The Choice is Always Yours
2 August 1970 pm in Bombay, India
Question 1
AT THE DWARKA MEDITATION CAMP YOU MENTIOHAT ALL SADHANAS, ALL SPIRITUAL DISCIPLINES ARE FALSE, BECAUSE WE HAVE NEVER BEEN SEPARATE FROM GOD.
DOES THAT MEAATE OF UNSCIOUSNESS IS FALSE? IS THE GROWTH OF BODY AND MIND FALSE? IS THE CESSATION OF DITIONING FALSE? IS THE ACHIEVEMENT OF MOVING FROM THE GROSS TO THE SUBTLE FALSE? IS ALL THE PREPARATION FOR THE JOURNEY FROM THE FIRST BODY TO THE SEVENTH BODY FALSE? IS THE LONG PROCESS OF THE DISCIPLINE OF KUNDALINI ALL A SHAM? KINDLY EXPLAIN.
First of all, when I refer to something as false, as untruth, it does not mean it is ent.
Even a falsehood has its owence.
One could not call it a falsehood if that were not true.
A falsehood has its owend so does a dream.
When we say a dream is false, it does not mean a dream has ence.
It only means that the existence of a dream is psychological, not real.
It is a whim of the mind, not a fact.
When we say the world is maya, illusion, it does not mean the world is ent, because if the world does then whom are you addressing? Who is talking? Why? When one calls this world an illusio least assumes that the speaker exists and so does the listener.
He also assumes that somebody o explain, and someone o uand.
At least this much truth is established.
So when we call this world an illusion, it does not mean the world does .
It means the world appears to have aence.
Calling this world maya simply means the world is not what it looks like; rather, it is merely an appearance.
It does not look the way it actually is, it appears like what it really is not.
For example, a man is walking dowreet when it is almost dark.
He sees a piece of rope lying there and, mistaking it for a snake, runs for his life.
Someoells him it wasnt a shat what he saw was all false, that he ran for no reason.
Now what does this mean? To say the snake was false does not mean the man did not see the snake.
He would not have escaped had he not seen it -- he did see the snake.
As far as the question of his seeing the snake is ed, the snake was there.
Since he saw
And, had the rope not been there, he could not have seen the snake in ay space.
So the rope undoubtedly gave credeo his illusion.
What he saw inwardly was different from what existed outside.
A rope was lying there ahought it was a snake.
He did not see the rope as a rope -- which it was; the rope appeared to him like a snake, which it was not.
So he did not see that which was, he saw that which was not.
Actually, that which did was superimposed on that which did.
So when you apply words such as falsehood, untruth, illusion, appearance, do keep ohing in mind: it does not mean something is ent.
Take, for instahis man who fled, believing he had seen a snake.
If you try and vince him there is no snake oreet he will refuse to believe you; he will insist he has seen the snake.
You may persuade him to go bad look once again, but he wont agree unless you lend him a stick for his safety.
You know very well there is no snake and carrying a stick is meaningless, but the man is sure of the snake and finds the stick useful.
So when you offer him a stick for his safety someone may ask, "If the snake is not really there, then why do you give him the stic