Be Empty

How do you feel? You said, “Much more practice is needed; I want to get more concentration”. Why is that? “Because the interest is there – there is a little taste, yes? But not for long enough. I want to go deeper for longer”.

I mean, you can just see, in this stage of your mind, oh how deep you have to go to have the real taste of the Real Self, isn’t it so? This is what you can feel now. Suppose, just to have a touch, you have been with me for five years continually, isn’t it so? Now you feel, yes, the taste which you have to have, that is only possible when you will have this real concentration. Suppose if you will have that concentration, what not you will feel then?

So concentration is essential - very, very essential. Just as you take an axe to chop a log, if you strike randomly – sometimes here, sometimes there, you know - you cannot break it into pieces. But if you hit right at the same place where you have hit before, and go on hitting in the same way in the same place, then it will soon be broken into pieces. This is how it is, you know - unless you concentrate on one point, you cannot get out of this mind. It is so strong - it is the strongest thing in the world or in this creation, to conquer which it is not a joke.

For that you must strive hard, and the only way to break down the mind is to concentrate. Use it – sit as much as you can. Nothing doing - for what are you here? To get That - to realize the Self.

When it is true that you are here, from London, you are here so far, such a long distance you have covered; and you left your family, your belongings, everything, your society – why? Just to get It. When you have done this much, I say it is not sufficient. Perhaps you were thinking before that this is sufficient - no. After that you came and you started hearing me, and you thought maybe this will be sufficient - no. The more you go, the more you need, see?

Then you thought, well, I have prescribed some book and I have prescribed some technique for practice, and all these things - and perhaps you thought, well, if I do for a couple of days, or weeks or months, then I will get it - no. This is not the point here. Lives together, you know, you have to sacrifice. And you have to stick up on one point. You don’t know when the blessing of God you will get. The day you will get it, you will get it, otherwise, go on doing.

So, Krishna has also said in the Bhagavad-Gita, you know, you are not supposed to think about the fruit, you are supposed to think about your own duty only - not of the fruit. Similarly, you practise here. When you will get – that is not your headache – it is the headache of the Supreme, or that is the headache of the guru or guide, what you say.

He wants to see how you are; whether you are doing correctly or not - this is what He wants to see. Once He sees, yes, you are to the point.... as I told you before also, like plaster of paris or a heap of clay – you ask an artist to make a model of a god – Lord Shiva, whatever it is, Christ, or whatever you want – your duty is to give. Now he will take that clay and see whether it is useful or not for what you want. So if not, he will add so many chemicals or other things and he will bang on it, he will take out all the dirt, whatever is there and he will make it perfectly ok.

He will test from his angle. It is not that it is to be tested from your angle – no. If you think ‘I am correct’, then you are wrong. It is up to his way of testing. If he sees, yes it is, then he will take that and he will make that model.

Similarly, you people under the guidance of certain people, you know, who really want to help you - they want to test that; they want to know whether you, the heap of clay or mud is fit or not. Likewise the God also sees whether you are the right one for that right thing, or not. Whether you deserve or not. That is, He will see. Unless you deserve, you will not have His blessing.

So, to get His blessing, we should deserve. So we should be prepared. Go on doing. Until you get His blessing, think that you are not to the point. So go ahead, go ahead, go ahead. This is how it is. Practise we must. Practice only is the life, nothing else. You know, we have practised since time unknown that ‘I am this, I am this, I am this”, so we have turned into this body now. Similarly we have to practise, ‘I am not this, I am not this, I am the Supreme’. Go ahead practising this way and one day it will so happen you are not to be affected - that is surrender. What is surrender? I am not this, and I am unto Thy Lotus Feet – of the Supreme. Means what? I am That, not this, isn’t it so?

So this is what you should develop, and you should develop in such a way that one day you will know, oh yes, I am really That.

Since time unknown, you have practised being called Mr. So-and-So. Now only you are fit and say ‘I am this’, isn’t it so? No need of doing anything now. If anybody calls you, you say ‘yes, I am’ whenever they call your name. You have not to do any japa or meditation on this body because you are so practised. So practised that the moment someone calls, you are ready. So this habit which you have been having since time unknown - well, you have to change the habit of being this into being That Supreme. You should think ‘I am That Supreme’.

How many years and how many centuries it will take, you don’t know that. It depends on your practice. The more you are strong to think about the Supreme, that ‘I am That’, the more you are getting near to Him. In the same way that you are called by somebody and answer, ‘Yes, I am’, in the same way you should develop your practice so much that anytime anybody calls the Real Self, you have to say, ‘Yes, I am That - what do you want?’ Like that, you know, you should be sure that I am That only - not this, nothing else. Or, whatever you see in this creation, which is within you - nothing but Myself.

There are two ways – either you see ‘I alone am existing, that alone ‘I’ is existing, One alone - or the whole thing is nothing but myself. Once you develop this practice, you will know that I alone am existing. What is this ‘I’? This whole creation is nothing but myself. This is how you will see. Throughout this whole world or entire creation, whatever you see, whatever form it is - it is yours. And if you will go just above this you will see, well, I alone am existing, nothing (separate) is existing there. Both are the same.

If something is existing, it is in Me. All the forms are nothing – it is all just imagination, you know, and in fact I alone am existing. As for example, you can see a lot of different designs in gold, but in fact what are all these designs? All these designs are nothing but the gold alone. Wherever you see a mark, within that mark also it is only gold existing.

Similarly the whole creation. Within this creation, whatever form you see, that form is nothing but you alone. If you analyse each and every part of the form, nothing is there except you. This you will see very clearly when you will come to that maturity of practice. Then you will like to stay as That, just as you are liking to stay in this body now, isn’t it so?

So you are That only. So what should we say?  Ordinary men - what will they think?  ‘Oh, he is a man of this body’ - but in fact you have no body. You are totally off from this body, and you are That. That you are. So people, they don’t understand, that is why they say, ‘Oh yes, he is Mr. So-and-So’. So this is how it is going. So this is just a mark, you know? A mark which covers You, the real - and this is how the world is going on. This is the play of the world, or of the Supreme, whatever you say.

So to reach that point, go on thinking, thinking, thinking - and this is what you think – ‘I am That, I am That’. Some say – some of the Rishis or sages, the wise people, realised persons, they have said, well, put this question in you, ‘Who am I?’ But I say, no, I am That! Instead of putting this question ‘Who am I?’ say ‘I am That, I am nothing else but I am That’. Be sure of that, stick up on this point and one day you will be That alone. You know? I am That, I am That, I am That – go on thinking of this. Nothing else. I am That alone. This is how you have to practice.

It is one and the same – ‘Who am I? – instead of putting the question like this, why don’t you say, ‘I am That’? - Same thing. To whom will you put this question when entirely you know you are not this? The whole world is not yourself and this body is not yourself – all coming and going - are not real, I mean. So people, they think that when I am not this, who am I?  Well, I say you have gone through so many scriptures, you have heard a lot of things from a lot of different people, including myself - it is true that this body is not yours, and it is true the Supreme alone is existing - that is only the Truth. So instead of putting this question, ‘Who am I’ – it is clear that only the One Supreme is existing. Then why do you have to ask?  I am That!  I am That Supreme alone, not this body.

You know?  Not even this thing you have to think that ‘I am not this body’ – why?  You have understood this thing that you are not this body, isn’t it so?  By talk, by hearing different people, by reading books, you have understood up to this time, that you are not this body, and it is true that everyone is saying the same thing. Then why should you have to put this question ‘I am not this, then who am I?’  So no need of putting this question. Instead of wasting time like this, what I say is ‘I am That. That Supreme alone’. You know?

Rise like this and stick up on that, that I am That alone. Go on thinking that I am the Supreme alone. To whomever you direct your practice, your deity – say I am that Deity. I am That. So one day it will so happen you will be That alone. Because you think that I am Mr. So-and-so all the time – that is why you are now in this form, and whenever somebody calls you, you say ‘Oh yes, I am’. When somebody calls you by your name from a distance, ‘Oh, Mr. So-and-So!’ – the moment they call, you say ‘Oh yes, Iam’.  How? Because you have practiced this way, that I am this. So when you can practise this way, why can’t you practice that way also? – That I am That Supreme? Develop this habit – thinking that I am That Supreme – so that whenever someone calls, you know, you are That.

So, whatever you think you will turn into that. So have a strong feeling. What people do, you know - the man who wants money, he always thinks of that, so he gets money. Isn’t it so? There is one saying – habit makes a man perfect. Practice or habit, it is one and the same. So develop that habit. It is nothing but imagination that I am here in this body. What is this body?  Nothing is here except you. When you can develop this habit to believe something that is nothing but imagination alone - which is not true in fact, and that untruth, the unreal, you can make solid with your practice - why can you not develop this habit for the Real?

Real is real - it is true - and so to develop this sort of practice or habit that ‘I am the Supreme which is real in reality’ – I think you don’t need as much effort or time as it has taken to make the unreal seem real!  Understand?  The unreal you have to imagine, and on that you have to stick up so much, then only it turns into ‘real’, isn’t it so?  But here, this is real all the time, so for this Real, what sort of effort do you have to make?  Not as much as you have made for this unreal. So I think you can come to this point very quickly because you are that Real, and that is the Truth. So develop this.

You have a bad habit say - of taking alcohol for example, eh?  And you so habituated to drinking that – you know now, the result you have seen – well, it is not good, is it? It is spoiling you, but you are in the clutch of your habit, such that you cannot stand to be without that drink – even knowingly, still you have to use it. Well, when you practice a little bit, you will know it is not good to say ‘I am’, but your habit is so strong that you cannot say ‘I am not this’.

So this is how it is with this body – with this life. Who are you, man? Nothing is here. When it is true there is nothing, why are you standing in this manner?  This is the habit. One day this body will be a headache for you, just like that alcohol. That you are thinking of this body, you know, oh, you can’t help it because you are so habituated to thinking this from time unknown, and to get rid of this, it is really a job. It requires time. The more you stick up in your real form, you know, Reality, the Truth - then gradually it will be off. Once it is off, it is off forever.

For this, practice is needed. Suppose here is a glass of tea, but you don’t want the tea in it. Maybe it is bad for your health and you want milk instead, so what you have to do, you have to throw out the tea, empty the glass and fill it with milk. The moment you pour out the tea, the glass will be empty, and then you can put the milk in it. Similarly, you have to throw out the idea, ‘I am here’ – this ego; pour out this ‘I am this body’ idea, and what happens, it is empty. So you have to be empty first. Nothing is there. The moment you are empty, this nectar, this milk, will gradually come within - will gradually come in you.

I have given you the example of milk – well, you can say, what if you want ether? You have not to fill up anything – automatically it is filled with ether the moment it is empty. Similarly, this Supreme who is omnipotent and omnipresent, you know, you don’t have to fill anything – it is there. The moment you are free, you are empty of this ego feeling, the Supreme is there. So empty you must be first. Just to be empty, what you have to do, just think ‘I am That alone’. “I am That Supreme alone, not this ego".

Suppose somebody wants to enter your room. If you pay them respect they will come in and disturb you, but if you don’t pay any attention to their coming or going, what happens? Sooner or later they won’t come to bother you. Similarly, develop so much in this practice thinking ‘I am That Supreme’ and don’t pay any attention, don’t give any chance to think about this body, this mind, this ego, whatever you say - whether this body is existing or not existing – don’t think about it. When you develop this kind of habit in you, what happens?  One day, automatically, just like an unwelcome visitor, this body, this mind - will go.

We give respect all the time, thinking, ‘Oh, something will happen to my body; oh, my body must not suffer this way; oh, I must have... etc. etc. See, every time from dawn to dusk you say ‘I, I, I, - my, my, my’ – this is how you are paying respect to your body, and because of that you are suffering. So give up this habit of saying ‘I, I. I, my, my’ – there is neither ‘I’ nor ‘my’ here, no – where is my ‘I’?  In Hindi, ‘mai’ means mother and ‘ai’ means ‘came’ so the ‘mother (of all) came’ – where did mother come? Nothing came here. ‘Ai-mai’ means ‘woman in Nepali – we are all created from woman, all this world – the cause of trouble - is created through her. The moment you will stick up like this and will not pay attention to this ‘I-my’, you are free. Forever you are free. This is how it is, you know.

Practise we must, so think ‘I am That, I am That, I am That’. Don’t say that this body, I am that - no, not this way - then always you are paying respect to this body again. No, ‘That’ alone is I – there is no body, I am not talking about the body - don’t make this mistake. These two ways are always open to you, but this is the wrong way. Forget this completely, this ‘I’, this ego. I, the Supreme, the Truth, Real in Reality, is alone I – is That. I am That alone - I, that Supreme, is myself. Nothing else here.

One has not to even think about ‘nothing else’. You understand?  When you go deeper, you don’t have to think about this ‘nothing else’ - why should you have to think about it?  When it is true that nothing is existing except you, why should you have to think about ‘nothing’?  When you say ‘nothing’, it means there is something again. This is another trouble. So I am That alone – like that, you know?  Don’t touch here and there. The moment you touch, this ‘I-my’ will give you trouble. If you say ‘nothing’, what is this ‘nothing’ then?  So don’t go here and there. Just That, That alone. Thou art That, That alone you be. No need of thinking - don’t think anything except this. I am That alone.

Stay here, where you are. This is how you have to develop your practice. The more you will develop this way, the more you will be sure of Yourself, and you will realize, you know? One day, what will happen? Nothing is there. Isn’t it so?  When you are not paying attention to anything, whatever comes on your way, what happens? One day it will so happen no-one will come. Nothing will happen there. You alone are there, and you are That alone.

Like that – suppose you are in your room and you are not paying any attention to sound, touch, smell - like this, nothing you are thinking.... For instance, when you sit for concentration, what happens, you think of Yourself, the Supreme, isn’t it so? When you are fully concentrated, see, you forget your body-consciousness also. Likewise you forget everything. Forget everything in this sense - you remember Yourself, You, the real Self. Stay there - nothing will come because nothing is there. Except you, nothing is there.

This is all your imagination. This is because of this ‘I-my’, you know. Everything is going on like this. The entire creation is because of this ‘I-my’. So this is all imagination. So when this imagination is not real, you know it is unreal – that is why it is coming and going, it is changing all the time – but You are unchangeable, the Truth, the Real in reality - so stay there. That is what we have to develop.

What is this practice?  You are habituated to imagining so many things, so just to wipe out this imagination we are applying another imagination. You have been asked to do this practice – this, that, think this, this, you know – this is all imagination, nothing else. Here is nothing. No practice. Who is going to do practice, for what?  Except You, when there is none, who is going to practise what?  Who is that man to speak and to guide you? There is none. No guide. If you think I am guiding you, no – here I alone am existing. Neither are you here to listen to me, you know?  Here is no disciple and no guru. Nothing of this sort. Here is no scripture, no God or Goddess. No creation entirely. You alone are there. So who is going to guide whom then?  And who is listening to whom then?  What is coming and what is going then?

Nothing coming, nothing going. Whether this world exists or doesn’t exist, you have nothing to do with it, because You alone are there. Everything is nothing but your imagination. This you will know clearly when you will know Yourself. That is the Truth. Oh, I am unchangeable. I am ever-free, the Truth alone. Never was there any creation in Me, nor is there any creation now, nor will there be any creation in future. Never, you know?

That Truth alone you have to remember. Think, practise, and stick up on That and automatically you will forget. If you are looking at me you won’t see anything behind you. Likewise, automatically leaving means you don’t have to leave. The moment you concentrate on me, automatically everything will not be seen. Everything will disappear from you because you are concentrating here. You are not concentrating on Me, and that is why you are seeing different things. This is how it is. The moment you concentrate on Yourself, nothing will be there.

If you are losing your concentration on that Truth, then that is why you are seeing so many things. This is how the mind moves, you know - you see the world if it is not concentrated or if it is concentrated, you will see Yourself clearly. This is the Truth here. Either this scale or that scale. With these two things the mind is seeing and functioning but you have developed seeing only one side, this world, and you are tired of this, so now you have to develop the other side. So see this thing, but when you will be habituated, what happens, you will know, then you will see that the mind also is not there because mind also is an imaginary thing.

Once you will see – oh!  But first you have to develop seeing the Supreme, this is what I said - concentration. Once you develop this habit of seeing Yourself, what happens, you will be concentrated so much that your mind will be dissolved – because it is also not true. In front of the light, darkness cannot stand. Likewise, in front of the real Self or Reality, the Truth – this unreal imaginary mind cannot exist; it will have no existence. It was never, so it will never be. This is how it is.

So what happens, then you will see there is no mind through which you will see this world, and there is no mind through which you will see yourself, because You Yourself is there because mind does not exist. So You alone will remain, the Truth alone will remain, you know, the untruth, everything will be finished forever. It wasn’t there, it is not there, it will not be there. So what remains then?  You alone remain. That is the Truth.

This is how we should practise. Now this mind which is bending towards the world, which is imagining so many things – instead of thinking of this body, the world and creation, we have to develop our practice to bend towards the Truth. Once our mind is bent towards the Truth, it so happens, you know, that this mind also will be finished – because it is nothing but imagination - and the Truth alone will remain, isn’t that so?

Tapescript – 11 March 1977

So today we will talk about a house – the Real House. This is one apartment, say, this is a hall or a room, whatever you say, - of My house which is made out of Myself. It is a very big house – very, very big. It is so big, bigger than this house there is nothing – never it was, never it is and never it will be. This is My house made out of Myself.

In fact there are no apartments, but according to people’s imagination they have made lots and lots of apartments in this big house where people of different ideas are staying. According to their brain, they are enjoying this house.

You see what is going on in this world – at different times different things are going on. The sun and moon are playing with the time. The stars shine only at night. You see this sky by which the world is covered - the sky is enjoying this way. In the same way this air, you see it is moving and is giving service to the people and all the creatures – this is how the air is serving. Without air, you know, it is hard to survive. Without heat, it is hard for people to stand. Without water, people cannot exist. So where to exist? Ask this thing. All the individuals are making their small, beautiful houses upon the earth. This is how the elements are serving. In the same way, people are also here to serve human beings, creatures and all.

This is My house. According to their imagination, people see that some are suffering with disease and having this idea, they want to help – with medicine. Some they see are orphaned and they want to help them. So these sorts of social, religious, economic etc. services are there – hundreds and thousands of services are there – according to their imagination. But whatever they see, it is nothing but Myself in those forms.

And how am I serving them? As a diseased one. Let’s talk about a person who is suffering from disease. The diseased person is myself and the disease is Myself. The preventer is Myself and the curative method is Myself. The whole thing is myself. Likewise, whatever you see in this creation, the game of creation, is going on within Myself, in this ‘house’, from all angles. I am; alone I am presenting and playing the game. This is how I am serving.

Now the real point to understand about my house – this big and biggest, what I said you know, biggest house – inside which these sorts of games are going on – is that this is because of ignorance. This body is there, and ignorance is dwelling inside and enjoying the different apartments, each according to their feeling. This game of ignorance has been here since time unknown and will continue for them as long as ignorance is there.

This veil of ignorance is really a mystery – which I am. To understand this, those who really want to understand what it is, have to dedicate their life with firm conviction, full determination and sincere devotion – through which they will develop pure meditation. The maturity of that meditation will help to bring them to nirvikalpa samadhi where they will understand, they will understand this thing.

This is the place where I am, ever unchanged, the fountain of all sources where all the games are coming, people are enjoying and it is all going on along with time. But in fact the ‘house’ is the same all through the centuries or cycles of birth, existence and death. The secret of this house will be known by them who reach this point, this way. This is the only way through which they can root out the ignorance which is not, in fact, really existing - nor anything you see. This is what we say – revealing - and he will understand, ‘Oh, I alone am the game, the enjoyer of the game, and the real playmate. Except Me there is none’.

This house itself is playing – if it is playing – otherwise it is not. So many things came, stayed here and went. Where did they go?  It is all within this house. And so many will come in future also - and that will take place only in this house – not outside. There is no outside of this house – this is such a big house. Whether things are coming or not coming; whether anything is remaining or not remaining; whether changing or not changing – it takes place only in this ‘house’. And that house has nothing to do - see the mystery of this house! So many things are going on – disasters are there, you know? Construction is going on, birth is taking place - yet the house is not doing anything at all - although everything is going on within the house. This is the real nature of the ‘house’.

As long as this avidya, this delusion, is with us, it is impossible to get rid of this ignorance. To get rid of it we should strive hard in our meditation, with full faith, and go beyond this body and this ego-consciousness. There I am. Reach to that height where you see ‘Oh, everything that is going on, it is in Me. And these things that are going on are nothing but Myself, that ‘house’ alone'.

Such is the go of this game. This is a very interesting house. It is not I alone am that house – it is everything, every creature’s – is that house alone – provided he can understand Himself – that house. To approach that height, we should discriminate between that which is real and unreal, and thus go to the real. Moving with full patience, one day it will so happen that we will reach where we have to, to that house where all the incarnations, the realized ones, the yogis and gyanis – they reached and called us – called upon us and said, ‘Look, don’t be puzzled – you are the same as I am’.

This house is all the time announcing, ‘You are the same as what I am’ - but forget your ignorance – give up that. The moment you are free from this ignorance, you are Myself and you will understand what I am saying. Otherwise this is another mystery – ‘Although he is saying he is within all the creatures, in and out, yet we cannot understand him. He is announcing that as well as being in and out of us all, he is everywhere and all-pervading, but even then, we cannot understand’. Why? Because of this ignorance.

This ignorance has caused a lot of hindrances, a lot of trouble, pain, gain, loss – all sorts of things – and all the time, throughout our whole life and the life of all the creatures, there is suffering. See, I, that house, says ‘I am that house', and similarly all of you, all the creatures say ‘Yes, I am’, Is it not so? Just as that house claims that ‘I am’, the same ‘I’ is vibrating through all, but because of ignorance they think, ‘I am such-and-such creature, I am such-and-such’, and they cannot understand that real ‘I’ which is hidden within. This is the great game going on here.

So this ignorance, this dilemma, is the cause of birth and death. You are not the person to die. Nobody has to die. Nobody has to take birth. It is a real fact. This is the truth I am telling you. But if I speak to the general people, they will say, ‘Here is one more crazy man, standing in this world, saying that there is no more death and birth’. I say to all of you, my friends, if you will minutely observe what I say and try to understand my words, you will get their result as I have said, and one day you will also speak as I am speaking now, that there is no birth or death.

Death and birth, if it is there, that is also Myself, so to whom?  To whom this light and darkness?  To whom this gain and loss?  To whom this earth and sky, this awakening and sleeping, this dawn and dusk?  It is for the ignorant people. To whom this pleasure and pain?  It is for the ignorant people. He is dreaming. My friends are dreaming. They are enjoying, they say, in this dreamland. They are suffering, they say, in this dreamland. They are playing, they say, in this dreamland. That is why there is night and day. In fact, when you will wake up, you will see there is no dream; there is no trace of dream, - you alone are existing.

Thus the go of this world, this dream, is going on – to those who are intoxicated by sleep – and that intoxication is nothing but your ignorance. So rise above this. Awake! You will see that you alone are existing and the whole thing is nothing but yourself, and there is nothing but yourself. You are that Pure Consciousness, the Supreme alone. The master of all the masters, the king of all the kings, the god among all the gods.

That is My house, and That I am. This is what we have to understand, and this is the fact. All the time be conscious of Yourself. Remain in that Consciousness alone – because you are that Consciousness alone. So whatever you see within Yourself that is going on – the whole creation is taking place in You. It is, but it has got no effect on You. It comes and goes. As the sun comes and goes, as the moon comes and goes, as the year comes and goes – you know, it is coming and going.

You can say, ‘Yesterday I have seen, I have done such-and-such a thing’ – but you cannot show. Similarly, the days are passing, the months are passing, the years are passing, you know? The centuries are passing. What happened?  Where have they gone?  There is no trace. What is this?  If it is real, there should be something to show – but there isn’t. Thus it is coming and going. These are all illusory things. So this is nothing but a dream. In dream also you see a lot of things coming and going. You can say but you cannot show.

So this is nothing but the dream of a one who is sleeping, and this is also a world for the ignorant. The ignorant one alone is seeing the world – not the awakened one. So you are the awakened one – you are that real waking person – that awakened state is yours. You are That. Then why are you thinking about your dreamland body?  Don’t cling to that dreamy body. You are afraid of dying because you have not understood what you are. You think, ‘If I give up this body, I will not be surviving’. This is what you imagine. I said ‘give up’ – not in a wrong way, you know, but in the right way, if you know how to give up this body-consciousness and this ego-consciousness, you will know, oh, you are existing.

The moment you come out of this ego-consciousness, what happens, you realize the Supreme Self which you are, the Truth alone. That house alone is Yourself. Oh, whatever is going on in this game, it is a game – and whatever game it is, it is nothing else but Myself. So I alone am there – whether these games are going on or not going on, whether they have got some importance or not for me, - I have nothing to do with it – nothing at all.

I am ever pure. For Me there is no death. Death and birth is for the body and that also only up to that time that ‘I’, this ego exists and sees that the body is existing. Not to Me, which is beyond this ego. To Me there is no death. I am immortal. I am the life of all yet completely free from all forever.

This is what is this house – or that ‘I’ which is existing in all as one ‘I’.  Everybody says ‘I’, ‘I’ - everybody sees ‘I’ – but that ‘I’ is nothing but one ‘I’.  So that one ‘I’, the Real – whatever the people say, whatever they speak – see, the sound comes out of the mouth and disappears in the ether. Likewise the whole thing, whatever is coming from the people, this ‘I’ that all are shouting – that ‘I’ disappears in the ether.  What is this ether?  It is nothing but Myself, but I am not this ether.  Even if you could question this ether, it would say ‘I’.  You know, the master of all the masters, that Supreme alone, that Real ‘I’ is the cause of all the ‘I’s - all things are coming from Him; all things go into Him – yet He is beyond both coming and going. This is the real nature of this house – which belongs to everybody.

Tapescript continued – 11 March 1977

So I have said what I am, yes?  But yet you are still putting this question, ‘What am I?’ Isn’t it so?  So what am I?  Look at the difference between you with your thinking, and I, as I have already described, and my thinking.

Well, from this bodily point of view, we appear to be the same, but I am the biggest house – which I have understood, whereas in your case, you feel you are just a small hut. This hut is also within that biggest house, and that biggest house alone is this hut, but because of your ignorance, you are not understanding ‘What I am’. That is why you are asking, ‘What am I?’

The moment you or anybody puts this question, ‘What am I?’ it is clear that you have been intoxicated with ignorance. This layer of ignorance is in you, otherwise there is no question to ask. That is why I have said you are nothing but a small hut – a very tiny hut. Each individual, all the creatures, are symbolised by this small hut because they think that ‘This is what I am’. They believe that ‘I am this body alone, nothing else’ – which is made of flesh, bone, blood, skin etc. This is the hut. A thatched hut – anytime it can catch fire, anytime it can be damaged, and it can be destroyed. It has got no guarantee. It is but natural – a lot of people came and left – they have been destroyed physically.

So this is the construction of the hut. This is how the different structures are coming up every day, every minute, every second, you know, and passing by.  Just stop and think, just now, how many people, human beings and other creatures, have been destroyed right now, at this time. If we were to collect the data, we would see that hundreds of thousands of people are going from this world at this very moment. And how many people are coming?  In the same way hundreds of thousands of people are coming up. So every day, this is what is going on. It is routine work, you know.

Every fraction of a second, everything is coming and going. As we are here, before we were not, and after a certain time also we will not be here. This is how this game of life, of this hut, is moving on.  As time passes, it turns from young to old - every time it is moving towards the mouth of death. All the creatures are moving this way.

Now we have to see, in this small hut, this body - so many things are here. The heart is here, eyes are here, brain is here – isn’t it so?  The hearing power we have, smelling power we have, touching power we have, looking power we have – the blood vessels are working, the nervous system is there; the digestive system is working automatically. Like that, you know, all the systems are working, and to this we say ‘This is my body’ – but we don’t know how it is working. All these things are set up nicely in their different places, just where they have to be, isn’t it? The eyebrows are just above the eyes; the nose where it has to be, the mouth – see how nicely it has been constructed.

We are proud of this body and say ‘This is my body’, but we don’t know how it is functioning. Who has created it? We have no idea, and yet we say ‘This is mine’, 'This is me'. Hundreds of thousands of hairs are on our bodies. How is it going on?  See the mystery – yet we say ‘It is mine’. How this mystery is going on, we don’t know. Similarly in this whole creation, exactly the same mystery is going on – and it is taking place in Me.

If you want to know each and every mystery, well it is not possible - simply not possible.  My maya is very vast. With this body alone you can understand it is really vast, isn’t it so?  Look at this brain-work – the brain cabin. If you just want  to study this it may take hundreds and hundreds of thousands of years to understand what it is, which part is working which way and so on. Like that, this world is also full of mystery.  So many things are coming and going.

So the seers and sages wanted to understand and studied – they tried their level best to find everything out - but finally they came to the conclusion, well, it is of no use. If you start trying to find out all these things and want to understand every detail – it is impossible. One after another, there are so many things which it is not possible to understand completely and no-one has understood it all as yet – this mysterious game. So they said, ‘Forget it – because it is not permanent, you know’.  As I told you, such houses – every fraction of a second they are coming and going – so which house do you want to understand? Well, even after understanding, in what way will you be benefitted?  No way. Useless.

So our rishis, the gyanis, the yogis, they said, ‘Look my friend, oh don’t try to understand this mystery – you will not be benefitted. Instead of wasting your time to find out these things, it is better to try to find out yourself'. The Self which is permanent - which is pure, which is Real in Reality, immutable – that is the only thing that you have to find out. The moment you will understand yourself, the Self, you will understand everything. You will understand not only your Self, the Truth - you will understand what this mystery is. So instead of wasting your time for nothing in search of this illusory hypnotism, you can say in one way, you know - you had better utilize your valuable time in seach of You, the Real.

Now, to understand this – ‘What am I?’  You know you are not this body. I mean, you are not your head. This is your head, this is your body - not you, the head or you, the body. So with this it is clear you are not this body. This body belongs to you, so ‘you’ are definitely separate from this body, isn’t it so? Then ‘What am I, then?’  If I am not this body – when it is clear that I am not this body – then what am I?

The moment you move this way, you will see, gradually going deeper and deeper and deeper within yourself – when you keep on putting this question – I am not this earth, I am not this water, I am not this air, I am not this sky, the ether - I am not this mind, I am not this intellect, I am not this ego – then what?  Go on putting this question to yourself – who am I?  Who am I?  Who am I?  You know, like that. The more you go deeper with help of your practice – as you move on, putting this sort of question – one day it will so happen, you will come to that Truth – that real Truth, where your question will have its end.

From there you will understand, ‘I am not a small hut, but I am the biggest house’ – about which I have told you before. I am that house and that house is nothing but Myself. And the whole world, the entire universe, the creation – is nothing but Myself. And this maya, this mystery, is nothing but myself.  How is this moving?  How have I played with these things?  Well, it will be very clear to you – that this game is nothing, nothing at all. I alone is existing. I am that hut, inside that hut is also I, and each and every particle of that hut is Myself. All the brain cells are Myself; the blood cells are Myself; the nerve cells are Myself - you know? Whatever cell you see in this body is Myself, and everything which is made out of these cells is Myself – you know? And being separate from these cells is also Myself because I understand that I have lost this house orI have gained this house – this gain and loss, who is understanding? I am understanding – so you know, I am totally separate from loss and gain. Gain is Myself, loss is Myself, and separate from this loss and gain – also is Myself. You will understand this thing very clearly.

So this gain and loss, this pleasure and pain – it is going on in Me, but for Me, the Real, there is nothing to do, nothing wrong. Whether something comes – whether this pain comes or this pleasure comes – it comes to this hut, not to Me. I have not been affected. I will not be affected. I am as I am. I am Truth alone. This you will know – knowing which you will be ever happy, because you are the real happiness. Knowing which, you will be the purest pure, because you are the real purity. Knowing which, there is no coming and going in you, because you are unchangeable – immutable. Such is the function of the I.

So forget this hut! Rise above this hut!  As you, in this bodily form, are just a small hut, similarly this world also is just a small hut – this universe is just a small hut, and the whole of creation is nothing but a small hut – in front of Me, the Real - because it has no existence – it is coming and going.  So this entire creation is nothing but a small hut – and that too is a dreamy hut, you know, which you see in a dream.  In You, no creation is going on – nothing of that sort is going on, if really I have to speak - and even if creation is going on, if somebody sees, or is coming and going – well, I have nothing to do with that. This is totally separate than what you are.

So You alone are existing. That also, just to convince you people I am saying – you alone are existing - well, I have not to speak. To whom will I speak?  Because except Me there is none. I alone am existing. To whom should I say, well, ‘You are existing’?  or ’You alone is existing’?  To whom shall I say?  But just to convince you, to make you understand, I am speaking this way.  Whether I am speaking or not speaking, you know, I am what I am. You understand?  As I am explaining this thing to you people, or if I keep mum – it is one and the same for Me – there is no change in Me.

Nothing is going on here – that is the Real House. Forget this idea of hut – because you are the master of all these huts, the Real House. You understand?  So with this feeling that 'I am this hut’ – you are bound. To be liberated you have to get out of this bondage, and the moment you get out of this bondage, you are liberated – liberated you are, definitely. This is your feeling, this is your ignorance that is making you bound. The moment your ignorance is gone, liberated you are!  You are the Real; only your feeling, your ignorance - your egoistic feeling, I mean - is making you feel you are in the clutch of maya, of problems, and this and that pain and pleasure, you know. You feel it, but in fact it is not so. This is how it is going on, so get out of this body consciousness. The moment you are out, you are free, you are liberated. You understand?

This is life. This is god-realisation. This is the reply to your question, ‘What am I?’ In fact no-one has to give you a reply. You are the only person to put this question because of ignorance, and you are the only person to reply to yourself – because you are the Real in Reality.  There is no-one to reply to you. Who will reply? Are you not the same one – because you alone are existing – then who is replying?  No need of replying, because you are free. ‘Honey is sweet’ – we have to say to those who have not tasted it, and we have to explain so many things, this and that, to those who want to taste it – but once they have tasted, they can explain everything about it if they want to. Isn’t it so?  This is how it is. You are That.

It may be very strange to you people – ‘Oh, what is this man saying?  Incredible!  He is giving a wonderful talk!’  It is not wonderful - I am not wonderful.  You are wonderful.  The moment you realise - the moment you understand yourself – you will be wonderful to those who have not understood themselves. This is how it is going on.  Because of this ignorance, you know, we think this is wonderful. In fact nothing is wonderful – or if anything is wonderful, it is That Supreme alone. You, the Supreme, is the only thing wonderful.