BED CROW
Page Fourteen
QUASAR TWO
Passe-Partout
Now it’s time to listen to me again. Hope you are fresh. Listen, everybody wants to have remuneration in return for their effort. In the field, farmers use their physical and mental strength in the expectation that their skill and hard labour will yield a crop in time. Businessmen trade, service-providers serve and labourers toil to get back something in terms of goods or money. Thus everyone works to get something back. This is the go of the world. This give and take business is going on everywhere. We apply this attitude in our dealings with everything that comes our way, just as we look after our clothes so that they will provide good service and present us well in society. In the same way, we pay respect to our gods and goddesses and worship God in different forms through meditation and prayer etc. - either to get worldly things or else to get salvation for our souls in return.
So I would like you and all sincere devotees to note this important point. Do you know why people want to respect God and follow the religious rituals prescribed by their priests or teachers? It is because they think they will get what they want - the objects of their desire. Now the point is, how many have really been benefited thereby and where is the data to support the rate of success? Whatever may be your or others' experience, I am not so concerned about this because I have something more important to say.
Generally, when people go to worship at the temple, shrine, church or mosque, they pray with folded hands or outstretched palms and bow to their particular deity - and as they do so, they normally close their eyes. This indicates that one must look within and not pay any attention to outer things - one should not be extroverted at all. The ego should not move toward anything outside, nor should any other objects come within because the ego is trying to search for and have connection with the Truth. Today, ego is prepared to receive its beloved Lord, to surrender totally to its chosen deity. Thus to get that best of things, Thee Most Precious One, the ego is ready to cut off all the attachment and relationship that it has with the world when the eyes are open. Whatever objects and thoughts that come within also, the ego doesn’t want to see them - it wants to remain free and unattached.
Now, without any objects either outside or within, it is completely empty. This emptiness is the state of the omnipresent God that is equally equal with all. This voidness is Mind - this Mind is peace - and peace is God. When God is there, everything is there. Now the question is this - when emptiness is seen, have you realised God? No, not yet - but I tell you, it is a wonderful achievement. You are definitely on the right track, but sorry, you have not yet reached the final target - you have not yet realised Truth, the Supreme Lord of All, the one Almighty God. To get there, more practice is needed, so go on practising ‘Be Empty’ or ‘Remain Empty’ as much as you can, as long as ego, that one who says they are seeing emptiness, is there.
Empty means there should be none - nothing else except the real emptiness, this real voidness, this Truth. So, get rid of this ego that says it sees the emptiness. This is the only means - the correct means. *BE EMPTY*. So remain empty as much as you can and develop this habit to the maximum in you. When this habit to be empty has fully matured, One Single Voidness - which is beyond expression - will be realised as it is. This you will see without eyes and without realiser. This is known as the transcendental stage - this is eternal Truth - your God and the God of all. There you will realise that you, me, and all objects, including the entire creation are nothing but one God of none - Thee Truth. There, you will feel there is no pain or pleasure in you at any time. Whether there is any creation, preservation or dissolution, you have no concern with any of this - because you are always as you are, One Single Lord.
This I am telling you from my own experience. Practically speaking, this is what I am, whether you believe me or not - it’s up to you. I have nothing to say about that. Now do as you like, I have told the truth. This is the only truth. This is the only ultimate goal of all, of all the creatures and all creations.
But those poor ignorant people who are lost inside the ego’s trick - when their priests, prophets and other teachers are not neat and clear, I don’t see how their followers can be clear either. If your teacher doesn’t know everything from A to Z, what can you expect to learn from them? They will teach you what they know, that’s all. Everyone does the same, so where is their mistake? In fact there’s nothing wrong with them or anything else in this creation, and in My eyes also, no-one is wrong and no-one is right because there is never any right or wrong in Me. I am beyond all, One Alone. But in the eyes of creation there has always been wrong and right from the very beginning - this is how it is over here. It is not the fault of the teachers or their ancestors or predecessors who taught them this way - but it is the play of an ego that began at the very beginning when they first entered creation in this form.
Defect is defect, after all, so I will tell you where the fault lies. Just one mistake - one mistake will take you from immortality to mortality, from truth to delusion. The consequence of that one mistake will take you from heaven to hell. It is due to only one blunder that you are lost inside this creation and searching for liberation. One mistake, even a negligible and accidental one - but see the result! The addition of one small zero creates havoc in a calculation because it has the highest value. Similarly I see so many people following mistaken teachings - sometimes for their whole life - but there is no peace, and due to ego they fight amongst themselves. Apart from the realised ones who are very few in number, everyone is lost inside their mental dark-room. They are fully covered by their strong ego.
From this mistaken standpoint, most preachers teach their followers this way: “Have control over your mind. You should not think of any objects. If your mind thinks or goes out somewhere in search of objects, bring it back and focus on that which I have prescribed for you - your chosen deity, light, sound, zero, cipher, dot or any other image. Don’t let your mind jump around”. Thus they say on the one hand not to hold on to any object, while on the other, they tell you to focus on one image, deity or concept, and to meditate on that. Such teachers are manipulating and making fools of everyone in the name of God. Is this not a business trick in the name of God? People even pay money, thinking to be made ‘sin-free’ - as if money can wash out all sorts of sin! Is this not exploitation? Is it not a crime? If this is not a business then what is it? There are many instances in this world where such egotistical, business-motivated teachers are making fools of people and sucking their blood in the name of God.
Enough about them - now let me make my point. Do such people claim that the image of a cipher or any concept of God with or without form is not an object? They may say perhaps, that God cannot be an object and that holding such an image in your mind does not make it an object. Others, playing the role of religious or spiritual teachers and proclaiming themselves to be God-realised souls, may insist that you believe and follow them blindly or there will be no progress or salvation without their blessing. Many such egotistical people wear this mask of a spiritual teacher in the different religions of the world, but having propagated themselves as such, such hypocrites are incapable of correcting themselves for fear of losing face - not to mention prestige and business - so they don’t like to hear about the death of ego, let alone face it themselves in practice. Such teachers and their followers seek to possess God, business, prestige and conquer death - all through an easy means, but they remain in ignorance, enjoying their own polluted ideas and producing many new desires to satisfy their ego.
In my eyes, all images are objects and nothing but objects. An object is always an object, whether within the mind or outside it. In the same way, an image is an image, whether of cipher or a chosen deity. So I ask you, why should you think of any object when objects are not required at any time or any place? You have to go beyond all objects, so give them all up, totally. Those teachers are teaching what they know, but it is not the correct spiritual teaching. Definitely one will not realise truth through their means. Their teaching may be useful to give life to the ego, but it is certainly not helpful for spiritual enlightenment.
Now, know that Mind, which is neat by nature at all times, gets polluted with latent impressions which are created by the continual reproduction of images and thinking about them. As long as such repetition is taking place, the mind will not get the chance to be clean, as it is. Mind should not be disturbed by any objects, but of course it is but natural that in that mental space, objects in different forms may come, stay and go. But you, the ego who are seeing such activity in the field of the mind, must not be affected or have any attachment to them. Ego should look at the (empty) Mind all the time - develop this habit gradually, and also look back to see whether any of these objects are affecting you or not. When the ego is less affected by objects and more attached to the Mind, it shows that practical improvement is there, but this must be developed more and more until the ego has its end for ever.
If there is no improvement in your practice, it means that your attachment toward objects is too strong. Then the ego must tighten its relation to the Mind alone and its being empty and detached. Thus, being detached, the ego should develop its habit to remain neat and clean, just like the clear, empty Mind. Mind is an empty space, so let that emptiness remain as it is. Don’t think or imagine that mind can be contaminated by any worldly objects or you, the ego, at any time. Ego, which is nothing more than an illusory cover, a symbol of this creation, will always be pleading on behalf of objects, but instead, it should not welcome them, nor keep a single object in the mind. If it does make such a blunder it may think it is being wise, loading up and polluting the mind, but in fact ego is chopping itself - chop-chop. Ego will ruin itself with such imaginary thinking and action because its activities will never affect the mind. For Mind is ever pure, it is Eternal Truth, and it has nothing to do with ego and its support in all the objects of this entire creation.
Remember! Ego has no existence at any time in the eyes of Mind, and thus can do no wrong to it. Thus it is much better on the part of ego not to play with such imaginary thinking that it can affect the Mind. Product of illusion, ego can never triumph over Mind in the war of truth. Mind is Truth. Mind is Real. Mind is eternal emptiness, so why try to create problems where there can be none? The best thing for the ego is to remain empty as the Mind is. Mind is nothing, so let nothingness remain as it is. Nothingness requires nothing, so let ego remain empty and enjoy emptiness - Thee Eternal Truth for ever.
Ego has worked hard since the very beginning of your life, constantly, twenty-four hours a day without any rest or break, so let it have a rest, a break - let it relax completely and develop the habit not to indulge in such mischievous functions any more. Let it change its habit from objects to the Mind. Let it be empty for ever, then you can say it is stainless, it is pure, it is empty Mind, it is Truth and God. Such practice will help the ego change itself into Mind, and when the ego and Mind are one completely, then ego will be no more. All the objects, this world and the entire creation will collapse along with ego for ever. This state is known as ecstasy. Once ego stops supporting objects they will have their end for good, for all. I know it is difficult to change immediately, so develop this habit to remain empty as Mind is, slowly. There is no alternative, no other way.
Now, when you feel completely empty, one single Mind alone, do you mean to say you are emancipated? No, not yet! Go beyond this feeling, and then you will be forever liberated. This is how Truth, the Real Self, this Eternal Voidness is realised and remains immortal for ever. This is trance - this is eternal peace, God, tranquillity and all. This is what it is, the space of all incarnations, the goal of all aspirants and the life of all creation. This is the beginning and end of all. This is “BED CROW”.
Attention please! You know that all these external and internal objects are nothing but hallucination, nothing but imagination, because this is the land of dream and the state of your own unreal ego. This delusion is only the projection of your ego, so it is no more than an unreal mirage. Thus it disappears automatically without doing anything and without any effort. This vast creation is just an illusion. It is like a lump of ice made of water. It is ice only when the water is kept frozen, but once you leave it in a normal temperature it returns to its original form. Water is always water, whether liquid or frozen - it is naturally colourless, but as ice it appears white. As ice loses its hardness and rigidity, it loses its shape, colour and size automatically.
So it is with the ego. You don’t have to do anything. You don’t have to make any effort - just take the ego out of objects to the Mind and it will turn automatically into Mind, its original state. Through attachment, water has been forced to become ice. When this force is removed it will remain in its normal condition. So don’t try to force it - don’t snatch its freedom. Don’t disturb its natural state - don’t try to deform it or destroy its natural form, its miraculous shape. Don’t exploit its reality - it is a crime to do so.
You are here to be free, so be free and let others be free also. Disturbance is creation, it is death, it produces pleasure and pain and is the cause of trouble. It is ignorance and delusion, and thus the combination of all these is ego, you and your physical form, all creatures and the entire creation. Whatever objects you see here are all like that lump of ice, therefore, let the water (Mind) remain as it is. Remove your power - remove your attachment. Release this water from your hold because it is not needed - you are not needed here.
Let the Mind remain empty as it is, just like the water. Ego has no right to disturb it, so let it remain empty, and this habit will take you to your original place, Mind - the eternal emptiness, Thee Truth. When you are free from worldly attachment, habituated to be empty completely and one with Mind, you are Mind alone. Thus you will realise eternal truth after giving up ego for ever. Your give and take business will be over and the mystic play of this creation will have its end. Then you will realise that all objects including you, this world, the planets and the countless universes in this creation, are all in You. They are all coming, staying and going in You, and are none else than you Yourself. This whole mystic play is You, the Pure Self, one single TRUTH. Then only will you enjoy understand my forty-five teachings correctly in the 'Context' which is here inside this book ‘BED CROW’.
You are all, my friends, requested to come back to your sweet eternal home. I have told you how - I have given you the right directions, and I am leaving this guide-book ‘BED CROW’ for all of you. If you need, you can make use of it, but please don’t follow anyone, not even me - there is no need to either. Follow your own practice and realise the truth. This is my sincere advice to you because apart from You, the Real One Single Truth, there is nothing here or beyond, that’s all.
Thank you very much for attending to me patiently and with keen interest from the beginning. Now let me say goodbye to all of you at the end. Goodbye, and best of luck.
- OM -