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Part 1: The Nature of the Soul and the Power of Sound Are there any questions from this morning for Gulābjī, pertaining to the subject we discussed? Dear Gulābjī, did you come to know which experiences and knowledge you brought from past lives? If so, how? If you have some knowledge about your past life, how did you attain it? Today, there are many, many exercises and experiments available to all of you, to all of us, where we can try to get back to our past lives. The most interesting thing is that American psychiatrists are finding remedies for people only by taking them to their past lives. Most of you, being highly educated, might have read about one psychiatrist, Brian Weiss from the United States. All his books describe how he treats patients and uncovers their basic problems. He has quoted experiments with patients, taking them as far back as the crucifixion of Christ—where his patient was standing during the crucifixion, and then how her life proceeded further, birth by birth, until she came to her present state and to Brian Weiss. I think today it is no longer a secret to know the past. Quite a number of experiments are available to us, some books, but I would never advise you to try by merely reading books. Under proper guidance, we can all make this facility available to ourselves. There are various books with written instructions; you can read them, but I would not advise anyone to proceed solely according to the instructions they have just read. It is best to have responsible or safe guidance. My experience is not about knowing my past. It is more about knowing my present. I request you all to spend ten minutes to speak to yourself about yourself. This is what we don't do. We talk about everybody on this earth. Before sleeping, put off the light, close your eyes, and talk to yourself about yourself. Not even God in between, only you and you. This can be repeated in the morning when you open your eyes. Close your eyes again and talk to yourself. Honestly, I can tell you, in one month you will know many things about yourself. Then you can put questions before you go to bed. You will get answers, maybe in a day, two days, or a week. All your questions would be answered by yourself. This is how you develop yourself; you improve your capacity to synchronize with nature. I think this answers your question. Next question. From which elements is the soul made? Thank you. It will be rather difficult to understand because the vocabulary is not familiar to you. I will explain. I will do my best, but you have to be a little more serious to listen to the words. I may try to explain those words also, but still the subject is so different. We do not use it in our daily life. I will try to explain it to you in a more understandable way, but these are terms we don't usually encounter. Everybody knows about the pañca kośas: Annamaya, Prāṇamaya, Manomaya, Vijñānamaya, Ānandamaya kośa. These are all the coverings in which, or in the center of which, my soul stays. That means no kośa is part of my soul. In the center of these kośas, there is another formation called Ṣoḍaśīpuruṣa. Just imagine for one minute: in the beginning of this universe, there was nothing, only darkness. There was only one matter which was spread around the sky. That matter was called Brahma. No Brahma, no Īśvara, no individual can live without its power, śakti. So when the Śakti of this Brahma awakens, there is a desire in the mind of Brahma: "Eko'haṁ bahu syām" — "I am just one, let me become many." This Śakti takes a portion of this Brahma and creates a Bindu. Bindu is Puraṁ, a house. So far, there was no form in the sky. This is known as rhythm. Rhythm means air, water, fire. It has no center, no periphery, no figure, no form. Now, this māyā, the Śakti, makes the form of Brahmā as a bindu. This Bindu is called Puruṣa. 'Pur' means house, which has a center and a periphery. Now, this center is Brahma, and this periphery is Māyā. So this is the concept where the Māyā surrounds the Brahma element. And this Puruṣa, the first creation of this universe, is called Ādipurūṣa. All those who have read Śrīmad Bhagavad Gītā must remember that Kṛṣṇa says, "I am the Avyayapuruṣa." Avyaya means that which cannot be spent. And it has five basic characteristics. You see, when Brahmā spreads itself, it’s Ānanda. And when you know how you are expanding, spreading, this is Vijñāna. This is how you get Ānandamaya, Vijñānamaya Kośa. And this is how this center becomes the Mana, the Manomaya Kośa of this Puruṣa. And after Manomaya Kośa, Prāṇamaya Kośa, we have Prāṇamaya Kośa and Annamaya Kośa. When this manas, or this Brahma sitting in the manas, thinks of spreading or becoming many, creating the universe, it is connected, or you can say the Prāṇamaya Kośa becomes very active. This mind becomes part of this prāṇamaya kośa. In every atom of this prāṇamaya kośa becomes the mind, the desire of that mind. And with prāṇa means action. There is no action possible without prāṇa. Therefore, whether you go towards creation or you go towards the Dhyānandamaya Kośa, you need prāṇa. So when this Brahma wants to become many, it goes to Prāṇamaya Kośa, Vāk it is called, Vāk. In the morning, we heard that Vāk means speech, and Vāk means matter, both. So this universe is created as the form of matter from this annamaya kośa, or here on Avyaya Puruṣa it is called Vāk. Prāṇa is known as all the gods. All our gods, the thirty-three gods, are known as prāṇas. And this Vāk is the material world. So in all this material world, this Avyaya Puruṣa, all the five characteristics are inherent. So you know, this Ānanda, Vijñāna, Mana, Prāṇa, Vāk, they form our coverings of the soul. This Prāṇamaya Kośa creates all the prāṇas of the universe further. So, as we call this first bindu as Avyaya Puruṣa, all the prāṇas are known as Akṣara Puruṣa. Akṣara means that which is not destroyable. Above, we have seen, is built, or it is produced, or it is formed, and it gets dissolved. But Akṣara Puruṣa will never get dissolved, even at the time of entropy. Avyaya is something that was created and will also be destroyed, but the Akṣara Puruṣa is something that is not subject to destruction and will be eternal. Just like the Avyaya Puruṣa has five characteristics, this Akṣara Puruṣa also has five characteristics: Brahmā, Viṣṇu, Indra, Agni, and Soma. These—Brahmā, Viṣṇu, and Indra—form the hṛdayam of everything produced by nature. In our common language, we say heart, this is my heart. It is not the physical heart of medical science. But when we talk to each other, sometimes we say it’s from my heart. Similarly, Brahmā, Viṣṇu, and Indra are forming your heart, our heart, or even lifeless things; they also have the same center and heart. Now we have ten characteristics: five from Avyaya Puruṣa and five from Akṣara Puruṣa. The last two characteristics of Akṣara Puruṣa are Agni and Soma. They create the rest of the material world with the help of eight characteristics. This material world is called Kṣara Puruṣa, the destroyable world. It also has five characteristics. You can say the characteristics of Akṣara Puruṣa are transformed in the material world as mortal characteristics. Brahmā becomes prāṇa, āpa, vāk, anna, and ānanda. First, I will tell you these five: Prāṇa, Āpa, Vāk, Anna, and Ānanda. Brahmā becomes prāṇa, Viṣṇu becomes apāna. Like all those five prāṇas of Akṣara Puruṣa, they become five mortal prāṇas to form Kṣara Puruṣa, the destroyable. So all the characteristics of the Akṣara Puruṣa are transformed into the Avyaya Puruṣa and create the characteristics of the Kṣara Puruṣa. Now we have fifteen characteristics in one unit. And just in the center of this unit is the 16th, the Brahma (not Brahmā, but Brahma). This makes 16 characteristics, and anything which contains 16 characteristics is called Ṣoḍaśī Puruṣa. Ṣoḍaśī means sixteen, and this Ṣoḍaśī Puruṣa is our soul. That means, again, in the center of this Ṣoḍaśī Puruṣa, out of these five coverings, we have Manas in the center. There is no Manas in Akṣara Puruṣa, there is no Manas in Kṣara Puruṣa. There is only one manas in this universe, and that is in the Avyaya Puruṣa. What we call our mind is the reflection of that manas. So this universe is in two parts, divided at the sun level. When you place the sun in the center, the upper portion is immortal, the lower portion, Mṛtyu Loka, is mortal. The Sun is the heart of this universe. With this principle, our heart also has two positions, two directions to work. When we get the opportunity of great saints, we move upwards towards enlightenment. Through Vijñānamaya Kośa, Ānandamaya Kośa, we are able to see the Ṣoḍaśī Puruṣa. And without that, we move outside; we think we are the body. So we move towards the worldly subjects related to our senses. I think this is how, this is the formation of soul as body, according to Indian ancient literature. Anybody who wants to have those mantras and ślokas from those scriptures, you can send me an email, and I will send you all those mantras, whatever I said, to authenticate all those things. You can send an e-mail, and I will send you a link to the specific mantras where it is all described, what I was talking about. gulabkothari@rajasthanpatrika.com. Very good. Any more questions? Just look at the watch. I don’t know. I came here because your father is the one who did this. He is the same. I said this should come in the middle. I don’t know. I will go there and see. I have told him twenty times. Only yours was coming. It is not good to come. He will come to know where you sat with him. No, it is necessary. He is also there. He is reading from the mirror. I wanted to say one more thing about mantra. Now you understood where your soul is. But I have a very short and sweet [explanation], but I will not tell. Well, it was a very precise, according to the Vedas, ancient science, and that science, no one can compare with that. But how many of you understood it? Because someone begins to go like this. So just raise your hand up, did you understand 100%? Or let’s say 80%? I had some idea, so hand up. So it means everyone is in nirvāṇa, and those who raise their hands up remain behind. Thank you. We have a recording, and we will again, time to time, every week, every second. Next week, Gulābjī will be coming on the Swāmījī TV. But there is something that still remains behind, something remains behind. When one is born, perfect, everything is okay, but the sound was not there. So if you can’t hear, you can’t talk. I think we’ll have something remaining. Oh yes, sound is a big subject. That’s it. Okay. I just want to make two points before you. Sound communicates without words. When the child is in the womb, the mother talks to the child. And there are no words needed because the child doesn’t know the language. In India, we say the mother is the first guru of the child. Where? When the child is in the womb. You can teach that child whatever you want. You can give them all the saṃskāras, put them in bhakti, put them in the signs. You can make anything out of that child only when it is in the womb, not afterwards. You can’t change it. It’s like a clay pot. You can’t change the pot when you bring it home because it’s already taken the final shape. It has passed through the oven, the fire, and come to you. The child also passes through the same fire for six months in the womb. Finally, when it is delivered to the world, nothing can be changed after that. The mother only can make the true sound. Where is the sound now? Silence is the sound. That is the highest level of sound, parā, quiet. It is a meditation when you are talking to the child in the womb. We have an example in the Mahābhārata when Arjuna talks to his wife Subhadrā and the child in the womb, Abhimanyu. The child, Abhimanyu, learns the art of war, how to break the Chakravyūha. So it’s not just a play of nature. If the mother wants, she can change the whole world in one generation, mind it. This is our true sound. The second thing I want to bring into the discussion is: We are all chanting mantras. Mantra has two things: one is the word, the other is the sound. There has to be a synchronization between these two. That means we must use our breathing in and breathing out so that the mantra, the word and the sound, become a rhythmical pattern. We have to connect the breath and the sound, and we have to connect the sound and the word to a certain rhythm. Like when you have instruments and singers in the orchestra, and they support each other. For me, the prāṇa will help to synchronize, to create the rhythm. But mantra is also a body of sounds, of the letters. So, do I chant the body of the mantra? Or somewhere I must look for the soul of the mantra. Because finally, I am trying to connect this mantra with my soul, or God, whatever you call it. But the body cannot reach the soul. So when you chant mantra, many of the words, this language, it has not much power to travel or to create impact. The air inside the body, but there are many things circulating in the body, like your air or the blood. All the activities are creating friction in the body. Part 2: The Ladder of Mantra: From Sound to Silence Our thought process, mind, determination, and intention to reach a destination create a magnetic electricity. When we connect our chanting with the mind—the saṅkalpa or determination—and finally with the intention, the vācā, and link this to that electricity, this force empowers the mantra to travel long distances or create an impact when you speak to someone. The speed of sound is very little compared to the speed of light. If we cannot increase the speed of our mantras or chanting, our practice is incomplete. We cannot reach the soul of the mantra. So, you progress from Vaikharī to Madhyamā to Paśyantī. Here, the force of these electricities creates the impact and opens the doors to where you want to reach. Therefore, do not stick only to the words or their meaning. Mantras will not have meanings in the conventional sense. Please ensure that with your mantra, your breathing is synchronized, your manas (mental concentration) is aligned with a wholehearted intention. So that when you say "Oṁ," you do not listen to "Oṁ" with your ears. It should not come back to you. We are not talking about the meaning of the mantra as if you have discovered what it exactly means. The meaning of the mantra is that you connect the sound, connect the breath, connect it to the rhythm, connect it with your concentration, your mind, and your heart. For each of you, "Aum" has a different destination. When you say "Aum," it is directed to you from somewhere else. So when you chant, your intention is in touch with the destination—with your God, with your form, where you want to join it. If you are listening to your own mantra, you are not in a meditative state. When you are in meditation, there is no body, no prāṇa, and no thought. All three kośas are silent. Thus, mantra is the ladder we must climb step by step, dropping unwanted things and worldly issues behind. So'ham, so'ham. Very nice, very good. Theory and practice are different, but without theory, there is no practice. Without practice, there is no understanding—like a very nice, ripe mango. If you don't understand the theory, you cannot enjoy the mango juice. We must think over this many times. There is a lot of knowledge and wisdom to understand. In this civilization, all of you sitting here have a university education and possess much knowledge about what Gulābjī tells us. However, the knowledge you gain at university is not this knowledge. If universities incorporated this wisdom, the world would undoubtedly be different. There is fear in people. Unfortunately, there are certain paths, two of which are very powerful. One is religion. Religion sometimes becomes a barrier—it doesn't matter which religion; I am not speaking of a particular one. When religious leaders cannot understand and cannot guide people to the highest consciousness, they cater to people's weaknesses. "Of course, you can eat chicken, no problem. Come to my release, and then you can eat meat, no problem. It doesn't matter now; you can marry a second, third, or fourth time." Take Christianity, for instance, where it is said there is no second marriage, which is why they avoid a second marriage ceremony in church. But that doesn't matter; go to the court and marry. The other path is the so-called intellectual way of learning, which often rejects ancient wisdom—like the Vedas, the Upanishads, the Old Testament, or the Jewish Torah. We try to say it doesn't matter; it was from olden times. "All the time you also had only two legs, and now you also have two legs. That time you didn't have a tail, and now you also don't have a tail. So what has changed?" All five elements have existed all the time, yet we have changed a lot, a lot, and a lot. Thus, there are two kinds of knowledge: Parāvidyā and Aparāvidyā. As you go too deeply into scriptures, you may—it must not be, but you can—stray from your path. When we talk about this subject or that, this literature or that, this religion or that, we get lost. Now we don't even know if a text is original or correct. Anyone can write and claim, "This was that." Many people write nice words under Swami Vivekananda's name and say, "Vivekananda said." What we spoke about regarding the Vedas and your questions—what Gulābjī was answering—is what we call evidence. That was the right evidence because he did not write or create words arbitrarily; it is from the Vedas, from experience. So we have to think it over. It is a case of "one in all and all in one." He tries very hard, talking, coughing, pushing to give us something. But it is all within you. He didn't say somewhere else, perhaps in Mexico or China. No, everything is within you. That was very interesting. How is the soul? Where is it? If you don't understand, don't go very far. Your soul is your father. So how did he create the soul? My father finished, and the house... which house? He said, "Is my mother." And where does it dwell? It dwells in the mother. It is said: "Chetan kyā to icchā nahīṁ, jarat se kusne hot." How did creation begin? "Chetan kyā to icchā nahīṁ, and jarat se kusne hot." Chetan means consciousness can't do anything. It is consciousness, and this dead material can't do anything. So how did creation begin? That was a 35-minute explanation from Gulābjī for one question. Still, if you don't understand, then take my theory. Very good. Lakṣati, Lakṣati, and Vachati and Vachati, that's it. Lakṣati so and Vachati so. Gulābjī said in very short words that we are just going up the ladder, step by step, because that is our lakṣya (goal). But if you go back again and again, it is like chewing gum in the mouth. Or go ahead and swing. Therefore, we have to go forward and not think, not go back. There are so many bees somewhere. The bees are angry with us. You hear? Yes, still they give honey, though. Oh, okay, let them go. They will come and go. Garden. So, practice. Tons of theory are nothing. The practice of the gram (village, essence) is the practice. You talk and talk about hunger—"I'm very hungry"—but nothing goes into your stomach. If you take only one little fruit, something goes in. That is what we are trying, what Gulābjī is trying: to give us something. We must think it over very much, try to collect everything, and practice sādhanā. Without sādhanā, we cannot progress. Thus it is said: Sādhanā cara karohari pyāra jin se hovi. Tumhara jīn se sādhanā chāra karo, Hari pyāra. Sādhanā, sādhanā, viveka vichāro, satya kāra nyāra nyāra. Satyakāra nyāra nyāra, sādhanā cāra, sādhanā cāra, se ho akṣatam akṣatam, sādhanā jārā. Sādhaka bhogya sāra, bhogatakā asāra, sādhanā jāra se ho akṣatam akṣatam. Ija sādhanā ṣaṭ sampati dharo nase ho, dayā pājī nase ho, naha ukṣathu mā. Inas ukshathu sama vichāra na vichāra satchathu sādhanā. Sādhata sādhanā he kā satkāra kā chuṭakārā. So, mic to our Mahāmaṇḍaleśvara Svāmī Vivek Purījī. Kālasubhe, kālasubhe, very good. Tomorrow, our dear professor Arvindjī will be giving a very beautiful light of knowledge—not a talk, a light. So, Vivek Purījī, Praṇām Gurudev, Praṇām Haryam, dear Gulābjī, and all dear friends. Now is not such a nice and good moment for talk. First, we hear a lecture from Gulābjī and understand everything, of course. After that, you know, the lecture from Viśvagurujī... and now he said something: it's not so easy. I must say most of us here were not studying the Vedas and Vedic literature so deeply, and for us, it's a little hard to understand all this. But we have one really good friend, a blessing from Mahāprabhujī and from Śrī Alakporījī Siddhāpīṭa Paramparā, that we have Swāmījī here with us. Swamiji has such a nice way to explain things to us, often in just one sentence. I must share what I learned in this period with Viśvagurujī. It is one bhajan—sorry, I am not so good with bhajans—but I remember one sentence: meditation makes the stupid man into the wise man. If we now have a little problem understanding all this, I know that through our sādhanā, we will somehow gain that knowledge. I know a joke from Croatia. In former Yugoslavia, after the Second World War, people never ate bananas; they didn't even know what a banana was. One friend asks another, "Do you know what a banana is?" The other says, "Yes, yes, I know." "Please explain to me what a banana is." That is our question about the soul. The other man said, "You know what an apple is? Yes, of course. The whole garden is full of apples, and you know how nice it is around this apple, yes? And you know when you bite this apple, all this nice juice comes out." "Yes, yes, yes." "A banana is not at all like this." When we talk of such things, I hear from Swāmījī and have read somewhere that when you ask a question like "What is God? What is the Ātmā? What is all this stuff?" the answer is often what it is not. I remember a lecture from Viśvagurujī in Kāṭhū Āśram where Swāmījī nicely explained how to attain self-realization. He explained that in ancient times... 30 years ago, we got these 3D pictures. In newspapers, they would print a picture using a special technique to see something invisible—you had to look from a special angle in a special way to see the 3D image. Do you remember? It was hard the first time. All your friends tried to explain how to see it, and we were completely confused. More explanation brought more confusion. But slowly, we tried. We kept trying to find that angle, that strange view. And in one moment, it just happened. It happened because we had some instruction, but practice was also very important. Viśvagurujī explains it this way: just try. Never give up. Just try, try a thousand times, ten thousand times. In one moment, it will just happen. From that moment, it won't be easy every time, but it will become easier and easier. In the end, we will be able to see it at any moment. Now we hear from Viśvagurujī that Gulābjī’s lecture will be on Swāmijī TV, and we will try and try, and in one moment we will make a click. Just try. But, in addition, meditation is what makes the stupid one a wise one. With these two wings, we will somehow manage. Thank you for the lecture. Thank you for the introduction. O Lord, within all, O Lord above all, shower Thy grace on Thy children. Satta Guru Kindle, my heart’s flame with Thine. May Thy light banish darkness forever. Satta Guru Kindle, my heart’s flame we dine. O Lord, thy children seek thee at thy gateway. Appear in thy glory before us. Satta Guru Kindle, my heart’s flame we dine. May Thy light vanish darkness forever. Satta Guru Kindle, my heart’s flame, we dine. It’s Thee whom we worship, praying for Thy mercy. Love’s nectar shower upon us. Satta Guru Kindle, my heart’s flame with Thine. May Thy light vanish darkness forever. Sata Guru, kindle my heart’s flame with iron. Just within us, that power has been slumbering for ages. Awaken cit-śakti within us. Sata Guru, kindle my heart’s flame. We dine. May thy light banish darkness forever. Satta Guru Kindle, my heart’s flame, we dine. For long in our heart, that ember has been smothering. To the music of Soham awakens. Satta Guru Kindle, my heart’s flame without. May thy light vanish darkness forever, Satta Guru Kindle. Immortal soul of my Guru Deva, our lives at Thy feet we surrender. Satta Guru Kindle, my heart’s flame with I. May thy light banish darkness forever. Satta Guru Kindle, my heart’s flame with I. Kindle, my heart’s flame with I. Satta Guru Kindle, my heart’s flame with thine. Doa, my mother, my father. Doa, doa, my brother, my friend. Doa, my wisdom; doa, all my wealth. Though my anxious sorrows depart, Mercy we beg, Bhagavān, enlighten me with thy wisdom, cloud-filled this temple of mine with light. Everywhere in homes where thou art served with love, everywhere thy lotus feet are adored, in that place, Hari, in his glory dwells, shedding light everywhere where thy bhaktas sing their songs to. There, where love flows like streams of rain, there, Hari, comes the highest world to listen to the whole strings of love. Every good thing thou hast given free to me. What, O Lord, may I give unto Thee? Please accept this heart, which I offer Thee. In these four hands of mine, don’t ever hope. That this perfect world was born, if all this world should disappear from view, who still does always be the same? Shānti, Shānti, Shānti...