Maharaj: There is no such direct way. You can’t bypass the mind. You can’t jump over it. You have grain, but it won’t turn into roti by itself; there’s a certain procedure for this that cannot be bypassed. Everything requires effort. You need to achieve purification of the mind and subtle energy channels in the body. You can try different methods, check which ones suit you. Conduct research, study them. There are different yoga kriyas. For example, pranayama. You can master the path of pranayama. There are different techniques of dhyana, mind concentration. You can do chintan on fire – concentrate attention, focusing for long periods on the light of fire. It’s important to concentrate your entire mind on one thing. Choose for yourself the sadhana that suits you best. But all these kriyas will in any case be directed at subduing manas. Until you conquer it, you won’t dissolve in Atma.
Manas is like a raja, a king. It rules over the indriyas (senses and organs of perception). Try to control even one indriya. You won’t succeed. But if you achieve victory over the ruler of indriyas, conquer it, then all indriyas will naturally submit to you.
Siddharth: By our true nature, we are not mind and not senses, we are not body, and essentially we’re not even jivas. We are Atma. But to realize this, for some reason we must go through a long thorny path. It turns out to be a very slow process of realization.
Maharaj: The mind is necessary. Mind, body, and Atma are not substances separate from each other. Atma is in our body too. It is omnipresent. It is present in everything. So how can we isolate it? Manas is precisely that instrument through which you can feel and realize It. Manas is needed to find It. It’s just that while manas is fixated on samsara, it cannot independently concentrate on Atma. Manas, like a spotlight, must be directed at Atma, and then it will sense it. Through manas we reach Atma.
Ramana Maharshi managed to quickly take control of manas and reach Atma. He came to this world already prepared and had a clear vision of the goal. It’s no coincidence he was called Ramana [Fresh], he lived up to his great Name. He already had great karmic experience and development from past lives. He possessed powerful will and knew what to strive for. And he merged with Atma. That’s why he said there is nothing except «Aham» [I]. This was his direct experience. But even he had to go through practice, abhyasa. And not everyone can be like Ramana Maharshi. Any beginner needs to go through sadhana. Yes, it’s not a quick path, but an ordinary person can do this if they follow certain rules.
First of all, observe rules of proper nutrition, don’t eat just anything, give up harmful habits. Transition to a sattvic lifestyle immediately affects the way of thinking. Sattvic diet changes the mind, you begin to think differently. Changes occur in your organs of perception – indriyas. For example, spicy food affects the tongue and taste receptors. And similarly, it affects the mind. And when you eat sweet food, there are different sensations on the tongue, and similarly in the mind after sweets, corresponding effects arise. This is how you can influence the mind in order to conquer it. Eat food that doesn’t agitate the mind, but rather calms and centers it. You need to reach the root this way, to the true causes of various disturbances of your mind, and stay away from these causes. Because until you take manas under control, something will always distract you from sadhana – hunger, cold, heat, mosquitoes. And only when you conquer the mind and stop being distracted by all these irritants will you be able to fully do sadhana.
Siddharth: How many years did it take you to do practice, abhyasa?
Maharaj: It doesn’t depend on time. Time is not the criterion here. The faster manas turns away from samsara, the faster you’ll enter the state of vairagya – detachment from the world. It is in the state of detachment that Knowledge comes to you. Until you’ve entered the state of vairagya and still experience attachment to samsara, to sensual worldly pleasures, Knowledge won’t come to you.
But the state of detachment won’t come just like that. Until your desires are exhausted, while you still want to communicate with people, talk and remember about the past, travel, while some of your dreams remain unfulfilled, you won’t enter the state of vairagya. You must abandon the desires of manas. Tyaga [Renunciation] – Vairagya [Detachment, impartiality] – Jnana [Knowledge]. That’s the formula. And, of course, Bhakti [Devoted love]. Jnana and Vairagya are its children. And Bhakti rests on seva [selfless service]. Therefore, one must learn to do seva.
Seva implies love and compassion for all living beings, animals, people. Help everyone however you can, give your kindness to people, and this quality – bhakti – will begin to grow in you. With bhakti comes such a state of love that vairagya becomes an integral part of your nature. You no longer need anything because you already possess the most valuable thing – bhakti.
You won’t want to specially meet with anyone, you’ll remain indifferent to feelings of hunger and thirst, you won’t care how you’re dressed. And in such a natural state of vairagya comes true Knowledge.
Siddharth: If I pray for God to grant me the state of vairagya, will it happen?
Maharaj: Serve the Divine and do seva with the intention of receiving vairagya. Unite your seva with the feeling of serving God and with the desire to attain vairagya, and when God is pleased with you and asks you what you want, ask Him for this state. He will give it.
In the «Ramayana» there’s an episode when Rama shot an arrow from behind at Bali, Sugriva’s elder brother, and mortally wounded him. There were reasons for this. And when Bali before death began lamenting about why Rama killed him, Rama took pity and said: «You, Bali, have already received punishment from me for your sins, now I can gift you immortality.» To which Bali replied: «No, Rama. In all times, great sages-munis asked for only one thing in life – to directly behold God. This was the main goal of each of their births, and they were born again and again to receive Divine darshan10. And you, O Rama, already stand before me. The cherished goal is fulfilled, so what do I need immortality for now?»
You move from birth to birth, having one main goal: meeting with God. The heart’s desire to attain unity with God grows stronger and stronger. In each new life, you accumulate merits that bring this possibility closer. It takes more than one birth to attain such darshan. You cannot behold God in an instant.
Bali, responding to Rama’s offer of immortality, said: «I don’t need immortality. You have given me what great munis ask for throughout their life, from birth to birth. I need nothing more. What more would I do, remaining in this body? I have no more desires.» He had no more desires in life and no reason to live. He was liberated.
The «Ramayana» says: «In many births sages and sadhus diligently engage in sadhana, striving to attain mukti, but when the most important, final moment before death comes, they forget the Name of Rama, and as a result they are born again and again.»
It takes more than one birth to reach direct communion with Atma. Sometimes one needs to live several births in the state of vairagya. Right now you’re burning with desire to attain vairagya, but you still maintain love and attachment to this world. But your love should not be divided. Love must be dedicated to one thing. You either love God or this world. Either shreya or preya. Preya is happiness in samsara, shreya is happiness with Ishvara. If you reach for samsara, Ishvara won’t come to you.
You take care of your body, maintain its cleanliness, eat good food. You love your body. But there are people who have become so detached from the world that at first glance they look like they’ve lost their minds. These are free jivas, muktajivas. Death of the body hasn’t come yet, but they have already attained mukti in life. They are considered mad. They can be seen at railway stations or on street corners. They don’t care about their body, they don’t think about it at all and look disheveled. People laugh at them, call them