Take Refuge Of The Enlightened

You have to go from the form to the formless. If you jump only to the formless, that path is full of misery.
Lord Krishna said in the Gita, that there are people who worship the formless, but that path is full of pain and sorrow. You can see this yourself. Take Moses for example, his path has been very miserable and sad. Jesus - his life was so sad. Take the example of Mohammad Paigambar, he had to undergo so much pain and struggle, and the bloodiest part of history is his. It continued after him too, all his family members had a very painful and sorrowful state.

This is the reason why Buddha said, "Buddham sharanam gachhami", i.e., I go to Buddha for refuge. Buddha is the formless in the form.
Then he said, "Sangam sharanam gachhami", i.e., I surrender myself to the society and take refuge in the service of society.
And then he said, "Dhammam sharanam gachhami", i.e., I take refuge in the ultimate truth.
To get away from misery, Buddha said four things; recognise there is misery. There is a reason for the misery. It is possible to get out of misery. To get out of misery, take refuge in the enlightened or Buddha. Again, Buddha is the formless in the form.

Lord Krishna said the same thing, "Aham tvam sarvapapebhyo, mokshapapebhyo mokshayishyami ma sucah".
Lord Krishna very clearly said that those who worship the formless, their path is very tedious and full of misery. That is true.

Any worship is only for the formless, but the path through the form makes it joyful, easier and more perceivable for people. You may choose a path with rubble and a lot of potholes, or you may choose a nice road, a highway. This choice makes a difference.

There have been saints in almost every part of the world. If you go to California, every city is named after a saint. Go to Quebec in Montreal, it is all named after different saints. Of course, India tops the list.

It is like asking, why are the Alps in Switzerland? Why are there such big beautiful lakes in America? Why does the Niagara only have such big falls? That is how it is! Every land is gifted with something special. Geysers are found in Yellowstone Park. From ages, India has been the land of knowledge, wisdom, and enlightenment. Perhaps that is why today, when it comes to knowledge and IT, India has become number one, since it is a knowledge based industry. Perhaps, this land is more accustomed to knowledge. Higher wisdom or enlightenment is in the DNA of this land. But no part of the world is devoid of wisdom; go to China, Japan, there are many saints there.

Bhakti Yoga is more juicy, easy and much quicker to attain. This is the tendency of intelligent people, they want to do less and accomplish more.

I want to ask you a question; do gold and diamond have expiry dates? Do you think blessings are less than gold and diamond and yellow stones and metal? No way!

You cannot, because your body cannot do it all the time. You can’t eat the whole year’s food in two days, or one month. Every day, you have to eat only a certain amount. Similarly, in sadhana also, you can’t hurry up and do a lot of sadhana, then you will be what we call a blue star (here, at The Art of Living). A blue star is someone who is not grounded; someone who is out there!

Once, in the starting years of The Art of Living, a gentleman did the Sahaj Samadhi Meditation Program. He was a brilliant person; he found the program so great, he said, "I want to be enlightened today! I will not give up until I get enlightened!"
He would sit meditating for eight hours a day. He would go sit in the Ramakrishna Ashram in Delhi to meditate. He would sit there all day, and people had to push him out when it was time to close. Suddenly, he started thinking that he was Lord Hanuman. He went to the temple there and would say, "I am Hanuman, why are they worshipping this stone?"
You can imagine what would have happened? Twelve policemen had to take him away, and he landed up in hospital.

In those days, there were no cell phones. I was in Jhansi, and I was to go to Indore for a program. When I reached Jhansi railway station, I told people that we have to go to Delhi now. As I reached Delhi, the people there were so relieved as they didn’t know how to handle this boy.
Of course, he became normal, but what I am saying is that sadhana also has to be done progressively, step by step. You can do a little more when it comes to advance courses, maybe four or five in a year, but sitting the whole day in sadhana is not possible. The growth has to come gradually. One day, suddenly, you realise, :Wow, I am so changed. Nothing disturbs me anymore. I am happy; nothing can take away my happiness". This sort of wow comes to you when you look back at yourself.