Listen, I would like you to take these two words away from your dictionary - surrender and devotion. Both these words are very confusing. They have lost their essence and meaning in some way. And what is, is.
Why do you have to label devotion? You have love, now you don't need to give the love in your heart a name or a relation because then there is an effort, "Oh I want to be devoted, I want to be surrendered".
The more you try to be devoted the more you will feel you are going farther away from it. Everyone has commitment. When you have love, there is commitment. And love with commitment is what you call devotion. You have commitment, and you have love, and they go together.
Now, let us see what is surrender? What do you need to surrender? Do you need to surrender all your good qualities? Your compassion, love, joy and peace? Or do you need to surrender stress?
I wouldn't like to use the word surrender. I would say -- let go of stress, let go of the negativity, let go of the small-mindedness, pettiness, this is all that you need to give up. But when you give a name to it, such as surrender, it appears to be very confusing or scary.
These words -- devotion and surrender are used so much by communities of faith, that it has become a very big mess in the mind. Either we feel we have surrendered or we are so devoted, and this, in a very subtle way, creates self doubt. Even those who are very devoted will ask, "Am I devoted?"
Why bother about all this? Your heart is pure and clean, your mind is clear, your heart is pure and you are sincere in your commitment, and if others say you are devoted, it's up to them to say you are devoted! Do you see what I am saying?
Today, words are losing their meanings. There are new paradigms coming and so some words are so misused or wrongly used. To avoid this confusion, instead of surrender, let us say - let go of all that you cannot bear.
Is this easy or difficult? Anything that feels like a burden, don't you want to let go? Yes! Don't you want to let go of worrying? That is what surrender is!
Don't you feel commitment and a connection? That is devotion.
In religion, people have used devotion; in politics, they have used patriotism; it is the same relationship, isn't it? What do all of them contain? Sincerity! An evolved consciousness has this quality.
What is an evolved consciousness? Where there is no selfishness, no greed and no want. The wanting to grab something for oneself indicates poverty and an unevolved consciousness. When you are mature, there is abundance, and when you have abundance, none of these negative traits come close to you.
Don't bother if others think you are small minded, it is their problem. If you have not expressed yourself properly, you must express it. Express and ignore, educate and ignore.
I think some of you have this question, 'What do I do about the other. How do I deal with others if they are jealous of me, or if they are unjustly accusing me? What do I do?' I would simply say, "Educate and ignore!"
The quality of an evolved, uplifted, blossomed consciousness is sincerity. You cannot be a mature person without sincerity, confidence, refinement, sensibility and sensitivity. All these qualities are embedded in your consciousness. And as you grow, you will see these qualities simply start manifesting. You only need to have this commitment that I want to grow in my life.
Again, don't make that a feverish statement, "I want to grow, I want to grow" and run around like a headless chicken. Know that once you are on the path, you are moving ahead.
No,take up some creative work. You know the whole day I am busy attending to the many projects that we have taken on. This morning we had a meeting about a ‘Welcome Home Project’. Did you know that 22 veterans committed suicide every single day in this country in 2014? They have still not published the numbers for 2015; we need to stop this!
I feel so obliged. We have the knowledge here, this can save the lives of millions of people, we must make this knowledge available to them. We had a meeting about it this morning. Michael has made the movie and Tom has acted in it. So, you also take up some project.
We also had a discussion with the Yes! team for programs in schools. They are doing such good work, they were telling me stories about how school children and teachers are getting transformed.
I met with the Overseas Volunteers for a Better India (OVBI) group, they are doing excellent work. Similarly, there are so many programs happening, IAHV is doing some beautiful work here in this campus. I get reports on how it is going in the medical community in Long Island and other places. So you also take up some work or start writing something, then you will also feel that you are close to me, that's it!
I am always available. I always meet people, anybody, and everybody!
Oh my God, one itself is big! And then if you have two-three gurus, you will become bigger! Guru means ‘Big’. If you are on the spiritual path, know that it is they who have paved the way for you to be here. And so thank everybody, honor everyone, but follow one system of practice, otherwise you will be so confused doing a little bit here-and a little bit there.
Yes, when there is love and wisdom, none of these negative tendencies will come close to you. However, if there is love without wisdom, all these things that you mentioned, will all attack you at once.
