Jo Ghar Bare Aapna #4

On the outside, a human being’s life is filled with darkness; but within, light knows no limit. On the outer circumference of human life there is death; but within, there is an ocean of amrit. Outside there are bonds; within there is freedom, mukti. And once someone comes to know the joy within, the illumination within, the amrit within, the liberation within, then even without there remain no more bonds, no more darkness. Only so long as we are strangers to the within is life ignorance.
Meditation is the process of becoming acquainted with the within.
Meditation is the path for descending into oneself. Meditation is the ladder for descending into oneself.
It is not difficult, this descent; it is very simple. What is needed is only the power of resolve, willpower, aspiration, abhipsa. Only one thing is needed—that within me there be the desire to go within! Then no force in this world will be able to stop you. If that very desire is absent, no force in the world can take you within.
Four sittings of meditation have taken place. Now I hope that no one will remain sitting idle. Very small things unnecessarily hold one back. Utterly petty matters become a veil over the vast. Sometimes it happens—let a tiny speck get into the eye and even a great mountain like the Himalayas will not be seen. A tiny straw in the eye, and even a mountain like the Himalayas will disappear from sight. And no one would even imagine that behind the cover of a straw a mountain could be lost—but it happens. Just so, there are not very great obstacles in our life; there are very small ones. And those small obstacles stop us.
Now here I see, close to seventy percent of people have moved rightly, about thirty percent have remained stuck. I would not want them to return empty-handed. But if you have decided in advance to return empty-handed, then there is no possibility. Let me repeat a few small points in which the thirty percent are making mistakes.
One: you are not able to keep the eyes closed for forty minutes. A few people open their eyes two or four times to look around. Whenever you open the eyes, whatever you had set in motion before becomes futile. It is as if there were a hole in the pot and we are filling it with water.
There must be no hole in resolve. Resolve should be seamless. Such a small matter as forty minutes—if you cannot keep the eyes closed, it is a great weakness. With such weakness the path cannot be traversed. So remember: forty minutes means forty minutes! Until I speak, the eyes are not to be opened. And the difficulty is not great, because in the experiment we shall do at night you will keep the eyes open for forty minutes; that will be the compensation. Therefore do not be anxious; whatever you want to see, at night you can see it all together for forty minutes. For now, keep the eyes closed for these forty minutes.
Second point: whichever stage you are doing—first, second, or third—do it to your fullest capacity. And drop all worry that you will get tired. If you do get tired, nothing is spoiled; after an hour or two of rest you will be fine. Drop the concern about fatigue—complete it.
In the second stage most friends feel difficulty—how to dance, how to jump, how to weep, how to laugh. So whatever comes nearest to you, begin with that. Let no one stand idle today, because then only tomorrow remains; if you remain idle today, tomorrow it will become difficult. Let no one stand idle. Do whatever you can in the second stage—if you can laugh, then laugh for ten minutes; if you can weep, then weep; if you can dance, then dance; if you can jump, then jump—whatever you can do. Can you shout? Then shout loudly. Whatever can be done in the second stage, let it be done; but let not a single person be seen standing empty. For those ten minutes, whatever you do with your total energy will be effective.
In the third ten minutes, you have to ask, ‘Who am I?’ Ask it within with such intensity that all the prana begin to resound. When all the prana resound, sometimes the sound may come outwards too—do not worry about it; let it come, let it go.
Another point: in the first ten minutes, breathe with intensity. Breathe so intensely, so fast, that it begins to strike like a blow. Like a bellows—bhastrika—just as a blacksmith pumps the bellows, so you are to pant. Use the lungs like a bellows. The more stale, dirty air you can throw out, the deeper will be the result. It will be beneficial for health, beneficial for the mind, and it will create an ease in going toward the soul.
The stronger this impact, the more Kundalini will begin to awaken within. When Kundalini awakens within, the body will make many kinds of movements, many kinds of motions. Allow them. If you stop even a little, there will be difficulty. That Kundalini will get stuck there; its awakening will halt there. Let it do with the body whatever it wishes to do. Keep only one attention: whatever the body is doing, cooperate with it, give it your full support. If a sound is coming, then shout with your whole strength—put your total energy into it. In that total energy all the garbage within you will fall out. Those ten minutes are purgation, catharsis. Everything has to be thrown out.
In the last ten minutes, as soon as I say, ‘Stop, it is over,’ drop everything—drop even the depth of breathing, drop the dancing too. But in the first stage the emphasis will be on the breath, the pressure will be there. In the second stage, those who can, keep the breath going also; if you can dance along with it, good. If both cannot be managed, then do the second stage—dance, weep, laugh—forget about the breath, take as much as you can. In the third stage, continue dancing, continue jumping, and start asking, ‘Who am I?’ And in the fourth stage, nothing at all—only wait.
Two or three questions friends have asked.