THE TRUTH WITHIN
by Dadaji
edited by Ann Mills
FREE download of book

Part II
Do Your Duty

"You do and enjoy everything as you like, but your only duty is to remember Him. You will see, nothing will affect you. Try to act your role in the drama on this stage of the world perfectly."

27 Relationships: Perform Your Duty and Remember Him

28 Your Body is the Temple of the Supreme

29 Your Senses are for Tasting His Love

All are equal. No one is a relative or a stranger. All are He. All are pervaded by Him.

Satyanarayan is a terrific matchmaker. He, indeed, is your destiny. But, don't you lapse into despoiling Him. Your Dada claims no credit for it. But, he does enjoy your love for each other through Him. Enjoy life together, enshrining Him in your heart. Make Him the Master of your nice house.

One wishes to tightly embrace the Beloved. Through love the two become truly One. One then embraces his or her own near and dear person. Is there any joy in embracing one who is not near and dear? Only by embracing those close to us does joy arise. Love must be present there. If one can love properly, the entire experience is centered inside oneself. That is the Soul-centered state. If you separate and do not want to embrace, that is not love. Will you embrace the body when it is dead or will you make arrangements to take it to the crematorium? You embrace within yourself only Him, Who resides within the body. Then shall you see, all will become One. That indeed is Supreme Joy beyond the body, although sheltering the body. That is Love, where with one intention, one wish, there is complete merging with Him. How can there be an occasion for separation?

Getting married, setting up household is not the way to self-destruction! Is His Creation for the purpose of self-destruction? He indeed is I, I indeed am He. If there is no beginning or end of Him, then there is also no beginning or end of me. Whatever He has sent us to do, that alone we keep doing, as in a theater play. Isn't this His Joy? The way He has made Creation, if we do not follow that plan and walk on the reverse path (by renunciation), will liberation ever come to us?

Unless one is a householder, one cannot be a saint.

Dada mingles his joy and love with yours. Enjoy life and love with Him manifest as Mahanam. Remember you are first wed to Mahanam and then to your spouse. If you look upon your spouse as a conveyer of His Love and do unto your relation as you should do unto Him, and if your spouse too responds accordingly vice versa, your married lives will surely grow into a blossom of Love. The ultimate example has been shown abstractly by the two sounds of Mahanam. My love to you and your loving relation. You have His Blessings around the clock. Be in Truth and Mahanam.

One's family, father, mother, relatives, friends, etc., are created solely to give us the varied taste of His Love through them. Instead, we get too much attached to them, forget Him and suffer ultimately. It is like enjoying the outer husk of a coconut, the tasteless part, while overlooking the inner substance of the coconut which gives the real taste.

LEFT: Dadaji's wife Boudi, Los Angeles California USA 1985

Aren't your relations His manifestation? Should you not serve them devotedly, though without attachment?

Mother, father, everyone, everything is His. I have come here only for certain acting. That's all right. Then, I shall have to go. Everybody shall have to go. So how can you say he is my son, she is my daughter, he is my husband, she is my wife? That is all destiny.

Nobody is anybody's anything. That is all farce.

Saying, "You are my wife, I am your husband," that is also false. You have got no eyes. You do not know the A B C D of anything.

Everything, everybody, everywhere....same. There is no difference. He is within that body, undoubtedly. Body is moving by mind, through mind. Nobody knows, nobody can explain. All are female. Male (Purusha) is One. He is within. In that way, it's very difficult to understand. That is all mind function we are talking, all false, ultimately false. Here is my son, here is my daughter, here is my wife, my husband, we are talking. Actually, there is no difference.

Can you shoulder the responsibilities of your small family even? You have to do your duty without inviting the dissipating and disintegrating forces of Nature. Duties are born with you, are latent in your talents. Make the best use of your talents with loving submission, otherwise you go against His Design.

Human love, relations or companions bring disappointments, uncertainties, confusions, and disturbances of mind.

Never pine for anybody who leaves you. There is no point in worrying so much. He is always with you.

How can a mind be in love with another mind?

A person cannot truly love another person. The mind attached with the body automatically develops self-interest, attachments, attractions, distractions, wherefrom come tiredness, depressions, and differences. Until, as a result of various trials the mind becomes conscious of and gets yoked with Him, Who resides within as the holder of the body and mind. Until then, we cannot relish the taste of constant Bliss. But He, Who is within us, is always vigilant for us.

Is there any love of a body, by a body? When the body is dead, do we make love to it? The indwelling Atma (Soul or individual Life Force) is the lifelong Friend. His Love is All-pervading. He makes love to Himself only. He in fact, sees Himself in everyone. Again, with Him where is the male-female difference? All is in Reality One Substance, isn't it? Change your angle of vision. Recognize the real Truth.

You have the capacity to judge? Because when you are within mind, today you say, "I love her like anything. She is my life. I would sacrifice my life for her." After three days, some difference arises and you say, "She is notorious. She is the worst one in the world." So we do not know what is correct, what is incorrect. Don't bother for all that. Just do whatever He says, just do your duty and Name, because we do not know anything.

You have no right to harm anybody. You have no right to exploit anybody in any sense, politically, economically, or spiritually.

Be of good cheer. Your relations are His Grace embodied unto you. Be with that Grace and have faith in Him.

Living in this world, in our daily affairs there come angers, sorrows, and afflictions. If we indulge them and let them victimize us, our mind will never be free of complaints and we won't be able to go near Him. So, it is profitable to shun those feelings and go ahead keeping under His Shelter. Guru, God, Supreme Being or Name, whatever you may call Him, never takes any offense at human beings. He could because they never care to think of Him in appreciation of the enjoyable gifts of life. Instead, He still loves His created beings. Similarly, you must shun all sense of affronts and afflictions brought on for the purpose of feeling and realizing Him, thereby attain a state of Bliss. So depend on Him only.

Do not say, "I love you," to any person unless it is free from good or bad, or any other conditions. Love that is of the world is a great mental disease.

Worldly love is tainted with selfishness and falsehood. Today's love will be upset tomorrow when interests clash and differences come up. So human love is selfish. It is not steady and constant in degree. That is why sorrows, blows and jolts come that cause hurt and make life burdensome.

Human love is fickle, fragile and imbued with egoism. Remember Him. His Love is pure and everlasting.

Individuals always try to put down others out of jealousy, contempt, anger, etc., but those who depend on God with full faith, none can make them small or harm them. Go ahead with this firm faith.

It is the habit of many people to criticize and comment, but do not bother for that. Whatever people may say, the gossip automatically gets reduced and dampened. So don't indulge your mind. If you indulge, mind becomes more restless and confused. Patience is the only solution.

The one you become upset with is really your well-wisher. It will be wrong to assess a person by one momentary action. Generally that is the mistaken way one acts. One who is your friend and gives you so much affection you must not misunderstand, even if he or she becomes harsh with you. It may be that they are driven to the action by the pressure of mind, intellect, circumstances and surrounding events. It is always advisable if you can forgive and forget in case they have really done any wrong. I can understand if you are hurt very much. Most judgments of our mind are based on such trivial actions arising out of force of circumstances. We can make ourselves good human beings if we can adjust to all these events with patience and forgiveness. So, without putting further importance on these events in your mind, you should follow what I said and you will be peaceful. If you don't follow that, you may in your unguarded moment hurt someone else in the future (in reaction to events that have hurt you). Keep this in mind. Remember Him, everything will be all right.

Be cautious and be careful about men. You have come (to this world), be careful about that.

About Him, be careful.

Due to emotions or impatience, we very often misunderstand our acquaintances and intimates. We curse them and in consequence feel remorse. Caution yourself, don't accuse or find fault with others. If you have respect for patience, God Himself, in the course of time, extricates you or gets you to pass over the untoward situations that beset your life.

Never trouble yourself with what is happening here and there, and with the faults of others.

To hold on to a person or to keep faith in a person with all expectations, is to be led into frustration ultimately. Because a person's mind is blind, fickle, self-centered, selfish, unsteady, in constant want, full of desire and swayed by waves of conflicts. But, within a person He exists as the vibration of Existence (Mahanam) and, He is steady, unchangeable, waveless, full of constant, desireless Love, Mercy and Beauty. He is Truth. Trusting in a person one ultimately gets jolted and suffers. So hold to Him, Who is within as Prana Rama (God of Life), the Eternal Existence of all being. Without Him, we are dead.

Expectations of others, calculations of give and take are redundant. There is a pleasure in giving with no question of return, but this is a most difficult theory. You must not stop here, you must expand your vision and consciousness and make it your sole motto. You feel pain or concern for a few limited number of persons in your circle. But, when this feeling transcends to humanity in general, then will the human birth be successful and worthy.

Going without Him or keeping Him away, we always remain in wants. We go for the heartless love of people, lifeless inert matter that cannot take us near to the Love of Krishna, of Krishna Bhakti (devoted, selfless Divine Love).

What is happy? What is unhappy? We do not know. Suppose sometime I love you, I like to talk with you. In a few days, I don't like you. Everything is mind function. Human love is ego. But, human love, when you do not know particularly why you love, when you are thinking that person is everything, but you cannot express it to anyone, that is selfless. In that time mind function is nothing.

Whom does one love? By love, I don't mean just physical attraction or getting one's interests fulfilled. True Love, which transcends these interests, always leads one to think benevolent thoughts. You must have seen various mental tendencies of people, various actions and reactions. But, when one loves a person from the heart unselfishly, one stands against all odds to see that the Beloved is not harmed in any way.

One who can love this way, may be man or woman, proves that our birth is just for this Truth. Otherwise, all one has are worthless entanglements. A lot of wealth gets amassed in banks, responsibility to guard possessions increases and people become constantly watchful of fame and wealth. Various ways and methods haunt one to be alert to keep away from any scandals to avoid getting defamed.

But, one who loves or can love silently does not allow that love to become known, even to the one who is loved by them. This Silent Love is Tapasya or penance. Let not anybody know of this Love. If the next person knows of this Love, this Tapasya becomes ungenuine, loses its integrity and becomes affected.

Being born in this world, we forget the existence of our real best friend the Lord, Who is our own. We place confidence in others, thus inviting our sufferings, griefs and restlessness. Our Nearest and Dearest is He, Who is Truth, beyond actions and reactions, beyond death, Eternal Love Omnipotent.

Satisfy the needs of physical life. Let there be your family, spouse and children. Perform your duty to them. But that should not be all, remember the Mahanam at the same time.

Without this human body no other beings and no other world divinities can taste His Love. In the body of a person resides Govinda (Supreme Truth). So the body is to be treated as His Temple and taken care of. Devas (Gods in another world created by Him) and Devis (Goddesses) do great penance (work) to get this mortal human body for tasting His Love.

What you call Energy or whatever name you give it, is also present in the inanimate, but in such a subtle state that in the gross inert bodies it remains invisible. The same holds for the inert body. So long as Atma (Soul) stays in the body, its inertness is not experienced. If, in a secluded place, especially in the darkness of night, we cover the two ears with the two hands, then we can hear a sound inside the body just like the sound of a machine running.

The body machine keeps working without our knowledge. Here by "our" I refer to the I-sense or the ego. The reason is that Yogis, especially Hatha Yogis, on account of various physical practices develop some skill in controlling to some extent this machine. As a result, their egos become bloated without end. But He, Who is the real Resident (Atma), smiles at seeing this ego. It is never possible for a body to know the Supreme Being residing within through the expedient of any Mantra. God cannot be realized by mental or physical wrestling. The foremost requirement for knowing the One Who animates the body is to be rid of the ego and the accumulated superstitions.

I tell you one thing. The fundamental fact is that Eternal Substance is not a distant thing. He is actually present in the body in a fragmented state, yet remaining united with the unfragmented. Do you know what the fragmented state is like? Just like the relationship of the sea and its waves. Are the waves and the sea separate? That very unfragmented Eternal Substance stays in the body in the form of the resident Atma (Soul) for a certain time. That is why, according to this one (Dadaji), when He leaves the body He does not go anywhere.

Do you know what we mean by Ashram? Ashram is body, the real Ashram (Abode of God). Because He is within, full Force.

Respiration starts at the source of Name, a region shorn of mental modalities.

The Nam, the Form, and the Abode (physical body), all these are the same and One. So the Abode where Nam sounds and is established is called the Temple of Nam.

There is only one Substance and it is constantly changing form. This is He or the Divine, without name or form, yet containing all names and forms. This chemistry is beyond mind. We are not chemicals, we are Temples of the Divine. The body chemistry may break down or become out of balance. The mental chemistry may become disoriented. However, the chemistry of the Spirit can never experience a breakdown. It is untouchable. No fire is hot enough to burn it, no nuclear weapon is powerful enough to destroy it and no flood is deep enough to drown it. So, why be nervous? Why be afraid? Just try to remember Him. He is both within and without, giving you life and loving you constantly.

The body is the Temple of Viswanath (the Lord Almighty). The Nam (Divine Name) is chanted there twenty-four hours a day.

What I say, I am visualizing vividly. This is not metaphysical speculation. From physical body to ethereal body and from ethereal body to spiritual body are transformations from one stage to another. Subtle body cannot be seen. Because it sounds like mystical speculation, what I see I am telling you.

The Life Force is functioning through each body. Without Life, nothing exists. Life Force is the Root of all Existence. But, the fullest manifestation of Life is in spiritual form. It's manifestation then, is in the universe and the Mahakasa (infinite space).

Prior to sound of a word a great Power functions. That great Power is that great Will. So also with psychic phenomena, that is also the Supreme Power. But, you see, with this spiritual body one cannot continue for a long time because the physical body cannot absorb that Power. So, that is why the Divine gets pleasure in creating human beings for His Play. This is His great pleasure.

You have to fulfill the duties of the body. Having come to the realm of Nature, by not paying her taxes, by practicing austerities, by suppressing natural desires and by fleeing away from her, will one attain salvation? Can there be emancipation without clarification of vision? If one is unable to look upon both desire and desirelessness with equanimity, then one will have to remain deprived of all things of life. Has He sent us here to spend this life in practicing deprivation? In enjoyment, happiness, work, power, in everything, one has to be aware of Him. On the vision becoming clear, you will become a seer.

Only for performing the bodily duties has the riches of the body been given. Eat, drink, do everything, but remember Him, Who is inside the body. To move according to Nature is the only safe course. Do not go beyond the limitations of the body. Mahaprabhu, Ram, Christ, came with bodies. Body is the Temple. If you do not respect it, will it not retaliate? Will Nature let you go? Go about doing everything while remembering Him. That is all that is needed.

Human beings have got their individual shape (male or female) according to the Divine Will of the Lord, in spite of the fact that they originate from the same natural elements. Both are dictated by the prompting of mind and ego. So long as they move and act in the plane of mind, they are all females and their only goal is to realize the Purushottam (Supreme Male).

Whomever comes into this world is female. The mind is female to be sure. Your psychosomatic (mind/body) existence is essentially feminine, responding back and forth to the bipolarity of Life, like a dog haunted by a bit of flesh.

Who is female? How can you say that you are female? If you are female, I am too. Each and everybody's the same thing. Female, what do you mean by that? You have got desires? Everybody is the same. So long as He is within, you are a lover of Him.

We have come for some days to play. Here is a female. Here is a male. That is also incorrect. That is for His Play. A boy? A girl? He has got all the senses and desires, everything. She has also got the same thing. No one is anything, both same.

Male, female....female, male. What do you mean by all these things? All are the same. That Power is within each and everybody. So each and everyone is same.

Nobody is female. Nobody is male. That is only for the theater, the stage, His Leela (Divine Play).

Male and female, are there so many differences? Those who think male and female are the same, they are all right. Excellent!

Body and Life bestowed on you by God are to be fully tasted and enjoyed. What a priceless treasure God has sent us with! This body is unreal and though unreal it has turned real because of Truth that accompanies it.

The body is the chariot. The chariot belongs to Jagannath (Lord).

Do not shun the needs of the body. Satisfy the wants, but at the same time be aware of its triviality. Remember the body, but Who is beyond, that alone can bring salvation.

Environment is in the mind. Are desire, anger, etc., finished by becoming an ascetic, going to mountains, eating vegetarian food?

Everything has Jiva (Life Force). You can take meat, fish, vegetables, whatever you like. All are the same.

What do you say, food is only for the sake of the body. What is required for the body, that must be eaten. Know that whatever He has created on this earth is for the sustenance of the living creatures. Has He done all this for nothing? All these rules for eating and drinking are mere superstitions. There is no connection of eating and drinking with Him. For He is above and beyond all these things. And you talk of Rishis (seers)? They had such full vision and such complete knowledge that there is no comparison. Why would they take the trouble to indulge in all this hanky-panky? Those who already had perfection, where is thehurdle for them? Those who have no restrictions, their perplexity disappears.

Fasting is not good.

Is there anybody (spiritual guide) who can say, "Don't take this food. Don't take that food. You give me something (money) bimonthly." All bluff!

Remember, He is always with you, even during your sleep.

Dreams are mind function. But, when He comes, although you are sleeping, you are awake to His Darshan (vision of the Supreme).

God is within you. You don't need to seek Him. Fulfill your duties, do your work, and enjoy your days. Whiskey, cigarettes, love, as you like. Then you will feel within you what no Guru can sell you, the Living God, the True God, Who has created you and loves you.

This body itself is Prarabdha (destined unfolding of life). Unconsciously and inevitably our bodies develop and decay in their own way.

After all, human body is perishable, decaying and has various problems. But, whatever He does is for a great cause, all for good.

Take care of your body, which is the channel for experiencing His Love. He only gives us physical form and mind.

You can't come here without being wedded to Truth, the Word, the Mahanam, the two sounds of which are being chanted within your heart around the clock in rapturous spontaneity. That Mahanam is the Lord within everyone. Your body is the Shrine of God.

When one is born with a body, the mind comes with all the senses and drives one forcibly, blinding the vision, so that one fails to assess things in the right perspective. One who undertakes all activities while remembering Guru or God, will be able to tolerate whatever blows are received in life; and, will find the senses and desires become friends, giving the feeling that they have all been beneficial. Otherwise, one would have been helpless in madness or grief.

When Life exists in the body, then does it stay in visible form? You talk about senses, mind, intelligence and ego, are all these visible? That is, are these matter? When Life is in the body, then it is alive. This is the manifestation of Life. Similarly, senses and intelligence, etc., can be observed when functioning in a living body. The function of the senses are being manifested in the body. You see again, at old age or owing to disease the functioning of certain senses are crippled, in spite of the existing body. Now the question is, where do these senses go?

Many times there is loss of intelligence, memory fails. There is disability of speaking, loss of eye sight. One becomes hard of hearing, though there are ears the eardrum is not functioning. There are eyes, but no sight. When a certain mechanism of the body fails, then the particular sense mechanism cannot function. But the question is, where do the senses exist? Mark seriously what I mean. I hope you have understood the question. When the body itself does not exist, where do the senses stay? Even when the body exists, sometimes the senses stop functioning. Now try to realize the facts.

God is the sound of your heartbeat, making love to you twenty-four hours a day.

We have come here to do all sorts of acting. We have come here as guests. I am here with this body. Just maintain the body. Nothing else. Body is not mine. I have taken that Ashram (body) as a temporary place to enjoy Him in the Maya also. When we have come here, we have come with mind, senses, desires and attachments. We shall have to give something to them. If you stop everything, they will revolt.

The veil of desire is the compact body.

Follow your desires. Do not force them into a special pattern.

At the time of birth sexual urges have been invited. They have come with us. You should not bother for that. We should not disturb them, automatically He will take them over. If you go to disturb, ultimately there will be difficulty.

Sexual orgasm is temporary and cannot compare to orgasm with Him.

Wedded to Him you reach a Divine orgasm becoming united with your True Nature.

Lust and desire are being destroyed from within. Lust and desire are not, the moment you are in Him.

You are the worst criminal if you starve your senses. These are your guests, come to help you relish His Love and Bliss!

How is it possible to give up the senses by Jap (counting repetitions of Divine Name)? That is why I say, do your duty, remember Him. That is enough, more than enough.

Don't create an ivory tower. Let your senses and mind do any manner of antics. If you starve them, you are the worst criminal. You cannot then do the Asva-Medha (let your senses run their course and turn inward) and Rajasuya (sacrifice your ego).

Neither resist, nor indulge.

Don't go against your nature. Let your inner drives lead your senses wherever they will. Be a passive spectator of the drama. No asceticism, no austerity, no penance, no physical calisthenics, no mechanical muttering of mystic syllables. All these are egotistic activities. Your inner fullness can dawn only when the ego is fleeced off. Only then you are in the wantless state. It is the limited mind that constantly suffers from wants.

Live, but live in tune with Him.

With birth we have invited and come with certain desires, lusts, passions and greed. So you shall have to give something to them. If you stop everything, they will revolt. Moksha (liberation), you won't get other than Him. When the senses are pleased, they will accompany you. That is called Manjari (a mind that is pure and blossoming with His Love like a flower).

Mind is taken up with the senses. If there is mind, there are senses. Without them, how can there be realization?

God does not fill, but instead takes away cravings for material and sensual needs.

The belief that senses are our enemy is absolutely incorrect. The moment we have this physical body, we have invited them and we cannot exist a second without their help. The senses have an essential role. Unless they are satisfied, we can hardly expect their cooperation in helping us to rise above this physical level of body consciousness. The senses may be suppressed for the time being, but the time will come when they will take the inescapable revenge. But, those who are conscious of their role know that these very senses will turn inward in time and will become the internal ladder to help them climb to the plane of Divine Consciousness.