True Joy Is The Fruit
Of The Spirit

Are you asking this for yourself or for somebody else? If you are asking for yourself then just become aware that all of us are going to die, for sure. The important thing is that while we live, we shall be happy and have fun in all that we do.
While man is alive, he usually gets entangled in thinking, 'Oh, what will happen to me? What if there are some difficulties tomorrow? How will I be happy?'
This urges him to acquire wealth for a sense of security. The main aim of life is to be happy and comfortable with what we have, but often the path one takes brings misery instead of happiness. This is utter foolishness.
So what does an intelligent person do? An intelligent person knows for sure that God is with them, God loves them and belongs to them, so they don’t need to worry about anything. This feeling of deep faith gives them confidence. This is the secret of confidence. So they are able to do and achieve what they want.

See, if you are in the driving seat then you can turn the car in whichever direction you want, and spirituality gives you that strength to go where you want to. Hasn’t this happened for you? How many of you here have experienced that whatever you wish for starts happening? (Many in the audience raise hands in agreement).
This is the magic of being in knowledge, of having tasted the nectar of the spiritual path.
What is the use of behaving like a beggar all the time? There is a saying, 'Ram jharoke baith sabka mujra le' (Meaning: Repose in the faith of the Divine and see everything as a passing event). So when the connection with the Divine happens, no matter where you are, you can achieve and get what you wish for. Whatever blessing you give starts to manifest. Many of you have had this experience. This is the great wealth of spiritual knowledge.

We have such great knowledge with us in this country but many people are not even aware of it. People go to the temple, just break a coconut, give money to the priest to perform Aarti (act of rotating the sacred lamp before the deity) and keep wondering on how to improve their life. They come back home and get stuck again in craving and aversion, criticizing others, belittling others, and getting entangled in feelings of jealousy and greed. They spend their whole life like that.
To improve your life you should find joy in spirituality. Once you find this joy, do not run away from your family responsibilities; stay at home and attend to your family responsibilities also. Balance both so that your spiritual life as well as your family life improves.

This is such beautiful knowledge and this is what we must practice also.

Have you read the Bhagavad Gita? I would say that first you read the Gita. It is not enough to read it once. You must read it again and again. Lord Krishna says, 'Wherever you see any divinity, that is a part of Me and Me alone'. He says that I am present everywhere, in the plants, in trees. I am the strength of the strong, I am the magnificence and glory of the radiant ones. There is nothing beyond Me in this creation'.

Longing itself is God. When there is longing for the Divine in the heart, when longing arises in life for God, then one acquires siddhi (extraordinary abilities) in life. Without longing there can be no love, no perfection, no contentment and no playfulness in life. Hence longing is essential in life.
We keep longing for small and trivial material things, but once the longing for God arises then you become a Chakravarti (a term in ancient India used for an emperor who was a sovereign and whose chariot could go anywhere without any opposition or hindrance).

See, in our country, every month of the calendar has been associated with some event and so each month has its own importance. There is also a special month called the Purushottama Maasa (literally meaning the month of Lord Vishnu) that is considered very special and important by the devotees of Lord Vishnu.
Devotees of Lord Shiva consider Shraavan to be most important. Devotees of the Mother Divine consider the months of Chaitra and Sharad (autumn) to be important. The festival of Navaratri is celebrated in the month of Sharad. So every month has its own significance and importance.
In our country we do not have a single school of thought or tradition when it comes to spirituality. There are so many sacred Puranas and scriptures, and each scripture prescribes something different and unique for each month of the year. But the essence of it all is that one should honour Time and give it due importance. Do not waste it unnecessarily on eating and drinking, or in useless gossip.
The message is that Time is sacred. Consider time as a Prasaad (a sacred offering) from the Divine.

Lord Shiva is bhola (innocent) so He is called Bholenath (meaning the innocent One). He is easily pleased, and gives a boon to anyone who asks Him with love, and then He Himself gets caught into trouble (when the seeker of the boon misuses it or uses it against the Lord Himself). He innocently gives a boon to anybody who meditates upon Him, be it a demon or a demigod. He gives them whatever they want, that is why He is known as Bholenath.
Another meaning is when you become bhola (innocent from within) then He is your Nath (Lord or Master). You must have heard the saying, 'Bhole Bhav Mile Raghurai'. It means that when you become innocent and pure from within, that very moment you become one with Divinity.

It was made for Me! (laughter) And if you ask why are there so many problems made in this world, then I would say they were made for you! (laughter again)
These problems were made so that you don’t get stuck and attached to this world. You get stuck with this world even though there are so many problems. Imagine if there are no problems, then you will never want to leave this material world! Correct?

Relax in the sound that you hear from within. We try to fight with that inner sound, we try and get rid of it. Don’t do that, instead relax with a calm mind in the sound.

For example, the people in Mumbai and Delhi who have homes near the main road, or in New York have a home by the highway hear the sound of heavy vehicles 24 hours in a day. If you go stay there for one night after having stayed in the ashram, neither will you be able to sleep nor will you be at peace, because here you have become so used to sleeping in an quiet peaceful environment. Every five minutes you hear the sharp noise of a vehicle passing by, and not just that, you feel the vibrations also, as if it passing right over your head. Since we are not used to these sounds we keep fighting with them.

In foreign countries, if you have your home near the highway or some main road, then it is very difficult to get some peace there. You lose all your serenity. If someone new goes to live in such a place, they become very uncomfortable and lose their sleep. Without sleep, your entire body becomes shaky and you feel fearful. But those who have been staying there since a long time become habituated to the noise, so they do not have a problem sleeping despite the noise. They sleep very easily, snoring away the whole time, because they have gotten used to it. The same is with the people in Mumbai. . Those who stay near the main road can hear a lot of noise in their house but since they have gotten used to it over time, they are not troubled by the noise.
Similarly a voice arises within us and we think we have some disease. We go to a psychiatrist who gives us a medicine which instead of resolving the problem creates another problem, making it worse than before. So all I am telling you, accept the subtle sound and relax in meditation.
Just imagine that you are gently soaking into the sound. Accept it lovingly and you will see that everything will change.