Wisdom of the Mystics: Baba Hardev Singh Ji

Transcript

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Hello, and welcome to another episode of The Bearded.

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Mystic Podcast.

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And I'm your host, Rahul N.

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Singh.

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Thank you for taking out the time today to either watch or listen to this podcast episode.

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Today, we are going to be continuing on with the series called Wisdom of the Mystics, and today is a bit of a special one, and I'll let you know in a minute.

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Today is a special episode for me personally.

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But before I get there, there are a few important announcements I wanna let you know about.

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So last month we did look at the teachings of Thich Nhat Hanh, who is a great Buddhist monk who we learned a lot from.

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Today we'll be looking at the teachings of my Guru, the one that showed me, this Formless Awareness very directly and we've be looking at his teachings - Satguru Baba Hardev Singh Ji and on February 23rd, it was his 69th birth anniversary.

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So happy birthday Baba ji and as usual, I'll go through some quotes and give you my thoughts on them, and then I may share an experience or two with you.

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Quote one.

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To be human is to be humble.

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To be humble is to be divine.

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Now, humility is such a quality I find, which is not utilized enough in spirituality.

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It's always a, a race that either to get to enlightenment or to know more, or who has the better capability and ability to memorize the scriptures.

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You know, little things like that.

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And even though we may start off on the path with great humility, but eventually what we find is there is a certain arrogance that steeps in.

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And even having arrogance of knowledge or being egoic about knowledge or having access to a particular Guru, I think sometimes that can be detrimental to the spiritual practice, to the spiritual sadhana that we have.

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So Baba ji is really right here when he says, to be human is to be humble.

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I think one of the basic traits of being a human being is being humble.

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He once did say that you don't be humble where you're a doormat and you let people walk all over you.

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In fact, to be humble, you also need to be alert.

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And as human beings, we are blessed with alertness.

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We have that capability to be alert, to make sure nobody is messing around with us.

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That's our viveka.

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That's our discernment.

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When we see that somebody's taking advantage of us or somebody's trying to snatch our rights, of course we must speak up.

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We must take action.

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And again, those actions will be based on spiritual values.

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Being human is being humble.

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Very simple and it's a simple teaching but again, how difficult is it to actually be humble?

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Now think about it, if you are at work, in the corporate environment, it's expected that you will be part of the rat race.

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You will look to get one up over the other person, or you will look to beat the other person in your sales targets or something like that.

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And yet, if you want to position, you have to prove your worth.

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and really it's not about your abilities, it's really about your networking skills.

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To network, you need to sell yourself.

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You need to sell your skills, your capabilities, and therefore, in a way it's always a, a humble brag, so to speak.

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if we think about it, to be human is to be humble.

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That is a very difficult thing to do.

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But when you look into your natural state, actually, just being a human being, there's natural humility there.

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What does a human being have to be arrogant about?

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If one has a greater intellect?

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So what in a few decades, can one guarantee that one's memory will remain the same?

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Can one guarantee that one's intellectual prowess will remain?

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Can we guarantee that our networking skills will be the same?

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Probably not.

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We can't guarantee these things.

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So to be humble is the most human thing to do.

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And then Baba Ji continues to say that to be humble is to be divine, like naturally just being a human being is basically being divine.

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And Lord Buddha said the same thing literally.

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So if you look at that quote, although very simple, it's extremely difficult to actually do.

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But it's because we try to do it as an action, as something to practice.

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We miss out.

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In fact, if we understand that humility is a natural byproduct of spiritual practice or a discovering that we get when we are in spiritual practice, it's no longer something we have to put effort into.

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Or if in the beginning we have to put effort in, eventually it will become effortless.

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So Baba Ji's teachings is very true here.

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Like just to be humble is to be divine.

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Now, think about it.

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The greatest mystics that we know had this immense humility.

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They call themselves servants or das.

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You know, you see Christ wash washing the feet of his disciples.

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You hear of Kabir ji referring himself to das.

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You hear the same of Ravidas Ji, he says the same thing.

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My Guru often used to refer to himself as das.

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Those are traits that I would love to implement.

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And one thing I do find missing in my life is sometimes being humble.

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What we can understand from this quote from Baba ji is that if you want to be human, if you want to have divine traits to reach the state of a devta, then just be humble.

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And if you think about it as Formless Awareness, what identity do you have?

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So what is there to brag about?

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Yeah, so that's a subtle thing we have to think about and understand.

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The second quote we are looking at Baba Ji says that if you cannot be a candle, be a mirror that reflects the light.

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I found this quote to be quite interesting.

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Interesting, for many reasons.

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One, he says, if you cannot be a candle, He understands from a base level that not everyone's going to go straight to enlightenment.

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Most of us, when we go to a spiritual place, we are casual seekers.

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We are going there maybe because our parents went there or because we have a good social group there.

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It's a good community, you know, wherever we go in terms of our spiritual satsang or place of worship or to the temple or whatever.

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And what we find is that we, we know literally that liberation is probably the most difficult thing to achieve.

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So how can I get to liberation?

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How can I be that self illuminating light, that I am?

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How can I discover that?

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How can I get there?

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How can I actually accept that that is the only thing that is?

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Because one of the things that Baba ji blessed me with was this Brahm Gyana, this knowledge of Brahman, this knowledge of the Ultimate Reality, of Formless Awareness.

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And He gave it in a very direct manner, and I'll probably go into that in my experience.

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But this saying is literally that so many people probably received the same knowledge that I did, and how many of them actually have retained it?

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And it's a question that I think about myself, like, I could have easily not retained this knowledge.

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What I mean by retaining is not simply I received the knowledge and then, you know, I think about it now and then that's not retention.

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Retention is when it's continuing and you're always alert about it, but Baba ji here makes a concession.

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That okay, you may not be a candle, but you can be a mirror that reflects the light.

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So for example, you can be a mirror that reflects your guru's teachings.

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You can be a mirror that reflects Brahman, this Formless Awareness.

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It's not impossible for us to be a mirror.

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And what's interesting is that when you are being a mirror that reflects the Light, you'll automatically realize that you were always the candle in the first place and that is the beauty of Baba Ji's teachings that I found.

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He often used to say in His discourses that read between the lines, and there's a reason for that.

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Even with, you know, when I do the Bhagavad Gita sessions, when I answer questions in general, I try to think what's being said in between the lines.

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When I read a scripture, when I read a book, I think about what's being said in between the lines I'm trying to read between the lines because that's the way Baba ji literally trained me to think.

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And because of that, I probably find that I gather a lot more insights than I would have if I just listened and carried on.

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So even with this podcast or any podcast that you listen to, or any YouTube video you watch, read between the lines, think about what's being said, try to grasp that which is which is asking to be grasped as the wisdom.

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If you can't be a candle of wisdom, of knowledge, at least be a mirror that reflects that Light.

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Indirectly you will have to practice the teachings.

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The third quote.

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The Formless should be in our heart, even when our hands are at work.

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I really love this and the reason for why I love this saying is because it literally is about life.

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Now, I can't remember the Formless Awareness at all times.

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I can't always be in awareness, but what can I do?

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You know, I have to work, I have to drive to work, I have to work on the laptop, I have to look at spreadsheets.

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I have to look at different plan documents.

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I have to analyze things.

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I have to communicate with other people.

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I have to spend time with my family.

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I have my responsibilities to do.

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And what Baba ji is saying here is that the Formless should be in your heart, even when your hands are at work.

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So even though you are working, even though you're doing some sort of activity, even though earning your daily bread, just remember that the Formless is literally within your heart and doesn't leave.

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With that direct perception that you know, that aparoksha knowledge.

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What you get that direct understanding of what the Formless is.

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So once you have that understanding that Formless Awareness is the only thing, what is left to think about.

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And this is the true essence of Karma Yoga too, that Sri Krishna talks about, that you will do your action.

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But remember, the Formless should be in your heart.

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Now, if the Formless is in the heart, is there going to be any doership when we are working, when we're doing the action?

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No.

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And that's the beauty.

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So what we've gotta understand here is that \\ , even though we'll do our daily work, even though we'll do our activities that we do on a daily basis or a weekly basis, but the Formless should be in our heart.

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So this is very important to remain in awareness as much as we can, and whenever we are at work say we are deeply into working and maybe we've lost track of time.

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The moment you take a sip of water or a sip of your coffee, or you stop studying for a bit, pause and observe that the Formless Awareness is present.

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That's all you have to do.

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The fourth quote is, our belief in the Formless turns into faith in the Formless when we realize this Formless.

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This is an interesting one.

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Now, if you think about it, everything starts with belief.

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I believe in a God, I believe in a Guru.

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I believe in the scripture.

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I don't know if the scripture's true.

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I don't know if what the Guru is teaching me is true.

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I don't know if God is real or not.

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I don't know these things.

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So it's all a belief.

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In the beginning, it's more or less we do things outta ignorance.

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We have a statement and we go with it without knowing it at all.

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Now, Baba Ji adds a very big distinction, and people think that just knowing about God is enough but Baba ji here is very clear.

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He says, our belief in the Formless turns into faith in the Formless when we realize this Formless.

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So the prerequisite, the most important thing here is that we must realize the Formless.

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When we realize this Formless, then our belief turns into faith.

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Then our faith is unbreakable.

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You could use faith or trust here.

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It's, I'm using these synonymously because once you know, and once you realize that there is only the Formless, there's automatic faith.

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You don't have to build something in, and it's not done out of ignorance, it's done out of viveka, out of the wisdom of knowing what is real and unreal.

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We know that this world is unreal.

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We know this.

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So if we know that this world is unreal and we have to transcend the world, we have to transcend this changing phenomena, then that means the changeless is the Ultimate Reality.

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This Formless is the Ultimate Reality.

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Now, once we know that, once we've fully integrated that wisdom that is realization.

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So we have to turn our belief into faith.

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There's no point of having ignorance.

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Now, to do this, we have to utilize our intellect.

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One of the things that I have found in spirituality is this lack of intellect.

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Now, what people don't understand is yes, we, we are meant to transcend the intellect when we have realized the Formless.

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But to know the Formless, intellect must be utilized and our intellect has to be strong.

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And like I said, our intellect has to be strong on this point - that this Formless is the only thing.

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This Formless is omni-present and everything else is changing, is therefore unreal.

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Simple, nothing complicated.

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So this is the way to have faith is the realization of this Formless The fifth quote.

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Realization of the Formless is the key to living a blissful life.

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This is really true.

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, I, I, I would even attest to this, that if we want to live a blissful life, it comes from realizing what the Formless is.

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It's actually integrating that Formless Awareness into our life.

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Once we enter that blissful state, why is it blissful?

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Because we understand that there is only this One Pure Existence of Pure Consciousness.

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So being blissful is natural and remember, blissfulness is beyond happiness and sadness.

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Baba ji also used to say that bliss is true happiness that goes beyond the senses.

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And I think that is really true.

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How can we live a blissful life is by going beyond our senses.

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Blissfulness is something that is continuous.

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It's always here.

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It's not something that disappears.

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You know, often we say after having a good meal, oh, that was blissful, or we have a good time, we say that was blissful.

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And then the next minute someone steps on our foot, and suddenly our bliss leaves.

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But what Baba Ji is saying that that shouldn't happen.

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If we want a blissful life, then what do we need to do?

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Realize the Formless.

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This is the ultimate thing.

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Not knowing the Formless.

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Knowing is the first step.

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The second step is the integration of the Formless, and that leads to realization of the Formless.

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We have to integrate this wisdom into our life, and we have to be fully aware and integrate that Formless Awareness in all parts of our life.

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As Baba ji said in the previous quote, that while our hands are at work, we need to keep this Formless in our heart.

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That's exactly what we need to do.

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So if you want to have a blissful life, if I want to have a blissful life, it has to be done in the realization of the Formless.

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And one thing I will say here is this is made easier when you have a Guru.

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Now I know that there's a GitaGPT.

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I know that there's ChatGPT.

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I know that there are YouTube gurus out there, but the personal interaction of having a Guru really speeds up the realization of the Formless.

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That is something I can guarantee with my experience.

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To speed up that process to living a blissful life, you know, find a Guru, find a teacher that will personally help you get to where you need to go to.

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The one thing that I asked Baba ji was, I want to be enlightened.

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I, I don't want to be in ignorance.

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I don't want to come back again on this earth.

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I want jivan-mukti and I'm not gonna say whether I've got there or not, that that's not for me to declare, and I don't really care about declaring it.

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But all I can say, is that the process is a lot easier because of the teachings and the guidance that I personally got from Baba Ji.

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His presence helped me.

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I cannot say that that can be replicated in any other way.

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You know, people think that you can read a scripture and get there.

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Yeah, the scripture has that wisdom, but it is the Guru that unlocks the key and shows you what it is directly.

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And that's the importance is that knowledge, that wisdom, that Gyana that gets you there and the Guru is the perfect embodiment of that Gyana, of that wisdom.

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So that's one thing that really helped me and you know, I dunno if I'm always living well, life is always blissful.

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Whether I understand I'm living a blissful life, I dunno if that's happening all the time.

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And really I pray that if you are on in the same boat as me, that we were able to understand that life is really blissful.

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And if it isn't happening, maybe have that understanding, that integration, that realization.

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So we can be in that state all the time.

00:21:54.632 --> 00:22:01.015
greatness is a virtue of wisdom, not age.

00:22:01.688 --> 00:22:07.488
This is very true and again, a simple statement, but it packs a lot in.

00:22:09.548 --> 00:22:26.448
If we think that we can be mahaan, if we think we can be great, if we think we can be a saint to a sage, it's a virtue of wisdom of integrating that wisdom.

00:22:27.528 --> 00:22:37.315
Not age You can be 70 years old, you can be 80 years old, a hundred years old, you can be 50, you can be 40.

00:22:39.015 --> 00:22:40.605
That doesn't mean you will become wiser.

00:22:40.605 --> 00:22:40.815
You know?

00:22:40.815 --> 00:22:42.974
They do say as you get older, you get wiser.

00:22:43.125 --> 00:22:44.204
I don't think that's true.

00:22:46.380 --> 00:22:51.210
. And I think you only get wiser when you deepen your understanding of life.

00:22:51.240 --> 00:22:55.349
When you actually really investigate what life's really about.

00:22:55.410 --> 00:22:57.690
What is my purpose in life?

00:22:58.559 --> 00:23:00.450
What is my origin in life?

00:23:00.930 --> 00:23:15.646
One of the things that Baba ji said that triggered me to understand that I wasn't integrating this wisdom, this Gyana, was he once said, you know apna mool pehchaan, that understand what your origin is.

00:23:17.027 --> 00:23:23.192
And once I thought about that, I was like, yeah, I dunno what my origin is.

00:23:23.252 --> 00:23:33.153
So I went on that investigation and that's what led me into, kind of the, that's what led me into the rabbit hole of discovering everything.

00:23:33.153 --> 00:23:41.548
And that's been my 13 years of being a seeker and 13 years continuing.

00:23:42.208 --> 00:23:43.857
It hasn't stopped at all.

00:23:44.998 --> 00:23:54.708
So that's another thing we need to understand is that I would say as you get older, you have less time.

00:23:54.738 --> 00:23:59.218
So you better do more in spiritual practice and spiritual sadhana.

00:23:59.657 --> 00:24:05.928
So I think it's the opposite where you do more things that are concentrated.

00:24:05.928 --> 00:24:08.268
So your meditation is a lot more concentrated.

00:24:08.268 --> 00:24:16.835
Even though I may meditate for five minutes, I'll try to, uh, I will try to pack 30 minutes of meditation in five minutes.

00:24:17.075 --> 00:24:24.184
That level of intensity, I will say to my mind, look, you only have five minutes and it's either five minutes or 30 minutes.

00:24:24.190 --> 00:24:25.055
Which one do you want?

00:24:25.535 --> 00:24:27.125
Mind will always say five minutes.

00:24:27.785 --> 00:24:32.194
And okay, we go, do, we go, go straight into that meditation.

00:24:33.092 --> 00:24:39.811
And so the moment I close my eyes, I am in that awareness of Formless Awareness.

00:24:42.634 --> 00:24:43.474
And that's the key.

00:24:44.154 --> 00:24:57.231
So the thing is you find these little ways of tricking the mind, but my point is that as you get older, you have to do more.

00:24:57.695 --> 00:25:04.008
And I think naturally as I've got older, I'm 35, I'm gonna be 36 this year.

00:25:04.847 --> 00:25:09.988
And my whole journey in spirituality has only got deeper.

00:25:09.988 --> 00:25:11.728
I've only wanted to know more.

00:25:12.298 --> 00:25:18.525
I don't want to live a day where I'm not contemplating on spirituality.

00:25:19.724 --> 00:25:21.765
It's something I think about continuously.

00:25:23.377 --> 00:25:29.978
Yes, I have a wife who I love tremendously, who I care for tremendously.

00:25:32.180 --> 00:25:34.430
I have a family that I love and care for.

00:25:35.547 --> 00:25:37.436
I have friends that I adore.

00:25:38.366 --> 00:25:44.103
I have a job to go to, you know, a pay packet to earn.

00:25:44.103 --> 00:25:45.423
I have to do all those things.

00:25:47.282 --> 00:25:53.883
But the thread that binds them all together into a perfect harmony is my spiritual practice.

00:25:55.113 --> 00:25:59.859
Because I don't see these things as being different to the spiritual practice.

00:26:00.250 --> 00:26:05.936
I see them as part of my spiritual practice, and that's the teaching that Baba Ji gave.

00:26:06.856 --> 00:26:26.916
And maybe something I grasped very early on, and that's what I mean, the association with a Guru is so important that these are little things that you pick up when I would listen to his discourses but if I didn't pick those things up, then obviously as I got older, I'm definitely not gonna be wiser.

00:26:27.757 --> 00:26:30.936
I mean, that's just a natural occurrence.

00:26:30.936 --> 00:26:36.336
I mean, how I've got a, basically the way I see it is I shouldn't get a midlife crisis.

00:26:38.686 --> 00:26:47.307
This is the thing, you know, Baba Ji often used to say that, you know, every saint will get remembered.

00:26:47.567 --> 00:26:49.467
Every sage will get remembered.

00:26:50.237 --> 00:26:51.467
Why can't you be that?

00:26:51.737 --> 00:26:53.826
And he would always have that question.

00:26:54.797 --> 00:27:05.632
And those are the things that really empowered me as a young boy that that's exactly what I wanted to go for.

00:27:07.718 --> 00:27:17.042
If you really want to be remembered for the right reasons, then we have to utilize wisdom.

00:27:17.462 --> 00:27:26.133
And wisdom is only one thing is understanding, integrating, and realizing this Formless.

00:27:26.779 --> 00:27:28.430
Then the seventh quote.

00:27:29.720 --> 00:27:34.369
There is no religion greater than perceiving the Formless face-to-face.

00:27:36.319 --> 00:27:57.742
Now, when Baba ji would say things like this in his discourses, it was so direct and when I would think of his voice, when he would say things like this, it, it would give me, and still gives me, uh, goosebumps.

00:28:00.680 --> 00:28:07.321
Seeing, you know, this is like similar thing that Swami Vivekananda got from Shri Ramakrishna.

00:28:07.342 --> 00:28:25.285
This very quote, this very saying, this very line literally is the way, I'm not Swami Vivekananda, nowhere near him, but it's that trigger that young Narendra heard from Sri Ramakrishna.

00:28:25.674 --> 00:28:40.251
And this young Rahul also heard those very words that there's no religion, no path greater than perceiving the Formless face-to-face that this Formless should be the only face that is seen.

00:28:41.211 --> 00:28:43.372
These were the teachings that Baba Ji gave me.

00:28:44.835 --> 00:28:45.914
How can I do that?

00:28:45.944 --> 00:28:46.934
How can I get there?

00:28:46.934 --> 00:28:49.994
One was I had to ask for it.

00:28:50.444 --> 00:28:59.097
I can't just simply expect that this wisdom will be given to me or by my birthright, I will understand this.

00:28:59.488 --> 00:29:02.637
No, I have to ask for it.

00:29:02.728 --> 00:29:04.048
I have to desire it.

00:29:04.407 --> 00:29:06.928
I have to really want it more than anything.

00:29:07.557 --> 00:29:13.265
And it should be the only thing that you ask the Guru for.

00:29:15.724 --> 00:29:17.015
Now, the Guru may ask you.

00:29:17.015 --> 00:29:26.375
Baba Ji was always nice in terms of he would ask how our personal life was and how it was going, and making sure that we were happy in our personal lives.

00:29:27.761 --> 00:29:33.027
And that's because in his eyes, there was no difference between personal life and spiritual life.

00:29:33.407 --> 00:29:42.932
But I think we as devotees sometimes differentiated between the two, and that obviously is our perception.

00:29:44.393 --> 00:30:04.282
But Baba Ji saw them as one and and that's why when I think about it, seeing this Formless, perceiving this Formless in everything as and as the only thing, and you know, understanding that it is that awareness that is always present.

00:30:07.613 --> 00:30:09.472
That is so true.

00:30:09.478 --> 00:30:10.942
There is no religion greater.

00:30:11.272 --> 00:30:20.833
In fact, you don't have to call yourself a Hindu, Muslim, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, anything.

00:30:22.673 --> 00:30:27.997
Because once you perceive the Formless face-to-face, what religion do you belong to then?

00:30:28.957 --> 00:30:31.507
What spiritual institution do you belong to then?

00:30:32.676 --> 00:30:33.576
You, you can't.

00:30:34.791 --> 00:30:41.301
. The Formless belongs to no individual spiritual organization or institution or religion.

00:30:42.592 --> 00:30:55.055
It's beyond that, and what Baba Ji is saying here is that the ultimate point of real religion, the ultimate purpose of religion is to perceive the Formless face to face.

00:30:55.055 --> 00:30:58.535
If it's not doing that, then what are we doing?

00:30:59.914 --> 00:31:01.234
That's the ultimate question.

00:31:01.234 --> 00:31:02.105
What are we doing?

00:31:02.375 --> 00:31:03.724
Are we just going somewhere?

00:31:03.730 --> 00:31:16.414
Because like I said earlier, is it because of other reasons other than our true desire to seek and understand and perceive this Formless face-to-face.

00:31:21.214 --> 00:31:30.001
For example, it should be as clear as when you look in the mirror and you see yourself, it should be as clear as that, that you see the Formless.

00:31:31.481 --> 00:31:37.602
And Baba ji guaranteed that the wisdom that He gave will get us there.

00:31:39.342 --> 00:31:41.501
As long as we walked the path.

00:31:42.461 --> 00:31:56.637
As long as we took the steps to truly integrate our life into the teachings, if we still differentiated our life to the teachings, we were not going to advance spiritually.

00:31:58.115 --> 00:32:22.461
And I'll even say this, that if religion is all about just following doctrines, having a new identity or another identity, having another label, it's not worth it because it takes you away from that which you should be seeking while you are trying to defend your religion.

00:32:24.832 --> 00:32:31.912
Your religion is running away already and your religion should be perceiving the Formless face-to-face.

00:32:32.251 --> 00:32:42.704
Here it's all about integrating that Formless Awareness into our daily life, and that wherever we go, we are in this awareness because we cannot escape it.

00:32:43.575 --> 00:32:45.075
Why can't we escape it?

00:32:45.075 --> 00:32:46.525
Because it's omni-present.

00:32:46.545 --> 00:32:48.795
It's the only thing present.

00:32:50.055 --> 00:32:56.996
So again, this was a great teaching that Baba ji gave and one that I'm truly, truly grateful for.

00:32:57.000 --> 00:33:09.792
And if there's one thing that Baba ji offered to everybody, whoever wanted it, whoever desired it, whoever sought it, it was this.

00:33:10.603 --> 00:33:18.103
And if there was any purpose to his life, it was this statement that there is no religion greater than perceiving the Formless face-to-face.

00:33:19.059 --> 00:33:24.442
And I used to see it in Him that whenever you talked about the Formless.

00:33:25.771 --> 00:33:27.092
He would be so happy.

00:33:27.271 --> 00:33:37.637
The smile he would have on his face, the smile that every devotee would give everything for.

00:33:39.498 --> 00:33:51.377
It happened when you spoke about the Formless, when you spoke about spirituality, when you spoke about wanting this wisdom, desiring this wisdom.

00:33:54.048 --> 00:33:57.288
If there's one thing that he gave me, that was it.

00:33:58.248 --> 00:34:01.285
And everything has been a byproduct of that.

00:34:02.244 --> 00:34:06.339
Just perceiving this Formless Awareness as the only thing.

00:34:08.454 --> 00:34:09.804
And then the eighth quote.

00:34:11.246 --> 00:34:14.817
Blissfulness is not a phase, but a state of being.

00:34:15.099 --> 00:34:20.922
And this is just really elaborating on what we learned earlier.

00:34:22.262 --> 00:34:22.563
Yeah.

00:34:22.592 --> 00:34:26.853
Blissfulness is not a phase, as I mentioned earlier, that oh, if you eat food, you're in bliss.

00:34:26.882 --> 00:34:40.503
If you're, if you, if you attend a satsang or you go to a retreat, you have a good meditation, you feel bliss for a bit, and then after a bit, after a while, you start getting back into the egoic pattern.

00:34:41.646 --> 00:34:44.166
No, blissfulness is a state of being.

00:34:44.706 --> 00:34:45.427
That's it.

00:34:46.360 --> 00:34:48.309
Or you could say it's a state of mind.

00:34:49.382 --> 00:34:51.753
It's always there, ever present.

00:34:52.572 --> 00:34:54.702
It never gets modified by anything.

00:34:54.856 --> 00:34:56.657
It never gets changed by anything.

00:34:57.016 --> 00:34:57.947
It's always there.

00:34:58.449 --> 00:34:59.769
It's the true meaning.

00:35:00.599 --> 00:35:02.320
You know what I've talked about today?

00:35:03.090 --> 00:35:11.987
Literally is Sat Chit Ananda, you know, Existence, Consciousness, Bliss, and life is to be experienced.

00:35:11.987 --> 00:35:13.606
This existence is beautiful.

00:35:14.867 --> 00:35:19.581
Be aware, be in this awareness, perceive the Formless face-to-face at all times.

00:35:20.715 --> 00:35:22.934
And blissfulness is a state of being.

00:35:22.934 --> 00:35:26.844
It's, it's a state of mind that's continuous.

00:35:27.355 --> 00:35:29.275
So don't think of it as a phase.

00:35:30.114 --> 00:35:55.427
If you are feeling happy well, the one way to differentiate between happiness and bliss is that if you are, if you are happy and then you go down to sadness or if something breaks that happiness or if something allows that happiness to fade away slowly, if you feel your happiness fading away, that means that it is not bliss.

00:35:57.367 --> 00:36:01.507
To be in bliss, you have to be high all the time.

00:36:02.217 --> 00:36:15.396
And it's not really that there's a high and low, it's like there's a centeredness that is unbreakable and that's what you experience.

00:36:17.106 --> 00:36:18.217
The ninth quote.

00:36:19.086 --> 00:36:23.047
Formless Consciousness is Formless remembrance.

00:36:24.510 --> 00:36:26.699
This is an interesting one too, because.

00:36:28.739 --> 00:36:43.369
, and this will be the ending quote because it's the ultimate thing that I talk about here on the podcast is that Formless Awareness is being constantly in that Formless remembrance.

00:36:43.369 --> 00:36:56.682
So being aware of being aware, and little did I know that Baba Ji had talked about that until I came across the quote, few days ago when I was creating the plan for this episode.

00:36:59.353 --> 00:37:07.210
And literally, the more you remember the Formless, the more you are aware of the Formless.

00:37:08.590 --> 00:37:39.219
And this is now when, this is a perfect segway to go into the experiences because from a young age, I, I remember once in Birmingham, Baba Ji was visiting and I was probably 12 or 13, and I was with a friend and I asked Baba Ji "Baba Ji, will you give me the Brahm Gyana, this divine wisdom, this truth in English, please?" Because, there's a certain, process when they give this Gyana.

00:37:40.789 --> 00:37:51.322
And he, you know, looked at me, smiled and chuckled a little, and just pulled my cheeks and said, okay.

00:37:52.041 --> 00:37:53.092
He didn't do much.

00:37:53.092 --> 00:37:53.992
He just said that.

00:37:54.070 --> 00:38:04.463
And then years later I was talking about remembering the Formless and my, I was talking about my challenges.

00:38:04.523 --> 00:38:18.688
For example, I found it very difficult to connect to the Formless, and I was like, Baba Ji, is it okay that I think of a form and can it be Your form that I think of first and then lead into the Formless?

00:38:19.150 --> 00:38:25.715
Similar to what we do in our Saturday meditation, when we utilize the Isht-devta, the sacred symbol or form or image.

00:38:26.615 --> 00:38:32.985
And with Baba ji, I asked that question and so I asked Baba ji that question, you know, is it okay?

00:38:33.505 --> 00:39:22.447
And his words were, use "whatever connects you to this Formless." And then he looked at me with kind of like the sparkle in his eye with a little bit of a smile, and he gave a gesture with his hands and he moved his hands a little bit, and he just said, "the purpose is to remain aware of this Formless at all times." And it was in that moment, in that gesture that he did with his hands that it all just clicked for me and started making sense.

00:39:23.456 --> 00:39:35.742
And I realized that at that moment, He was fulfilling my wish that I wanted the wisdom from Him because at that moment all I could be in was the awareness of the Formless.

00:39:36.753 --> 00:39:42.242
He was the catalyst, He was the one that truly made it easier for me.

00:39:42.248 --> 00:39:44.463
If anything, he made it easier for me.

00:39:44.822 --> 00:40:04.032
The easiest thing to do literally is to be aware of the Formless and that is the greatest gift he gave to me and the gift that I will never be able to repay him for other than just living this.

00:40:05.023 --> 00:40:06.793
That's the only way I can repay.

00:40:07.182 --> 00:40:10.213
And, you know, I love him for that.

00:40:10.293 --> 00:40:10.713
And.

00:40:13.063 --> 00:40:20.713
. And like I mentioned, having a Guru is important and especially when you're facing difficult times.

00:40:22.213 --> 00:40:27.913
And for me, His presence meant so much.

00:40:28.369 --> 00:40:44.829
His text messages or his phone call, or even His embrace later when we met in person, when my brother passed away.

00:40:45.195 --> 00:40:51.199
And even in prior to that, just the support as, my brother was terminally ill.

00:40:51.260 --> 00:41:01.800
And, you know, that whole process without Baba ji, it would've been very difficult.

00:41:01.860 --> 00:41:13.971
I don't think I would, I would've been able to get outta the grief um, as easier as it was.

00:41:14.811 --> 00:41:18.530
He, His support really helped me.

00:41:20.775 --> 00:41:34.449
His guidance, His words, His actions, you know, like I mentioned, the hug that He would give those moments is what gives me strength even today.

00:41:34.454 --> 00:41:37.510
Now, today, he's no longer in his physical form.

00:41:38.230 --> 00:41:50.976
And, you know, losing him was one of the most difficult and darkest times of my life.

00:41:51.036 --> 00:41:56.376
I don't think I've ever faced anything like it, and I don't think I ever will.

00:41:58.166 --> 00:42:00.326
And He was like my best friend, literally.

00:42:00.416 --> 00:42:02.996
Like, I, I could share anything with Him.

00:42:03.445 --> 00:42:09.146
And losing Him was difficult.

00:42:09.146 --> 00:42:14.516
I was never prepared for it yet, He did prepare me.

00:42:16.166 --> 00:42:17.365
He prepared everybody.

00:42:17.905 --> 00:42:21.326
And He did that by saying, concentrate on the Formless.

00:42:21.800 --> 00:42:23.449
Focus on the Formless.

00:42:24.409 --> 00:42:26.000
Be aware of the Formless.

00:42:26.900 --> 00:42:41.222
He was giving us the eternal and I shared this once with friends that, He once quoted Mahatma Buddha when he said,"stop looking at the finger that's pointing to the moon.

00:42:41.461 --> 00:42:48.242
Start looking at the moon." And again, like I said, I heard that when I was 16, 17 years old.

00:42:48.961 --> 00:42:57.527
And it left an impression on me that indirectly I would be always concentrating on the Formless.

00:42:59.501 --> 00:43:07.927
And that's Baba Ji's biggest contribution for me was one, allowing me to be gifted with this wisdom, this Brahm Gyana.

00:43:08.425 --> 00:43:16.016
And most of all giving me the steps, the methods, the practices, the help, the guidance, the personal presence.

00:43:17.385 --> 00:43:19.431
It helped me so much.

00:43:20.092 --> 00:43:22.492
And you know, it is not just me.

00:43:22.492 --> 00:43:25.222
There's many that can attest to that.

00:43:26.958 --> 00:43:35.829
And one thing that I will say, and which is very important, is that He literally loved everybody.

00:43:35.858 --> 00:43:39.911
One of the greatest things he embodied was love.

00:43:40.001 --> 00:43:42.791
He loved everybody unconditionally.

00:43:44.081 --> 00:43:49.112
And I never saw ever any condition in His love.

00:43:50.664 --> 00:43:53.364
But there was a condition with His closeness.

00:43:53.605 --> 00:44:01.726
His love was the same for everyone, but His closeness was with those that truly practice spirituality.

00:44:02.907 --> 00:44:06.157
And I think that's the case for every spiritual teacher.

00:44:07.780 --> 00:44:15.690
If a spiritual teacher is maintaining a distance from us, maybe we are not valuing that personal presence.

00:44:16.141 --> 00:44:23.143
Maybe we we're not valuing that personal time that is limited, that Guru is in a form.

00:44:25.054 --> 00:44:33.693
And although Baba Ji gave His time unconditionally, I wonder whether we utilized Him as much as we could have.

00:44:34.384 --> 00:44:41.704
Yes, His love was there, but the closeness was only there if we concentrated on the Formless.

00:44:42.543 --> 00:44:53.344
And that's something that I found in my life that the closer I got to the Formless, and this is what a good friend told me, that the more you focus on the Formless, watch how Baba Ji gets closer to you.

00:44:53.344 --> 00:44:55.023
And that happened in my life.

00:44:56.449 --> 00:45:03.949
And that for me is the hallmark of a Guru that they will give you that personal presence.

00:45:04.994 --> 00:45:09.045
So if you have a Guru, utilize them.

00:45:09.782 --> 00:45:11.641

Wisdom of the Mystics: Baba Hardev Singh Ji

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