Gurumahan in the 28th Velvi discourse speaks about destiny, hunger, determination, self mastery, and the journey towards knowing the Self.
Is there such a thing as destiny? What is destiny? The fact that you are sitting here for so long is destiny. The fact that I am here with you is destiny. Even my observing a 21 day fast without food or sleep is part of destiny.
But who decided this?
Did all of you come and tell me, “Guru, please go and spend 21 days there for us. Let the forces of nature change. Let the world undergo a transformation. We have seen many people, but you go and do this for us”?
No. I was the one who came forward and undertook it. You may wonder how much hardship I must have gone through. Was there hardship? Of course there was.
Think about it. If your meal is delayed by even half an hour, what happens to all the things you have learnt?
“Be loving. Be joyful. Speak only the truth. Never allow harsh words to come from your tongue.”
When hunger comes, can we still remain established in all these qualities? There is a saying: when hunger strikes, everything else flies away.
Hunger is powerful.
If you want to understand what happens within me as Gurumahan, try spending just one day drinking only water. You will realise how difficult it can be. You may not even be able to continue for four days. Why? Because you do not have the same purpose. I was able to remain there because I had a purpose, because I had committed myself to what the Guru had undertaken.
You remain through the night and through the day. Then, if the aroma of food comes from somewhere nearby, your hunger suddenly becomes much stronger. If someone happens to carry food past you, the desire for food can become even more intense.
That is why hunger must be understood.
This is also why Arutperunjothi Vallalar placed the removal of hunger before everything else. Before giving knowledge or anything else, what must come first? The removal of hunger.
That is why great spiritual beings have engaged in annadhanam, offering food to those in need. No human being, and no living being, should ever have to suffer the torment of hunger.
Fasting is one way of understanding hunger. There is also another kind of fasting: fasting from speech, observing silence.
Try remaining silent. Can you go for a whole day without speaking?
And what do we reach for the moment we finish? The cellphone.
As soon as we pick it up, our attention is pulled towards something else. The mind immediately starts generating another thought. This is why we lack vairagya, inner determination and detachment.
Then how am I able to remain for so many days?
Through vairagya.
With determination and inner detachment, even that which seems impossible to overcome can be overcome.
Women especially possess tremendous strength of determination. If a woman recognises this strength within herself and acts with that determination for the welfare of society and the world, she has the power to bring about transformation.
So why do you spend so much time worrying about things that are unnecessary? Why carry unnecessary sorrow and anxiety?
Let all of that go.
Recognise that you are an expression of Shakti, divine energy. Every one of us has come from the Divine and therefore carries the qualities of the Divine within.
From my space, I bless you and say that these words should bring goodness into your lives.
Whatever you do, let your actions arise from your deeper awareness. Especially remain aware at the centre of the forehead, and beyond that, at the crown. When you act from the state of Turiya, from the place of the Divine, you become a witness to everything that happens.
Then you no longer feel that you are the doer.
Come and experience this for yourself. Try spending even one day in tapas, in sincere inner practice.
Keep thinking, “I am the Atma. I am the Atma. I am the Atma.”
As you continue to contemplate the Atma, you gradually become established in that awareness. You already possess this consciousness within you.
Without first becoming aware of this inner reality, merely repeating “Atma, Atma, Brahman” will not take you to Brahman.
You have already received this living principle as your inner consciousness. By holding on to this awareness again and again, you can rise towards the higher state of Atma and ultimately towards Brahman.
To know yourself, all you need to do is turn within and contemplate for a while.
Who will take care of the rest?
The Guru will.
That is the Guru’s dharma. That is the Guru’s responsibility.
You take one step, and the Guru will take you forward.
But you do not even take that one step.
Sometimes you take a step and immediately ask, “Gurumahaan, have I taken the step? Have I taken the step?”
If you are asking me whether you have taken it, there is already doubt in you about whether you truly have.
Still, if the Guru says, “Yes, you have taken the step,” then accept it and move forward.
That is why the Tattva Dhava Jnana Peedam offers the practices necessary for every dimension of your being: practices for the body, practices for the mind, practices for knowledge, and practices that help you reach the deeper states of the soul.
You have seen the wonderful physical practices. You have seen how the body is trained and brought under your own mastery.
In the same way, the mind must be brought under your mastery.
The breath must also be brought under your awareness.
Observe your breath carefully.
When you are lying down to sleep, simply watch the breath. Continue following it inward.
As you observe the breath, its movements gradually become subtler and quieter. You may eventually enter a state where the breath becomes extremely still.
At that point, you begin to move beyond the awareness of the physical body and turn inward.
A certain fear may arise.
“Am I going to leave the body?”
Because we are so accustomed to breathing continuously, when the breath becomes very subtle, the mind may immediately think, “Am I going to die?”
There is no need for that fear.
That is why the Peedam is here, ready to offer you different practices and guide you through these deeper experiences.
All you need to do is come prepared.
When you reach that state, you can experience many possibilities. You can attain the various forms of prosperity needed to live in this world. You can rise and progress in every dimension of life.
My complete blessings to you for a fulfilling and elevated life.
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