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If you are God, you know what I ask

A spiritual discourse featuring a parable about jealousy, framed by personal anecdotes about the speaker's guru.

"Tell them this story and its meaning... This is a story about someone who is very jealous."

"God said, 'Yes, my son. This coin has some special quality... if you ask this coin for one million dollars, it will give you immediately. But at the same time, your neighbor will get two million.'"

Swami Chidananda recounts a specific story instructed by his guru, Guruji. He prefaces it with personal reflections on receiving guidance. The parable tells of a jealous man who receives a magical coin from God, which grants any wish but gives his neighbor double. His jealousy leads him to reject the coin, but his desperate family uses it, prospering. In a final jealous rage, the man uses the coin to mutilate himself, thereby destroying his neighbor, and ends up a beggar. The teaching concludes that true spirituality is kindness, not just ritual practice.

Recording location: Hungary, Vep, Welcome seminar

This afternoon, I was thinking of Gurujī. I asked him, "What should I tell you this evening?" Gurujī told me, "Tell them this story and its meaning." This story was told by Gurujī in his satsaṅg long ago, before I came to Europe—meaning before 1970. Gurujī told this story in 1966. Sometimes the Master is very hard, you know. He said, "In '66, July 3rd, 11 o'clock in the evening, I told one story in the satsaṅg; you were there, so you can tell this story." My memory is getting old, that's all. He told me, "On the 3rd of July, 11 o'clock in the evening, I had a satsaṅg in Mumbai and I told a nice story you can tell today to these devotees." I am happy that you don't have such a Master. So, this is a story about someone who is very jealous. Of course, that's not your subject. You are not jealous, so maybe this story has no meaning for you. But if some of you are jealous, then this story is for you. I am not telling it purposely towards anyone. This afternoon, around 4:15, I was having my tea and I looked to Holy Gurujī and asked him what to do. I thought he would tell me something easy. I didn't think he would have an examination for me today, a test. If I had known this, I would not have asked him, that's it. Always when I ask Gurujī, it's like, "This and this, can we do?" And the answer was, "You know what to do." So sometimes I was angry, but I learned this. I tell you also, "You know what to do," that's all. And when I said, "Yes, but I want to know your opinion, and one day you will not tell me that I didn't ask you, and if something goes wrong, then I will be guilty alone." Again, you know, Gurujī was very relaxed, doing his mālā. 98% of my time with Holy Gurujī, whenever I saw him, he was having his mālā. In 98% of the cases when I saw Gurujī, he was having his mālā in the name of Mahāprabhujī, so you can say that, yes, his consciousness was enlightened. That name of God was with him, what I said, one without second. So when I asked, "Yes, thank you for your blessing that you say that I know, but still I would like to know what should I do, or should we do or not," then with a very gentle smile—hardly you could see that he is really smiling, all his lips were moving, sometimes like that, you have some candy in your mouth—and Gurujī was looking very gently to his mālā, "I have given you all the duties, now I am retired. Go and do what you want. I am retired, I give you everything." So, you see, it's not easy to understand the hint of the Master. Once I said, "No, but I want to know, please tell me." I was never like this to him. If I would say, "I want to know," it would take hardly five seconds till I come out of his room. To understand the Master, and I must tell you the love, the understanding, the greatness, and the kind of respect which I received from Gurujī, I never received anywhere. The understanding and respect I received from Gurujī, I have never received anywhere. Today again he said, it was very hard work for me to remember, so many years, 40 years now, can you remember? Imagine, nearly 40 years. Yes, there are stories like this. That's it, what I wanted to tell you. I told you, Buddha. So the story is about a jealous person. A jealous person, a greedy person—what kind of karmas can cause more, and what kind of distraction can it cause? So he was always jealous of his neighbor, and he always wished that his neighbor act towards him like his slave, he should be poor, he should always come to me to have something, he should greet me before I greet him. But unfortunately, it was not like that. The neighbor was rich. He never bought a car, and he had not even a bike. Never buy the beautiful color television; he had not even a small mirror to see his face. So someone told him, "It's only money that can make you great. Earn the money." So now his concentration was on how to get money, so he worked hard, working hard. But he had an expenditure of $50 per day, and his earning was only $17 per day. How to become rich? The expenditure is more than the income. So someone like Chidānanda suggested to him how to become rich. Only God can do it; only God can make you rich, no one else. So he went to the forest and was praying and praying for what? Money. Well, it doesn't matter for what you pray; if you are disciplined and really you are praying from the heart, then definitely God will come. So the voice came, "My son, I am happy with you. I bless you. What do you wish?" He said, "Well, if you are God, then don't ask me what I wish. You know what I wish." And that's why, when I ask many of you, "What do you wish?" He said, "Gurudev, you know what I wish." So when I asked Gurujī, he said, "You know what you want to do." When I asked you, you said, "You know what you want to do." My position is very high. So, when I ask Gurujī what to do, he says, "You know." When I ask you what to do, you say, "You know." So he said, "God, give me, please, something so that I become rich." So God said, "Okay. I give you one coin. A coin. Take it home. Anything you need, you make pūjā to this coin and ask him; he will give you everything. Whatever you want—dress, shoes, shampoo for coloring hair, eating, car, money, anything—and how much you want. Are you happy?" "Yes, Lord. You want something more?" "That's all, Lord." So God said, "Now your sādhanā is finished." He said, "Thank you, Lord." Now he's thinking, "Immediately I come home and I will make my neighbor my slave." Because he only wants to make his neighbors his slaves, and he's jealous of the neighbor. But God knows what his blessing is before dematerializing. God said, "Yes, my son. This coin has some special quality." "Yes, my Lord. What is that?" "That is this: if you ask this coin for one million dollars, it will give you immediately. But at the same time, your neighbor will get two million. So always he will have double." Hari Om, bye-bye. Now he was so angry, and he was so angry at God. "So many years I was doing tapas, all my sādhanā went in vain. But I tell you, Lord, I don't depend on you. With my own hands I will work and earn the money, but I will push my neighbor down." And he took this coin and came home and told his wife everything. And he said, "Don't utilize it. Just throw it under the bed somewhere in the dust. I'm going somewhere to work in other countries, and I will earn a lot of money." So he went away. Now, for 15 years he didn't come and didn't send money at all. He was working, carrying heavy things from one shop to another shop with hand lorries, and sleeping in the street, trying to save the money. Now at home, the children and wife were hungry. They had nothing to eat. So the wife told her eldest son, who was about 20 years old, the story about the coin. Then he said, "Mommy, Mother, we are hungry; we are five members in our house, and for the last three days we didn't eat anything. If this gives us food and the neighbor will get double, why not?" She agreed, so they found the coin, cleaned it nicely, and then made pūjā with ghee lamps and agarbattis and prayers and said, "Please, supply us ready-made food." Since that time, this ready-made food takeaway, you know—so all ready-made drinking, and pizza, and samosas, and halva, and whatever you could, soup and this, everything. With the plates and spoons and cups and coffee and tea and cakes and everything. And within no time, to their surprise, there was hot food already on the table, like you take something from out of the oven, and they were hungry for three days in need. The mother and the other four kids were so happy, and they thanked their God and began to eat. But what happened? In the neighbor's house came food for ten people. The neighbor was sitting with his wife there on the sink. Suddenly, there was a hot food line there, and his wife said, "Why do you see this?" He said, "Do you see what I see?" It smells good, it tastes good, so they also ate. After eating, the family of the jealous man asked for beautiful dresses, and ready-made, beautiful dresses for everyone came. Packed in suitcases, the suitcases were falling down there. And in the neighbor's house, ten suitcases were falling. The neighbor was thinking, "My God, there must be some black magic." They were frightened. Then, you know, desires have no end, and that's why Gandhijī said, "There is enough for everyone's needs, but not for the greed." Now they wanted to have beautiful furniture, a beautiful house, a car. The neighbor got two cars. Whatever they asked for, they never got double. And the children said, "Why not? If they are happy, we are also happy." So they are writing a letter to the father: "Dear father, long time we didn't hear from you. We hope you are healthy and well. We are also very happy and healthy. And especially, we want to tell you that now you don't need to work anymore. We have everything and are very rich. By the blessing of the Saṅkadev, the Kallus." When he read this letter, the jealous kid, he didn't see his son in this letter, nor his wife or his other children, nor does he see that they are happy. But he saw the neighbor. "He must be enjoying life on behalf of my tapasyā, and I told my stupid wife, 'It doesn't matter what happens, don't utilize this kīrt.'" Jealous, so he tried to come back to his country. And he couldn't sleep and couldn't eat. "My God, my neighbor will be very happy. And when I come, I have to greet him, to say to him, 'Hello, sir.' But he should know that I will ruin his life." When he came near the house, hardly could he recognize that it was his house. There was a little hut, and now it's a big villa. And he sees the right side, exactly the same model, but two villas. His blood was boiling, the good cells were dying, and he decided, "When I will enter my house, the first thing I will do is to beat my wife, give her slaps, stupid one, why she used this." He went in, luckily the boys were standing first. He hadn't seen these boys for 15 years. There were no photo cameras. All these boys were very strong, and they hugged the father, and the wife also said hello, but he didn't look at her. He said, "You spoiled everything. You ruined my life." He said, "Here it is." Then he made a mantra. Making mantra, singing wrong. Instead of saying "Gurū, Brahmā, Gurū," he used to say "Brahmā, Brahmā, Brahmā." And he said, "Saṅkadev, one of my legs should disappear." Can you imagine? What happened to the neighbor? Both legs disappeared. "One of my arms should disappear." His both arms disappeared. "One of my eyes should disappear." The neighbor lost both eyes. In this way, he completely destroyed the neighbor. And then he said, "In front of my house should be a very deep water well, a thousand meters deep." And so, in the neighbor's door, in front of the door, were two wells. He threw these funds into the water well and went for begging. He became a beggar. He destroyed everything. So, this is how a jealous person can cause troubles to others and to oneself. And so, there is still that man existing in many people, but that's all. We have to get rid of that person which is existing or living in us without our will, without our wish, and that is jealousy. And the jealous can do all terrible things, and if we do this, then we are not a yogī at all. How many āsanas you will perform is meaningless. How many kriyās you will do, Haṭha Yoga kriyās, and ḍaḍā yoga kriyās, meaningless. So, just simply be good, that's all. To become a yogī simply means to be good, that's all. Merciful, kind, helpful. Then your spirituality is at the top. It is your spirituality at the top. Recording location: Hungary, Vep, Welcome seminar

This text is transcribed and grammar corrected by AI. If in doubt, what was actually said in the recording, use the transcript to double click the desired cue. This will position the recording in most cases just before the sentence is uttered.

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