discussed by us in detail in our conversations.

* * *

Looking back at ancient history, let me note that before the Incarnation of Krishna among people inhabiting the territory of modern India, there was no true spiritual culture in masses. The information presented in the four Vedas did not contain the most important thing: a clear description of the Primordial Consciousness (i.e. the Creator, God-the-father, Ishvara), also the methods of cognition of Him. That literature contained fictitious mythology typical of paganism, also a description of rituals used for worshipping these “gods”, and information from “folk medicine” of that time which did not have any positive value.

The only important philosophical thought of that epoch in India was the knowledge that one should view the Universe as One Living Organism and that we, evolving individual souls, have to seek Mergence with It. On this basis the philosophical tradition of Vedanta was formed. But Vedanta missed well-formulated knowledge about Ishvara-Creator and about where and how one can find Him.

This deficit of knowledge was resolved by Avatar Krishna. It is Krishna Who told people about the Highest Divine Essence of everything existing — about Ishvara. Krishna also said that the methodology of cognition of Ishvara must be based on devotion-love for Him; it is called bhakti yoga.

… Unfortunately, people are inclined to forget what was suggested to them by God. It happened on the Earth always…

Later on, Chaitanya tried to remind people about the Teachings of Krishna. He proclaimed praise to Krishna and development of the emotions of love for Him (also for all beings) as the main method of spiritual self-realization.

However, this left only a little trace in the history of Hinduism… Worship of fictitious Ganesha and other folklore characters, useless panhandling from them — this religious form turned out to be more convenient for human masses: after all, hoping for the mystical power of rituals (which allegedly exists) one should not make efforts on changing oneself! But it is such efforts that God expects from us…

… The next important stages in the history of Hinduism were Incarnations of Buddha and Babaji.

Yet, the Teachings of Buddha “lost the competition” to folklore variations of belief and to ritual religious forms — because the latter were more “convenient” due to their primitivism. Thus Buddha’s Teachings were forced out of India.

… What concerns Avatar Babaji — a Great Divine Master of yoga — we know two of His Incarnations. The first one of them was described, in particular, in the works of Yogananda published in the beginning of the twentieth century. The second Incarnation took place not long time ago: in the second half of that century.

During the first one of these Incarnations Babaji demonstrated, among other things, greatest Divine abilities to control dense matter.

And in the second of those Incarnations He gave to people laconic Divine Teachings, which were compiled into the literary form by some of His disciples including us.*

… However, one should not think that Divine Teachers representing the Creator provide help to incarnated people only during the time of Their Incarnations! No: They try to help us always. Krishna, Chaitanya, Gautama Buddha, Babaji, and many Others — They are always with incarnated people! But the problem here is the following: in order to become able to perceive Divine Teachers, one has to master a very significant part of the Path of self-development. And this is not so common among people… This is why Divine Teachers have to incarnate again and again — so that They become more easily perceivable by us. And in such Incarnations They accept, among other things, earthly suffering…

… At present, Avatar of our days Sathya Sai Baba undertook this task. He reminds people again about the common Teachings of God, expressing them in slightly different words which are more suitable for our time.

What does He teach?

* * *

He does not say that His Teachings are new. His Teachings are just one more manifestation, for the contemporary conditions on the Earth, of the Divine Teachings which have been many times imparted to people by God through His Messengers. These Teachings are called in Sanskrit Sanathana Dharma — the Eternal Law.

He — Sathya Sai Baba — is the Avatar of our days. He says that though all conceivable powers of the universe are contained in His Palm, He is not going to make happy everyone without distinction, because everyone has their own personal destiny (karma) created in the past by their own good or bad thoughts and deeds. By our present deeds we create our future destinies.

In order to escape from the abyss of earthly suffering, it is necessary to live in love for God and all living beings, including creative love-service to other people. The service to people, which consists in helping them in their positive evolution, is service to God.

The main enemies of man, leading to accumulation of negative karma, are the wrongly directed mind and uncontrollable emotional sphere with dominating egotistic or coarse emotions.

Man can overcome these obstacles by strengthening faith, by directing the mind toward Divinity, and by using spiritual practices, which, first of all, normalize the emotional sphere and help to learn how to control the mind and consciousness.

But the mind, as such, is not an enemy of man at all. On the contrary, it is an embryo of wisdom (jnana) and should be developed in every possible way as an analyzing and creative function of the consciousness.

In order to clean one’s path from the karmic impediments, it is important to repent all small or big crimes committed against any living being. “By sincere repentance all sins can be washed. God’s Mercy is responsive. If He has a wish to forgive, nothing can prevent this… In spite of past sins, if there is deep remorse and love for God, then all sins get washed and the nature of man becomes clean. To be afraid that this will not happen is a weakness. God has unlimited compassion; look for His love and you will find forgiveness!”*

“The most important spiritual practice is the search of one’s own imperfections and weaknesses, and making attempts on ridding oneself of them, becoming closer to Perfection!”

Gaining of faith is the first step. The next step in this direction is love for God. But how can people fall in love with the One Whom they do not know yet? This is why Divine Teachers come to the Earth to help people; the Unmanifest reveals Itself in a form manifested for people. Love for the manifest, personified aspect of God is more convenient for incarnate people.

But people should also understand that Sathya Sai Baba is not only in His body: He is everywhere, wherever He is needed. Therefore, it is not necessary to go to His ashram in order to talk with Him; it is possible to talk with Him right from your home.

Sathya Sai Baba teaches that all people have only one God. And they must not divide themselves because of the variations of their beliefs. Let everyone worship One Universal God using their traditional variations of worship.

What really divides people is not the variations of faith, but the levels of the spiritual culture.

It is not possible to come to God without possessing perfect love, because He Himself is Love and lets in only those similar to Him. And the main principle of Love is compassion for all living beings — from plants and animals — to Divine Messengers.

Killing-free nutrition is favorable for purifying the mind and consciousness. If one gets up early and goes to bed early, this also contributes to purification of the mind and consciousness.

The second thing that a neophyte in religion should do is to refuse to concentrate the mind on negative traits of other people. Each person is potentially God. See God in everyone. Love everyone as the manifestation of God for you! I teach you by using the negative and positive traits of other people.

… People differ by the qualities of the personal “ego”, the “I”.

In particular, there are deeply fallen, degraded souls, who like to do evil. They can do evil even without any reward. This is their nature: they are like a moth that gnaws and tears things no matter what they are; it equally gnaws a rag and an expensive sari.

But even such people are used by God in the general process of the Evolution of consciousness. From their example, other people can learn not to be like them and thus can know both good and evil. And they will be able, by pushing themselves away from evil, to walk the Path of good toward Perfection, toward Mergence with God. One should know both: what kind of person one must not be and what kind of person one must be. It would be difficult to know good if one does not know evil.

Evil people are used by God also for correction of the development of true sadhakas (spiritual warriors). In particular, in this way God reminds sadhakas about the approaching death, and this allows them not to relax excessively on the Path.

Death and God are the most important landmarks for all incarnate people, says Sathya Sai Baba.

Evil people doom themselves to hell and suffering in the next incarnations. However, they, too, are given a chance for salvation: to reform and repent. Repentance is conscious remorse that leads to liberation from the vices.

Concerning the ethical self-correction, Sathya Sai Baba says the following:

Those who seek bliss in the Atman should not run after the joys of sense objects.

Just as a body that has no breath is useless and begins to rot and stink, similarly life without the Truth is useless and becomes the stinking abode of strife and grief.

Believe that there is nothing greater than the Truth, nothing more precious, nothing sweeter, and nothing more lasting!

The Lord who is Sathya grants His darshan (an opportunity to contemplate Him) to those of truthful speech and loving heart.

Keep undiminished kindness toward all beings and the spirit of self-sacrifice.

You must also possess control over the indriyas, an unruffled character and non-attachment.

First give up the evil tendency to feel envious at the prosperity of others and the desire to harm them. Be happy that others are happy! Sympathize with those who are in adversity and wish for their prosperity. That is the means of cultivating love for God.

Those anxious to live in joy must always be doing good!

Those who conquer states and earn worldly fame are hailed as heroes; but only those who have conquered the indriyas are heroes who must be acclaimed as the conquerors of the universe.

The tendency to make harm should be plucked out by the roots! If allowed to exist, it will undermine life itself!

Whatever you feel should not be done to you, avoid doing such things to others.

For faults and sins committed in ignorance, repent sincerely; try not to repeat the faults and sins again!

Yield not to cowardice!

Do not give up bliss!

Do not swell with pride when people praise you! Do not feel dejected when people blame you!

Instead of searching for others’ faults, search for your own faults! Uproot them, throw them off! It is better to find one fault of yours than to find tens of hundreds of faults in others!

Do not harbor anger or bitterness against persons who point out your faults; do not retort, pointing out the faults of those persons themselves, but show your gratitude to them!

Trying to point out to people their faults is a great mistake!

It is good if you know your faults; it is bad if you search for faults in others.

Whenever you get a little leisure, do not spend it in talking about all and sundry, but utilize it in meditating on God or in doing service to others.

Only the bhakta (the one who loves God) understands the Lord; only the Lord understands the bhakta. Others cannot understand them. So, do not discuss matters relating to the Lord with those who are not bhaktas.

If your worldly desires do not get fulfilled, do not blame it on the love of God: there is no relationship between such desires and the love of God!

If your meditation does not progress properly, do not get dispirited! When such feelings come, seek for your flaws!

However, Sathya Sai Baba notes that all ethical teachings can be expressed in one short formula of Vyasa: “Help ever, hurt never!”.

The ultimate task of each man consists in cognition of the Higher Self, which is the Atman, Paramatman, the Creator. But for this purpose the lower self, which manifests itself as egocentrism and which is created by the mind, must be eliminated.

Desires are not thoughts. Thoughts become desires when they “submerge” deeply into objects.

Desires directed toward worldly objects cause pleasure and suffering. But if a desire is directed toward God, then it gives bliss!

The ability to think correctly has to be developed through the “earthly” affairs. Then it can be transformed into a function of the buddhi. For this purpose, the “tentacles” of the consciousness (indriyas) should be redirected from the objects of the material world, even the best ones, toward the Divine Consciousness. The thinking of such progressively developing people in all their affairs rises to a fundamentally different level, because at this stage they, step by step, begin to learn to see “earthly” problems as God sees them. The egocentrism of such a person gets gradually substituted with Godcentrism.

How can one get rid of the vicious work of the mind, which impedes further advancement? — Very simply: do not try to “muffle” it, but just think about God! The nature of the mind is such that it is necessary for it to be preoccupied with something, so let it be preoccupied with God!

The uncontrolled mind is like a snake. It has two tendencies: it moves not straight and captures all things which it sees. But it should be forced to move straight to God, turned directly toward Him.

When the thinking of a progressing person is performed not by the mind but by the buddhi, then the buddhi submerges into God in order to become Him.

This is why it is so important to accustom oneself to being turned by the face (of the consciousness) toward God.

There are two main themes that one should always remember about: the approaching death and God. And there are two main themes that one should forget: the evil caused by others to you and the good done by you to others.

“Time is the most precious gift in this world. Do not waste it saying ill words or doing bad deeds! … One must not waste time! It will not wait for anyone. … It is impossible to return the moment which has been wasted; it is lost forever… Nobody knows when death comes. The hand of time can crush you at any moment…

“In your deeds you should rise to the level of heroes and be not weak-willed people!

“The body should be supported and kept as an instrument for this purpose.

“But remember, you are not these bodies, and these bodies are not you.

“This body is but an instrument, a tool given by the Lord. And let it serve its purpose!”

One should take care of the body: it is an instrument for development of oneself, for one’s God-realization. It should be washed, fed, healed if it falls sick; at that, there are no any contraindications for using medicaments and other medical means.

But food is not a means for getting pleasure! Food is like fuel for a car. It is an essential element in service to God.

Remembering about the approaching death should hurry one, but not lead to dejection and despair.

On the contrary, help provided to others, constructive discussions with spiritual friends, progress on the Path of self-development should fill one with happiness, joy.

“Happiness is essential for God-realization. It is one of the big gateways to Divinity. If man is unhappy, this is not just a flaw. This is one of the most serious flaws! This is an obstacle on the way to self-realization!

“In most cases people are unhappy because of worldly aspirations, attachments, and joys: they pay too much attention to the worldly.”

In many cases, the reason for people’s suffering is that only through suffering God can convince them of the necessity of turning inside, into the depth of the multidimensional structure of their organisms, of the necessity of self-examination. Without this, such people will never get rid of suffering! God is inside, in the depth! He heals from there!

(Let me note that Going into the depth, however, has nothing to do with just philosophizing or even with “psychoanalytical” “picking” at one’s past. Subconsciousness is the originally wrong term; it is not related in any way to the concept of consciousness. What is called subconsciousness is just that which was forgotten by the mind; it is also the manas. The manas is meant for maintenance of life in the material world, the buddhi — in the non-material world, first of all.)

The manas must enter the buddhi through submersion into the spiritual heart and there — into the depth of the multidimensional organism — toward merging with the Higher Self. In that way, the personal mind of man merges with the Wisdom of God.

“It is only when you are far from the Truth that you suffer and feel pain.

“Until the reality of the Supreme is known, you are overpowered and stunned by the uproar of the world, but once you enter deep into the realm of spiritual endeavor, everything becomes clear and the knowledge of the reality awakens within you. Until then you will be caught up in the meaningless noise of argumentation, disputation and exhibitionist flamboyance.

“Everyone who seeks the Eternal through the path of bhakti (devotional love for God) should strive to acquire the following characteristics: he must keep away from the turmoils, the cruelties, and the falsehoods of this world and practice truth, righteousness, love, and peace. This is truly the Path of bhakti!

“Those who seek Union with God, those who seek the welfare of the world should discard as worthless both praise and blame, appreciation and derision, prosperity and adversity. No one, not even God or an Avatar can ever escape criticism and blame. But They do not yield to threats.”

“Man must pray for newer and newer opportunities for service and exult in the chance that his hands receive. This attitude gives immeasurable joy. To lead a life suffused with this joy is indeed bliss! … If life is lived accordingly, then it becomes one long unbroken service to the Lord. The feeling of ‘I’ and ‘You’ will soon disappear; all traces of self will be destroyed.

“Whatever the wealth of words, whatever the standard of scholarship, it is all useless. In order to bring the Teachings… into the actual life, it is necessary to extirpate the feeling, ‘I know,’ see the very Essence and introspect on It. Only in that case one will certainly achieve bliss!…”

Service to others performed in accordance with the principles of karma yoga not only develops people in all the criteria and makes their karma better but also leads one to gradual merging of one’s self with the Divine Self, provided one has the right attitude to this service, i.e. regards oneself as an assistant of God.

“At home all members of the family do work intended for them. In the evening, when all the work is done, no one says: ‘Father, I have done this work, you have to pay me’. This is one family, therefore you do not ask for the payment for your work; you just do it.

“But if someone from the outside comes to work in your house, then you arrange about the payment and pay accordingly. What you pay to someone shows that he is not from your house.

“But when somebody becomes ‘yours’, it is not necessary to pay him. He works with interest, not expecting any reward for his work.

“It is the same with God. When you know that God is the closest and dearest Being for you, and that He and you are one family, you do not ask for the payment. He who devotes himself to God completely is Mine! And he should not expect any reward.

“But if somebody says: ‘I have dedicated to sadhana so much time!’ and establishes trade relations with God, saying at the same time: ‘In my sadhana, I have done this, and I must get a reward!’ then it is completely different.

“Perform your sadhana, and you will approach God! When it happens, it will not be necessary for you to tell Him that you want this or that — because you will become for Him as His small child. He will come and give you even more than you ask!

“To entrust yourself to God means to devote to Him each thought and to act not wishing (for yourself) the fruits of this act. Perform acts not because of their fruits, but because it is your duty. The act is devoted to God, and the result is reaped by Him as well.

“The acts performed in that way without a selfish desire for their fruits are free from negative karmic consequences. Because the ego during such acts is not fed and stimulated, it disappears soon.”

Marriage and karma yoga teach one to care for others. In that way, the ability to take care grows; this ability is an attribute of love. In that way, the sphere of one’s love extends to more and more people. One’s personal “I” dissolves in the universal “we”.

The further progress in that field is ensured by meditative techniques which wash out all remaining coverings from the Higher Self.

But Sathya Sai Baba warns that one should not trust various “gurus” only on the grounds that they proclaimed themselves a “guru”. He says that a real guru is the one who knows God and can lead people to Him. But such people are very few. Anyway, it is much better when your guru is God.

Sathya Sai Baba also very precisely points out that meditative training is not meant for everyone. People differ between themselves by the age of souls, first of all. For young and immature souls meditative training may be destructive. Not all people can even comprehend what meditation is. For example, dreamlike mental images, such as flying to other planets, are a wrong and harmful practice.

The true essence of every human being is the Ocean of the Consciousness of the Creator. Our task is to develop ourselves to the stage of practical realization (not only mental understanding) of this truth through sadhana (the way of spiritual endeavor).

On this Path one should transform from a jiva (an individual soul attached to the body and material objects) to a chit (the pure, i.e. a consciousness which is purified and refined to the level of the Creator, and is identical to the Atman, to the Higher Self of man).

A developing soul, who walks this Path, from a certain moment gains the ability to see in the subtle eons, as it explores them more and more. A human consciousness, which has entered the higher eons, learns to see God — as Living Light-Fire — and to interact with Him.

From a certain stage of buddhi yoga, adepts can experience the material world as if “superimposed” on the Light of the Divine Consciousness; then it is easy to “fall” into It, dissolve in It, become It.

Bhakti yoga, i.e. self-realization through love for God, is the highest yoga, the Highest Straight Path.

The true (potentially) essence of every human being is God. God indeed resides within the multidimensional organism of man, in its very depth, in the subtlest eons. It is necessary just to learn to move there with the concentration of the consciousness, and then to establish oneself there. This will be full Self-realization, God-realization of oneself, full and final Liberation from the bondage of the world of illusions.

One achieves God-realization through love, through falling in love with God. This love allows one to sink in His Flame, in the Embrace of His Love, to merge together with the Beloved.

This is the only way of attaining the highest spiritual achievements; there are no other ways. This is what God has been teaching during the entire history of mankind and teaches now. This is the fundamental of all serious religious systems. But people forget about this, and God has to remind them again.

Love for God is the Straight Path!

* * *

In His preachings, Sathya Sai Baba puts the emphasis on the ethical aspect of man’s development. He also teaches about God, about the necessity to switch our attention from striving for material things — to studying and cognition of God. This is the first stage of spiritual development of every person.

As for the psycho-energetical aspect of development in raja yoga, Sathya Sai Baba tells only about the necessity to maintain the energy purity inside our bodies. In particular, He recommends to kindle light inside the chakra anahata using the image of a candle, for example. Let this light fill then the entire body. Then one can give this light to people and other beings.

Although these recommendations are hard to fulfill without supplementary (auxiliary) methods, they can stop those who do not deserve yet to be allowed to come to the next stages of psycho-energetical growth.

To successful spiritual seekers capable of advancing further, Sathya Sai Baba gives knowledge of buddhi yoga by suggesting to them meditative methods of Divinization of the consciousness and methods of Mergence with the Primordial Consciousness.

In the practice of our personal apprenticeship with Sathya Sai Baba, during many years He gave to us recommendations concerning our service and concerning particular events happening around us on the material plane; He also taught to us certain meditative methods at His working sites. (You can get an impression about some of these sites from our CD titled Places of Power.)

And now let me give some excerpts from our conversations with Him.

* * *

“Baba, how can man learn to think as You do?”

“One cannot just throw away everything from the head and replace it with Me, with My Consciousness… — then one would become a biorobot, a puppet. No, one has to grow one’s own intellect, one’s own ability to think so. And only then this ability to think with the consciousness unites with My Divine Wisdom!

“In this way the development of soul goes on. First, one has to learn to be love and to grow as love. Then one learns to give one’s love to Me. In this way, gradually, such a person masters Mergence with Me.

“If you have no love yet… — you have nothing by which you can merge with Me!

“Then love should be supplemented with the aspect of power.

“When you dedicate all the strength of the soul to serving Me, then you begin mastering Mergence with My Omnipotence. This is a very gradual process…

“In the same way, gradually, one can learn from Me Divine thinking.

“After all, being in Me means to be Me! Therefore, the flow and the essence of your thoughts must correspond to this. I suggest that you master broad-thinking — thoughts flow easily, smoothly, calmly and become manifested from the Depth on the physical plane. And then one can encompass with the consciousness not only forests, meadows, rivers, lakes with their inhabitants, but also countries, continents, nations and communities of people, feeling them all together and every one in particular.

“Yes, one has to learn from Me — to love, to think, to act! The lower self must be substituted with the Higher Self — with your True, Divine Self, Which is coessential to the Self of God.

“But this is not the end of the Path. Every Soul that became One with Me continues to develop in Me, growing and perfecting Its service — the service to the evolution of consciousnesses in the universe.

“Those of Us Who come incarnated to the Earth differ from each other. It does not mean that Some are superior or inferior to Others… The difference is that Some are like sprouts which just have appeared on the surface from the boundless Foundation — from the Ocean of the Creator, while Others are like strong great trees which have been growing for a long time.

“Nevertheless, however great may be every One coming out from Me, He or She is but a small particle of the Great Primordial Ocean!

“… Love is multifaceted! You can know its various aspects: love-friendship, love-care, love-tenderness, love-respect and reverence… And now — unite all these together!

“Also — watch Me, watch My every move, My every thought. I guide every one of you! In particular — through the deeds of vile people…

“Ponder: what is your goal? The answer is simple and obvious: to become Me completely!

“To become Me, to be Me — what can be higher than this? It is in My Beingness that you will find all the Highest that man can dream of!

“Explain this to people! Unfold to them this Goal in all its majestic greatness! Let everyone understand that God is not a ruler-usurper, but in Him is the highest Freedom of everyone, the Freedom which most people cannot even conceive now!

“First, they who have dedicated their lives to Me have to come to know what it is like — to be Me.

“Then they have to make a decision to sacrifice the life which they lived before — for the sake of coming to My Life in its fullness. And such a sincere seeker receives My help.

“Gradually, they must abandon their old way of life and transform their lives to the Life which I open for them.

“When in their lives there remains nothing of the cravings of the lower self and there is only Me — then they truly become a Part of Me.

“God cannot give Himself to those who do not yearn for Him with all the heart!

“All who seek to cognize Me have to kindle in themselves a great yearning for Me — for the Ocean of My Love! I want from people not a languid remembering about God!…

“Meditation brings true fruits only when love flares up so that between you and Me no obstacles remain! And then — your separateness does not exist any longer!

“The true cognition of God begins when the flame of your heart becomes a part of the Divine Fire. Only when you become the Fire of Love — you may know the main Essence of yourself, Which is God in the aspect of the Creator!”

“How can one kindle such love in people more successfully?"

“Fire is kindled by fire…

“My burning Love touches the hearts of incarnate people and ignites the souls!

“One has to bring people to the threshold where they come in touch with Me. And then let every one remain there one-to-one with Me.

“If a soul, after touching Me, continues to shine for others — then this is the true burning!

“My Abode is for few! It is for those who are valued by Me, for those who lay down their lives for the sake of Me, not for their own sake! This is the main criterion!

“I am always among you! Every one of you can feel My Love everywhere!

“Let everyone feel here and now the dynamics of the flow of the evolution of consciousnesses: it can be likened to a situation when some particles of water become foul in the swamp, while other particles, in a rapid current, rush forward outrunning each other!

“Fill souls with My Light so that they may arise to life in Love!

“I radiate Brahmanic Light through your Atmic Mahadoubles; They are like Light pipes!

“The strata of the Absolute are your ‘clothes’, and you live beneath them.

“Always perceive your new Atmic Bodies — to the Full Height! You have to learn to live with them; in this process, the physical body becomes divine and the soul’s control center moves into Paramatman — into the ‘I’ of God!

“The total freedom from the body is possible when it is separated from the consciousness through death. Yet, another freedom is also possible — as much total as the first one! — without the death of the body. It requires treatment of the body with the Consciousness of the Creator…

“People Who have learned to be the Ocean — They live connected with the Infinity of Me…

“For the sake of fulfilling a full transfer of the self-awareness into the Creator, one needs not only ethical purity and devotion — one needs also to bring the energies of the body to His state. Also one need to master living in total reciprocity, because the Creator is reciprocal to the individual ‘I’.

“So, let all your dreams and intentions become Mine!

“Let all your aspirations become Mine!

“Let all your decisions become Mine!

“Let all your love become My Love!

“Let all your deeds become My Deeds!

“Let all your desires become My Desires!

“Let all your life become My Life!”

Vladimir Antonov, Ph.D. (in biology)
(chapter from the book
Forest Lectures on the Highest Yoga)

Translated from Russian
by Mikhail Nikolenko