Thus spoke Aghoreshwar on Character

Oh Seeker! Even in this world full of illusions, where you see the deeds of others, their shortcomings and virtues, don’t let your voice express an opinion. Virtues and good conduct are stable and everlasting. Few people find and keep them; fewer people tame them.

Never feel bad in your heart, thinking you were insulted, mistreated, or ridiculed.

Oh Seeker, are you afraid of circumstances? Become fearless, become quiet;
allow even the remnants of fear to dissipate without leaving a trace.

Go to your own refuge. Nothing can be found in someone else’s refuge.

How bright, how clean our future becomes when we clean our heart!

The truly wise ones see God and Guru everywhere. Their sight
is comprehensive. They achieve super-conscious ecstasy,
something that is very difficult to achieve.

A life of self-control provides happiness and peace.
A life of self-control generates great insight.

Do not become anything.
Just become human.

A Moment of Contemplation
by Baba Harihar Ramji

During Sunday morning Satsang at the Sonoma Ashram on April 22, 2007, Babaji addressed the gathering with the following words:

Dear Friends,

Welcome to another beautiful Sunday. What should we talk about today?

One of Baba’s sayings is, “Even a moment of contemplation is enough.”

True contemplation happens when we stop our usual way of being, when we take a step back and really look at ourselves without trying to justify a certain way of being or talk ourselves into what feels right. Just taking a moment to look at the bigger picture. What is the purpose of this life? What am I going to accomplish in this life? What am I aspiring for? What am I living for? How honest I am being with my Higher Self? Amazing things can happen in just a moment.

When we really start working with a teacher, the first thing to be addressed is our ego, the image we have of ourselves. Image is nothing but imagination, the way we think of ourselves. We project lots of our own thoughts and opinions on others and then we see ourselves that way. As Baba says, “You are not what you think you are.” When we begin to pay attention to that moment of contemplation, things become very clear.

It is said, “This body is filled with so many vices. It’s the mine of vices. Oh Seeker! Even after giving your head, if you find a Guru, it’s still a bargain.”

Guru is not somebody outside of ourselves. Guru is our own Higher Self, the one we come in contact with during that moment of contemplation. Guru is boundless, limitless, the Divine itself in us.

In order to come in touch with that Divine Self, the ego must be looked at. Whatever we think of ourselves is nothing but ego. There must be something that keeps our body healthy, that keeps us going and engaged in society. That’s necessary. But we keep carrying a lot more that is totally unnecessary. We keep imagining and we keep building on our imagination.

I remember the first time I went to India with Baba after having spent a very meaningful year with him in the States. It was important for me, but in those days, I was thinking that I was doing such essential work for Baba, and all the disciples in India were in praise of me. I had left my business for a whole year and was serving the Guru. I was so full of myself and feeling so important.

The first night, Baba called me and said, “Oh, where are you going to sleep?” I was totally convinced that I would have a room right next to Baba’s chief disciple. Baba said, “Well, when I came to this place, there was nothing here. You see that slab over there? That’s what I slept on. You sleep on that.”

That slab was just covered with all kinds of dust and dirt, there were mosquitoes, and there was no blanket. He said, “Oh you can get a couple of blankets from that man over there. I don’t know where else to put you.”

So I set my bags under the slab and tried to fall asleep. But being so used to the comfort of the States, I could not fall asleep. It was April. It was hot and muggy and the mosquitoes were biting. I would lie down, sit up, lie down, sit up, walk around … and then I noticed Baba’s window. He had a very clear view of that slab from his room. In the States we used to spend the night in Baba’s room taking care of him, but in India there were so many people. There was a line of people wanting to be with Baba, the old-timers, so that was not a place for me. I was forced to ask myself what else I should do.

It was a very good night of contemplation. It really made me stop and think, not about myself, but about all those people who had been in Baba’s service for so many months and years. It was time for them to go in his room and spend the night being of service.
Many things became very clear to me that night. Before, I was so concerned with my own self-importance. I was totally unaware other disciples’ needs and allowing space for them to come closer to the Guru.

When Baba asked me to sleep on that slab, at first I felt rejected, hurt and totally stripped down. But in the night, after I realized he had a clear vision of me from his room, there was a little comfort. I also remembered he had said that was the slab he slept on when he first came to the Ashram. He had also given me a little something to hold onto, some comfort, instead of saying I was not needed anymore.

The Guru knows where our weakness is and where we may need a little strength. Just that little interaction with Baba, those two sentences, were very meaningful for me to stop, and I was forced to stop.

I am telling you this because if we are working with a teacher, some sentences may be offered. We may react to them. Reacting is the first thing that happens. Notice how we try to justify our own way of being, our own way of thinking of ourselves, our own way of reacting to things. But if we are working on ourselves, if we truly want to learn, we should always go back to our own corner and stop. Look at it from a different perspective, a different angle. See how it makes sense. See how it is really needed for our growth.

This is what Baba means by “Even after giving your head, if you find a Guru, it’s still a bargain.” Head doesn’t mean you have to chop off your head. The real head is what keeps you in the same place where you are, the ego.

It is also important to pay attention to the company we keep. Not only the company of people, the company of thoughts. What kind of thoughts come to the mind during certain interactions or during certain moments of contemplation.

Pay attention to those thoughts. If they are inspiring thoughts, those are divine moments in our life. If those thoughts empower us and give us a glimpse of our Higher Self, those are divine moments. But if those thoughts bring about negativity, fear, guilt, resentment, or anger, we have to pay attention to them.

In the tradition I come from, love is the first thing that needs to be established. That is the first step. Until love has been established, it becomes very difficult to progress on the path.

How is love established? There are many ways. Sometimes miracles are performed so we are in awe and are ready to give up anything that is precious to us. We are in total surrender because of that awe, that miracle. Sometimes we cultivate love out of fear or temptation, or out of being able to get something. People give up their power for so many reasons.

But I’m not talking about giving up our power. I never gave my power to Baba. What I felt like, there was no two. There was no “other” to give my power to. I had total trust. That is the mystery of the word love. There is no two. In giving we receive, in receiving we give.

The wish of the one becomes a command for the other. And in following that command, there is no anger, no resentment and no fear. There is merging. The drop meets the ocean.

As long as we are thinking about ourselves, our own ego, our own way of being and seeing, we remain a “drop.” If we are aspiring to be the ocean, merging has to happen. The bubble of ego has to pop. Guru is not a body. Guru is a vision. Guru is the very life breath.

It is very important to stop, take a step back, take a nice deep breath, and contemplate our own wholeness, the purpose of life, what I am aspiring for, what I am living for, what I really want to accomplish in this lifetime and how honest I am truly being with my Self.

We have tremendous possibilities, tremendous abilities to really create whatever we want for ourselves and our society once we are ready to merge with the ocean.

OM TAT SAT