YAGNA (યજ્ઞ) OF OFFERING

It is possible for the mind to reduce the thoughts if naam-smaran of Shree Bhagwan is done with love, devotion and heartfelt affection. We need to create the habit of offering all activities of the mind to Shree Bhagwan. Offer good and bad both. This offering should continue every second. When this is done with love, devotion and knowledge it is called yagna of offering. Self narration is automatically included in the bhavna of yagna of offering.

Pujya Shree Mota
Jivan Mandan
Edition 3; page 86.

DEBT TO SOCIETY

All of us need to understand one thing very clearly. We earn our livelihood from the society and it needs to be compensated for that. Such time is coming when just collecting, enjoying and plundering the wealth will not work. What we earn does not belong to us only. Lots of people have worked for that to happen. We are just not aware of that fact. Even though we may not accept this in our mind, society has a definite role in it. We always reciprocate in our worldly affairs and it is same with the society in general. We will be able to digest the wealth only if we enjoy it with detachment, enthusiasm and understanding. By the grace of God all my personal capital (40,000 Rupees) was used for the betterment of the society. I am not writing you this out of thin air but from my personal experience. I am telling you this since you are my swajan.

Pujya Shree Mota
Dhan no yog
Edition 1; page 187.

PROCESS OF TRANSFORMATION OR SUBLIMATION (રૂપાંતરક્રિયા)

Swajan : Mota, I do understand you regarding naam-smaran and self narration to God. But no real interest develops in it. Mind gets attracted to beauty and is being pulled into other desires and  pleasures. How do I use naam-smaran in this situation?

Shree Mota : We should offer whatever is within us to the entity that we have decided to inspire and guide us in our progress. There will be less trust if it is not done. It is comparable to the worker giving the report of the whole day to the owner and then feeling the relief as a result. Sadhak should do the same and only then he can remain stress free, easy going and open hearted.

Continue the thing that you comprehended while doing Hari Om Japa. Japa is lot more vibrant and effective if it done from within. Try taking a lot more interest in it. We should be as excited as our profession or business and some more. Someone may ask "what can I do if there is no excitement in Japa?" Well, you do not get excited initially in the business as well, but that changes fast when you start getting interested and making money. We will get involved in Japa just as well and our interest will increase in it too. We will also get new understanding and vision as we get involved in Japa. Our heartfelt aim is to get more and more involved in Japa and get deeper and deeper into it.

The tendency of the mind towards the beauty cannot be reduced fast. Mind will stop taking interest in the pleasures of the world only with difficult penance and when mind settles in the divine consciousness. One who does not want to be attracted towards the beauty should do constant naam-smaran. But even this may not be enough to divert the mind. Only the fortunate one who has intense desire in the heart to not be controlled by mind, may be able to do so. We should be able to comprehend all the thoughts and be able to understand the roots of the thoughts. We should do this with naam-smaran as a main focused tool and giving it the utmost importance.

It is a kind of energy when old desires get intensified. This energy gets wasted when it flows through its old beaten track. If this energy is used with knowledge in the opposite direction, we get more in touch with divine consciousness. To do this we should not surrender to the this force of natural tendencies. At that time we should offer these desires and natural tendencies to Bhagwan  with prayerful heart and awareness constantly. Only then the desires and the attraction to beauty will not flow in its beaten track and slowly loose its strength and we will transform or sublimate our nature to that extent. So truth of the matter is that if you remember to do this at the time it is needed, it will be definitely beneficial. This work is not for impatient person. It demands tremendous patience, great endurance, irrepressible enthusiasm and unlimited awareness from us.

Pujya Shree Mota
Dhan no yog
Edition 1; pages 131 - 134.

NEED OF THE EGO

Swajan : Mota, When will I get rid of my ego? Why do I have so much of ego?

Shree Mota : It is not possible to have the condition without the ego right way. It is impossible to do any activity without the ego in our life. We will be absolutely lazy and aimless without it. So ego is necessary for the progress of the human being. If we use the element of ego only in the field of sadhana, its force in other activities will be reduced automatically.

Pujya Shree Mota
Dhan no yog
Edition 1; page 137.

SELF NARRATION (આત્મનિવેદન), A KIND OF BHAKTI

There are nine kinds of bhakti and self narration is one of them. When we self narrate tendencies and reactions of the mind that develops when we act in certain improper way to certain people and circumstances, mind's load seems to ease.  It is important to do this with heartfelt sincerity and keeping in mind the purpose behind self narration is to get freedom from such reactions. By the grace of God I have done self narration of my natural inner tendencies with open heart during my sadhana period. It is not possible for sadhak to move forward without such heartfelt narration. It is a giant step forward for the sadhak. In fact when there is real desire to move forward, sadhak cannot but confess such tendencies of the mind with open heart. It is a real sign of bhakti if such heartfelt confession is done.

Pujya Shree Mota
Dhan no yog
Edition 1, pages 123 - 124.

PEACE OF MIND

If we call upon Shree Bhagawan regarding whatever happens to us with humility and cry of distress in the spirit of prayers and self narration, we will receive the peace of mind like no other.

Pujya Shree Mota
Jivan Mandan
Edition 3; page 73.

EITHER ACCEPT OR OPPOSE WITH UNDERSTANDING AND LOVE

Kumbhakonam,

May 28th, 1951.

By the grace of God this soul had to oppose certain prevailing customs of my community in Nadiad. We have seen people serving communities other than theirs by separating themselves from their own family and community. These volunteers do not get a chance to deal with such situations (opposing the customs of your own community and family). I had the awareness to oppose these undesirable customs in my own community. It was not based on certain basic instinct to oppose it but on certain sense of duty (dharma, ધર્મ) and oppose it in that context. So I opposed these old customary traditions of my community with that perspective and sense of duty. In such circumstances community never accepts such behavior from a poor person* and either they are ignored or insulted. It is rather impossible to oppose unfair and undesirable customs when time comes to oppose it in your own family while living in the community and gain the goodwill and love from the community at the same time. So we should either accept such insults with true humility, love and understanding or oppose it. But when you oppose them there should be tremendous heartfelt goodwill toward them being expressed in your dealings with them.

Pujya Shree Mota

Jivan Mandan

Edition 3; page 194. 

*

My two cents -- There was tradition of not touching certain lower cast community members and not sharing the source of water with them. Pujya Shree Mota opposed this tradition. Because of that his community was against him initially but later some members were appreciative of his efforts. Pujya Shree Mota and his family was poor. 

TOLERANCE OF PEOPLE WITH OPPOSING OPINION.

Sabarmati Ashram
February 1st, 1940.

We must abandon our efforts to prove ourselves right at the cost of others. There must be an effort to understand others viewpoint with evenhandedness. Never consider others as stupid, ignorant and never develop contempt for them in the minds. Although it is difficult to keep a smiling face when somebody opposes our ideals or the ideals of people whom we admire and yet at the very same thing makes spiritual life superior to the ordinary life. Spiritual person does not rebel at the inconsistency between "what it is and what it should be". He accepts the life as it is. It does not mean that he surrenders to the circumstances. He never feels helpless and surrender to the circumstances. He evaluates and lets the situation mature appropriately. At the same time he accepts the people who do not handle the situation on hand well. He is not like the people who favor one kind of lifestyle against the other, so he does not have disappointment or shame. In other words he is not intolerant to circumstances or the people. He considers others as honest and selfless as he.

Our religion does not believe in God that favors one person against the other or extracts the revenge. We believe in God's love for universe. This religion expects us to have patience and act with humility and spiritual feelings towards the people who oppose us. We have developed this nature of opposing anyone who does not agree with our opinion and tend to believe them as stupid or something like that and tend to develop contrariwise feelings. It is very helpful to understand persons background, nature,  education and past history to evaluate and decide the reasons behind persons opinion and actions. We can understand the person by knowing his nature and vision. Not only that, we can estimate his understanding of the situation. There is always some goodness in a cruel person and we can experience that spark of goodness by such understanding.

Pujya Shree Mota
Jivan Sandesh
Edition 3; pages 250 - 251.

HUMILITY (2)

Sadhak will have to take a dip in his nature and study it deeply to develop the virtue of humility. There lies all kinds of traits of egoism and arrogance in the heart of his nature. This may take gross or  subtle forms deceiving the sadhak. Some times the ego itself takes the form of humility and keeps itself hidden from the sadhak. Who can understand the intricacies of ego? The soul that has realized to stay busy with his efforts in sadhana will always be saved from these various tricks of the ego.

The virtue of humility expresses itself in the life only when there is complete silence of all the senses, mind and prana. Steady and intuitive pursuit of this appropriate life developing humility transforms the life itself into sadhana. When that happens mind enters the regions of divine and deep energy and becomes tranquil.

Pujya Shree Mota
Jivan Sandesh
Edition 3; page 249.

HUMILITY (1)

Humility cannot be cultivated with knowledge and intelligence. It springs up from the heart when certain circumstances are created by the steady pursuit  of favorable and appropriate bhavnas ( like reducing ego, mental silence etc ).

There is always the inner tendency of "I"ness in all the activities of the life. There is reduction in this "I"ness towards the world only when there is realization in the heart that every thing that happens in this world is as a result of the wish of God and not ours. With that deep apathy and non attachment towards the worldly affairs is produced. True humility is produced from this deep understanding that even a leaf cannot move without His wish. With this realization we do not act with the force and guidance of "I". Nothingness is slowly cultivated then. This nothingness is a measure of humility. Nothingness means complete annihilation of ego or "I"ness. Humility springs in the one who has eliminated ego completely. Humility is a measure of the development of higher life of the soul.

Pujya Shree Mota
Jivan Darshan
Edition 3; page 247 - 248.

EXPRESSING BHAVNA IN DAILY LIFE

The purpose of meditation and other modalities used in sadhana is to express the continuity of the bhavna developed during the practice of these modalities in our daily lives. Only then it is possible to have continuous and all absorbing bhavna in our lives. If bhavna is produced during sadhana and it is massacred during rest of the time, creates a kind of fault in our bhavna that destroys it in the end due to these mutually contradictory ways. It is for this reason that sadhak has to pay a lot more attention with awareness to the daily interactions in life than attention to practicing sadhana. His inclination and tendency has to work to achieve this with knowledge, love and devotion. It is of little importance to practice sadhana if this aspect is not carried out wholeheartedly. I consider the spiritual path as a way to be practiced and expressed in our daily lives and call it JIVAN YOGA for the same reasons.

Pujya Shree Mota
Life and works
Edition 1; pages 178 -- 179.

JAPA IN SHORT IS ______

Question :  Mota, How can we understand  JAPA in one or two simple sentences?

Pujya Shree Mota :  JAPA is a symbol of ever flowing infinite divine consciousness and JAPA is just a miniature tool to create awareness of this consciousness. Constant awareness of this divine consciousness is JAPA.

Pujya Shree Mota
Shree Mota Sathe Vartalap
Edition 2; page 29.

SADHAK'S CONDUCT TOWARDS SERVANTS (DOMESTIC HELP)

Sadhak will definitely have some idea regarding the bad habits of his servants. Even though improving the lives of his servants may not be of prime importance, he should never neglect that aspect. He should never act inappropriately and get angry at them for wrong reasons. It is our meanness to believe that servants has to be working all the time and that they should never be without the work. Servants have the feelings too and they may need the rest at times. In most places servants do not get to sleep till the main person goes to bed. Thoughtful person will always think that servants need minimum of seven hours of sleep. A servant will have feeling of goodness towards us only if we show the goodness from our heart at the time of his sickness by allowing him to rest, arranging for the medicines and making his life easier. To act this way is our duty. If someone is very particular regarding the way house needs to be arranged and one servant cannot manage it, he should make arrangement to hire another one. If he cannot do that for economical reasons then he should give only appropriate amount of work to the servant. There is a belief in some rich families that we should be very strict with the servants and that they should be fearful of us. This is pure ignorance. The servant may work for us because of need and circumstances but he will never have goodwill and love in his heart if we behave with this kind of harshness towards him. How bad will we feel if someone acts with this kind of harshness towards us in similar situation? We must think about it.

Eventually sadhak will stop treating him as a servant and keep the bhavna (attitude) as if the servant is his own relative. Sadhak should never fear or doubt that the servant will take advantage of his good behavior when his own actions are directed by goodwill, knowledge and understanding. His complete satisfaction lies in the fact that all of his actions were appropriate from all the angles and directed with goodness.

Pujya Shree Mota
Jivan Sandesh
Edition 3; page 203 - 205.

My two cents --  This is only part of the ideas Pujya Shree Mota expressed in the letter written in August 1943. 

HOW TO MAINTAIN HAPPINESS IN JOINT FAMILY

You may have mental struggles since there is interaction with many people while performing the given tasks. This may lead to mental strain, irritability and agitation. This in turn leads to loss of peacefulness in the mind. Bhavna and naam-smaran disappears from the mind. As a result we waste our hard earned precious achievements in our lives. Hardly any soul recognizes this effect. We will learn a lot if we make an effort with knowledge to learn to keep peace, harmony and equanimity in every work and circumstances in dealing with others and keep heartfelt goodness, love and mental generosity towards them. We may have to let go many times but this in itself is a kind of penance. Our lives will be shining beacon of light if there is pure bhavna (to let go) with the heartfelt love and devotion.

Pujya Shree Mota
Jivan Mandaan
Edition 3; page 98.

My two cents  -- Pujya Shree Mota's answer to  a letter from a lady devotee married in a joint family.

BAD LUCK IS IMAGINATION

"I used to feel till today that I am miserable and have all the bad luck. Now with introspection, I understand the importance and mystery of the valuable life given to me by God. I also feel that there is no end to these thoughts and introspections and years will pass by without any results. Now time has come to give shape to these thoughts and introspections and put it in action".

The above writing by you is absolutely correct. It is possible to give shape to one's life only with firm and determined decision. It is helpful if it is done with the true spirit of the heart. Know for sure that essence of life is experienced when giving shape to one's life in this way.

Pujya Shree Mota
Jivan Mandaan
Edition 3; page 47.

My two cents -- Pujya Shree Mota's reply to a devotee's introspection.

DIFFERENCE IN INTROSPECTION OF SADHAK AND WORLDLY PERSON (સંસારી)

Lots of introspection without the end is also not right. When there is true introspection in the mind there has to be a solution regarding whatever problem is worked on. This is the true measure of true introspection. Otherwise know and believe that it is just the whirlwind of thoughts in the mind. The soul that introspects for the advancement of his progress in life does not get embroiled in the series of thoughts. He gets the key to the solution of his problem from the ongoing introspection. This may take time on occasion. There is lots of difference between the introspection of sadhak and ordinary soul. There is definite clarity in contemplation by the sadhak when he does introspection. He has definite aim with propensity towards only one direction. There is no confusion and at the same time there is awareness and ever present equanimity. He does not get confused or get embroiled in the whirls of introspection. His sequence of logic is pure and continues unabated. This gives rise to subsequent thoughts just like stepping up on the ladder. Sometimes he may accept the step that was the result of his introspection and it may turn out to be a wrong step. And yet he becomes aware of his fault right away. This kind of experiences will happen also. Introspection is very necessary for progressing in life. Sometimes it produces great pains and we may not be prepared for that situation. One who does not have the definite support of mental and inner bhavna (strength) may not be able to withstand this kind of intense and harsh introspection. One may get dissatisfied, disappointed and breakdown. We must be aware and see that introspection is done in a right way. I described this in detail so that you can understand the importance and inner working of introspection.

Pujya Shree Mota
Jivan Mandaan
Edition 3; pages 43 - 44.

SELF-CONFIDENCE DEVELOPS AS THE CONTROL OVER THE MIND IS ESTABLISHED

Have awareness (of thoughts) or keep trying to be aware. Mind may touch the subject that it is interested in but you do not get perplexed or entangled with it. Sadhak needs to keep that kind of alertness and vigilance. Mind is always going to act according to its own nature and characteristics. It is our duty to save ourselves from that. If we are not aware mind will start the chain of thoughts immediately. It is the experience of many sadhaks that it is possible to prevent this chain of thoughts by being aware of the thoughts. With practice this is feasible and when this happens we develop definite self-confidence of having control over the mind. We also develop courage and spirit of adventure from this self-confidence. Think about this and put it in action. Then only life has any meaning.

Pujya Shree Mota
Jivan Mandaan
Edition 3; page 202.

CURE FOR OUR FAULTS -- SELF NARRATION

When we know and acknowledge our faults it looses its strength. Just as we feel small when we are caught stealing personally or lying, accepting our faults with knowledge, love, devotion and with the purpose of reducing it, tends to decrease the strength and tendency of our faults. Experienced holy and knowledgable men in the past found that it is very helpful to use self narration at the feet of God regarding whatever bothers us. When we self narrate at His feet the things that bother us, with deep pain and love in our hearts and ask for His help and grace, our hearts get filled up with bhavna. When this bhavna expresses itself in our hearts, our hearts get filled up with easiness, openness and softness automatically. For these reasons we should never give in to our faults and hypocrisy.

Pujya Shree Mota
Jivan Mandaan
Edition 3; page 204 - 205.

HYPOCRISY (દંભ) IS A MAJOR BAD QUALITY (દુર્ગુણ)

You wrote me about some of your bad qualities and mentioned about hypocrisy and anger as the major bad qualities. These bad qualities are usually present in most people. Lots of people have this disease of claiming to know a lot when actually they know very little. Some people have this habit of projecting themselves in a way that is not the truthful projection of themselves. Compared to anger hypocrisy is such a major bad quality that it will not let you progress in spirituality unless you tear the curtain of hypocrisy. Hypocrisy keeps its grip on you the most. Hypocrisy creates a curtain that prevents you from seeing clearly the difference between who you are and how you project yourself. In its own subtle way it makes you take a stand on both sides of the issue preventing you from getting the clear view of the real issue. In a true sense hypocrisy is nature's very strong grip on us. When we try to progress in spirituality with real enthusiasm, hypocrisy tends to hold us down by taking variety of new forms. We will never have the love and devotion to God without first knowing, exposing and going above our nature. In this way hypocrisy is the biggest enemy in the path of spirituality.

Pujya Shree Mota
Jivan Mandaan
Edition 3; page 203.

MANAGING ANGER

When someone is very upset and angry at the other person for certain kind of behavior, he may decide to keep calm and internalize the anger. He assumes the calm demeanor on the outside and does not express his real anger towards the other person. I do not consider this (not expressing the anger outside) as hypocrisy. I think this is a better way than expressing the anger. He may get perplexed and upset in his mind for doing so. He may get all kinds of thoughts in his mind. He may justify the reasons for being angry in his mind. I do not consider this method as hypocrisy if he does not get angry in spite of having enough reason to justify his anger in his own mind. Sadhak needs to identify, resolve and remove these conflicting thoughts from his mind over a period of time. In the end he must reach a state where there is no anger to start with and there is no need to work at it at a later time.

Pujya Shree Mota
Jivan Mandaan
Edition 3; page 207.

My two cents -- This was written in a letter to a devotee who thought that getting angry and not expressing it is a hypocrisy. Pujya Shree Mota explains this stage as a beginning in managing the anger. The aim here is to see that the anger does not appear in the first place. 

SADHAK'S BEHAVIOR TOWARDS ELDERS

It must mean something when we have or develop the heartfelt respect for the elders in our lives. Elders in our lives must become the symbols of God if and when we develop love and devotion towards the God. What is the use of our sadhana of the divine if we fail to develop such love and devotion towards them? They must have an element of God if He is all pervading. If we accept this premise then we must express our Bhakti (love and devotion) towards our elders. Sadhak's view point is not the same as the view point of worldly person. We must realize that it is extraordinarily different. Bhavna is produced by the constant and permanent efforts and its practice by the sadhak. Sadhak must express the purpose of this bhavna concretely in real world and shape it while expressing it. Then only this expression of love and devotion will excel and shine. When that happens there is a possibility of seeing the spark of God residing within the hearts of all.

What it means is that the bhavna must get concentrated and mature in the sadhak first and then it is expressed and expanded outwards. This process should keep on going. Sadhak must be keenly aware of the fact that all this happenings is for the development of his sadhana and he should offer all the fruits to the divine. Only then it is possible to carry on this lively expression with wisdom and bhakti.

Pujya Shree Mota
Jivan sandesh
Edition 3; pages 11 - 12.

PRACTICING MONISM ( અભેદ ) -- (2)

Sadhak must express bhavna in all of his deeds. Sadhana means synthesis of the ways of Bhakti (devotion and love), Gnyaan (knowledge and wisdom), Dhyan (meditation) and karma. Bhakti is the flood of Bhavna, Gnyaan is the purpose and Dhyan is the focus and attention. Karma is the channel to express all these in appropriate and harmonious way. As the strength, bhavna and inspiration are gained from the sadhana it needs to be expressed in our deeds e.g when the bhakti gathers the strength sadhak must experience the bhava of devotion and love. At the same time he must expand this love and devotion in the people who have come in his contact due to circumstances, destiny, with or without any purpose. Then only he will experience the measure of the strength of the effectiveness and liveliness of this love and devotion. Sadhak cannot be satisfied with the partial and incomplete achievement. He has undertaken the task of expressing the universal and all pervading God almighty within him. If he wants to touch the expressions of the divine he will have to proceed with flooding of the bhavna that has developed from his sadhana in the people, who have come in his contact due to destiny. It means he should not keep the inborn way of looking at the family, although it is always there. He needs to embrace them in the much higher plane and be absorbed in the devotion to the divine at the same time. Not only that, he needs to keep his attention that his main intention behind all these is his own development of sadhana. He needs to act in bhakti, knowledge, meditation and actions with the sole purpose of his own development and achieving the goal of his life. He does not need to act for others. With this attitude there is no chance of any disappointment. He will always look for the reason within him whenever there is disappointment or unpleasant event. This is practicing monism. Eventually sadhak has the experience that the root cause of the universe is within him. Sadhak feels as if he has no time to see the actions of others. This happens only when he stays focused in the bhavna of his sadhana.

Pujya Shree Mota
Jivan sandesh
Edition 3; pages 10 -- 11.

PRACTICING MONISM ( અભેદ ) -- (1).

Dear Brother,

Nothing happens in our lives independently and our karma is the root cause and principle reason behind the happenings. Sadhak will have the experience of omnipotency of God only when he understands this and puts in practice with the help of His consciousness and energy.

Everything in this world is a form of the divine consciousness or reality but it has taken different forms. It means that whatever happens is because of us. We have to perform the deed with the spirit that the root cause is within us. In this way it will not be binding to us. This is possible only if we do not keep the spirit or tendency according to the deed itself but do it with the spirit of developing the bhava of sadhana with awareness and knowledge and then offering everything to God. Then only the deeds are not binding to us. We should never act according to the tendencies and differentiate between the works, since that is not our way. We need to act in the opposite direction.

Person learns from the difficulties and develops the fighting spirit from it. Life shines a whole lot more due to difficulties. One develops the self confidence and energy from these fights against adversities.

Pujya Shree Mota
Jivan sandesh
Edition 3; pages 9 -- 10.

EVERY ACTION IS FOR ONE'S SELF.

Swajan : Mota, Ordinarily I would not have joined my father's business. It is out of respect for my father's feelings that I am in this business. I feel like writing about my dilemma but it is not expressed fully because of my shyness.

Pujya Shree Mota : I find that there is small fault in the thinking that you are in the business to fulfill your duty towards your father. The reason being the presence of some unknown purpose when you are thrust in certain situation without any effort or search on your part. So we should embrace the situation for our own self and not for anybody else. We cannot run away from duty and transgress the  good conduct till the circumstances that present itself are taken care of. It cannot last for ever. It also has an end. So it is good if you can change your thinking process in this regard. You may get interested in the business if you develop such understanding and act appropriately in the given circumstances.Your understanding that God has given this circumstance so that you can contemplate and know yourself is absolutely true.

One who is in quest of God must know one's self completely. We should go deeper and deeper to see and know everything within us, use sense of discretion and self narrate everything to God. We should be very cautious and not let ourselves disturbed while doing all these.

Pujya Shree Mota
Dhan no yog
Edition 1; pages 14 - 15.

MENTAL STRUGGLE

Swajan : Mota, I get too many thoughts in my mind and it keeps on going all the time. I wake up at night suddenly and feel as if somebody is trying to tell me something.

Pujya Shree Mota : There is always the chain of thoughts going on in the mind of a person who lives ordinary life in the world. A person who does not have this kind of thoughts is either a dull and inert person or a yogi with wisdom. So it does not matter if there is this chain of thoughts in the mind. We should have the understanding of not getting tangled up in this chain of thoughts. We can by choice develop this chain of thoughts regarding any problem and make an appropriate decision. After implementing the  decision we should be care free and not worry about it. We should not let our mind stay disturbed after implementing our decision regarding the presenting situation.

If you are bothered by the persistent thoughts at bed time then try to explain to the mind "This is not the time to have this kind of thoughts. You think about it when it is needed at the time of the work. Now is the time to be peaceful". After explaining to the mind do naam-smaran with love and devotion. The reason for waking up from sleep suddenly is the deep rooted impressions within you. The thoughts of your duty, tentative job situation, difficulties and uncertainties, laziness are the expressions of deep rooted conflicts that your consciousness is trying to bring it to the surface. Due to the worry and burden in our mind while dealing with the conflicts and difficult situation, our consciousness cannot express and bring up these deep rooted conflicts on the surface at that time. This happens since we are too busy to notice these intimations from our consciousness. So we should be completely peaceful and worry free after performing our work and duty.

Pujya Shree Mota
Dhan no yog
Edition 1; excerpts from pages 10 - 12.

WAYS TO DESTROY THE EGO

If sadhak wants to enter into the heart of the sadhana, he must first make an effort to be free from the ego. First he must develop care and enthusiasm to become humblest of the humble with wisdom and knowledge. He must interact with love and keep the spirit of the love alive with clear understanding.   Every time when the ego raises its ugly head, he must be aware and make sure that nothing is done with inspiration from the ego. Satvic guna cannot be expressed fully as long as ego is in existence. The steps of reducing the grip of false understanding, acting with the most humility, taking care that our insistences are not enforced and doing all these with the spirit of love are taken with wisdom in the given circumstances, then there has to be a reduction and destruction of the ego.

Pujya Shree Mota
Jivan Manthan
Edition 3; pages 222 - 223.

LOVE CAN MELT THE EGO.

The element of ego is very powerful in human life. It cannot be destroyed without true heartfelt love. Love is the one that can unite us with the feeling of nearness. Ego seems to be loosing its power on its own when we meet and unite with each other, attracted by the heartfelt virtue of the love. If there is genuine desire to melt the ego, it is immensely necessary to develop such heartfelt bhava (love). Then only we can be one.

Pujya Shree Mota
Jivan Manthan
Edition 3; page 222.

UNDESIRABLE EFFECTS OF THE EGO

As the ego gets to be less, some of our insistences also becomes less. Because of the ego we tend to accept certain beliefs and stay in its grip. We tend to believe that we are always right and stick to that belief vehemently. It alway keeps us tied to ordinary life governed by duality. The very existence of the inner natural tendencies (prakruti) depend upon the ego. Ego can be present even in the satva-guna. 

Pujya Shree Mota
Jivan Manthan
Edition 3; page 222.

GRACE OF SHREE BHAGWAN (GOD).

It is appropriate that we ask for the help and energy from God whenever we make mistake and stray from our path. This help in not meant to make us weak or keep us in the state of inactivity, laziness or encourage us to continue with our usual busy life. If we have this grace it will always attract us. Sadhak who asks for this grace has to make a tremendous effort first. It is my humble belief that if one does not have that constant and uniform attraction with love and devotion towards Shree Bhagwan, one is not in a condition to ask for this grace. We can ask for a favor from our relatives and friends if we have developed that kind of relationship with them earlier. We need to develop that heartfelt closeness with Shree Bhagwan before we are in a condition to ask for grace.

Pujya Shree Mota
Jivan Manthan
Edition 3; page 214.

GOOD WORK OF ENLIGHTENED INTELLECT (બુિધ્ધ) -- (2).

Intellect has many kind of understandings and can easily be deadlocked in its beliefs. It will try to make us view and accept the situation from these viewpoints. So it is vert important for the intellect to free itself from this kind of stubborn beliefs. This is possible when the satvic qualities (like calm and peace, truthfulness, goodness towards all) express in our lives fully. This does not happen on its own and requires great effort by the sadhak. There is only one way to develop this. Know for sure that we will develop this satvic qualities by behaving with others with the spirit of happiness, peace, even handedness, patience, endurance and compassion. We should be alert when mistakes are made. Accept the mistakes so that we can correct it and move forward. This is possible if we can make an effort with knowledge, awareness and keeping our vision, inner tendencies and propensity fixed towards our goal.

Pujya Shree Mota
Jivan Manthan
Edition 3; pages 213 - 214.

SUBLIMATION OF THE NATURE

Sometimes we feel our work as drudgery and tiresome due to absence of the purpose in our work. Generally uninterested work is motiveless and without any good intent. Therefore experienced saints advised us to do those deeds for the sake of God. Play, fight, lose and love God. With this there will be transformation of lust, anger and attachments. While reciting the name of God, tell God your self-story whatever it may be and offer everything to Him. In this way you develop a close relationship with God. Your mind, heart and breath will be harmonized. This is easier and better way than Pranayam. We can observe the whole universe in concrete shape and size. It is very subtle. The original founders of religious cultures in ancient times have proclaimed that the sound itself is Brahm (supreme being). Divine consciousness expresses in two ways, with form and formless. Neither of them is superior to the other. The aim of worshiping both are same. Both can be worshipped by using the word (sound). The sound being a Brahm is a mighty power. Since the feeling of anger, mercy, benevolent can be expressed by words its power is unquestionable.

Pujya Shree Mota
Prabhuni Khoj.
Edition 4; page 19.

GOOD WORK OF ENLIGHTENED INTELLECT (બુિધ્ધ) -- (1).

It is understandable that our outer relationships are based on our mind. We understand whatever our mind thinks. Mind thinks according to the past impressions on our Chitta. Shree Bhagwan has given us a guard in the form of intellect to alerts us during the process. This intellect has the power and the light. Intellect can produce wisdom and deep knowledge about surroundings. Our understanding is born out of the light of the intellect. Our intellect is the instrument we have that is nearest to the divine consciousness. Out intellect will never fail us if we use it to evaluate the faults in our thought process and inner tendencies with equanimity and awareness. Our intellect will direct the attention on the contrary thought process if it does not fit with our behavior and long term goal. Constant awareness of the our goal produces sense of discretion in our intellect. Mind, etc., tend to get embroiled in the inner natural tendencies but the enlightened intellect is not weak and will definitely point the way out, show us our true form and lead us on true path.

Pujya Shree Mota
Jivan manthan
Edition 3; pages 212 - 213.

CLEANSING AND BALANCING INTELLECT BY 'GOING WITHIN' (INTROSPECTION)

Intellect guided by love and devotion is needed to analyze, evaluate and understand any subject. Intellect is the energy. Divine energy first menifests in the intellect of the human body. Intellect is the subtlest of the implements in the human body. To understand the deeper meaning, we must develop a balanced intellect. Only this kind of balanced intellect is fit to understand the deeper meaning.

Sadhak needs to get the solution of the problems of life from the heart with love instead of the decisions by the intellect. All of us are ordinary human beings and act accordingly. Our senses, mind, intellect, chitta, prana etc. look outside for the solutions of our problems.They seldom act by  introspection, by being focused and concentrated in our inner sanctum. Meaning of the introspection is that our senses, mind etc. free themselves from the outside interests, get focused and start acting from within and maintain that status. When this kind of introspection becomes active and practical, intellect gets purified. Intellect becomes pure and balanced. When this kind of introspection is developed and becomes active; mind, prana and intellect gets purified from all the aspects. It is not possible without this kind of introspection.

Pujya Shree Mota
Jivan Sopan
Edition 3: pages 209 - 210.

CAN WE TALK WITH GOD?

There are many kinds of Bhakti (worship). But the best kind of Bhakti is self narration (atma-nivedan). Just keep telling the God whatever happens. When self narration is done while things happen, intellect gets peaceful and it is easier to get the solution of the problem. As we practice we experience the support of God. There is no such other thing that provides us with the kind of help and support that God provide. We should practice self-narration to get this support. We become aware of the bhavna towards God that is laying dormant within us by naam-smaran, bhajan, good reading and keeping the company of pious people. We then do not have any fear once we experience this support from God. It is easier to support the family with this kind of bhakti. We always experience that we are not alone and there is somebody above us, who always helps and finds the solutions of the problems. It is our misfortune if we cannot utilize this help.

Pujya Shree Mota
Prabhuni khoj
Edition 1; page 74.

CHANGE OF NATURE, A MUST.

Some well wishers asked me" How will you run the ashram if you keep telling people to change their nature or basically do not come here unless you are willing to change?" I do not depend on ashram for my lively hood. We will close the ashram if that is needed. So do not think about it. Keep the higher aspirations from the time you leave the house for the ashram and return home. Many people go to the temple to socialize instead of praying at the temple. It is useless to come here to socialize. It is better if you do not come here. It makes no sense to come here if you are not willing to do naam-smaran, change your nature or develop the endurance to let go for the other human beings in this world.

Pujya Shree Mota
Prabhuni khoj
Edition 1; pages 84 -85.

CONSTRUCTIVE THOUGHTS

When negative thoughts about anybody arise in your mind, let the thoughts about his virtues also arise. In this way you can improve and direct your mind in good thoughts for your own benefit. If you train your mind to think constructively, you will also create the habit of solving the problems. The constructive mind can solve any problem in the midst of confusions, puzzles and difficulties and at the same time have peace and joy.

Pujya Shree Mota

Prabhuni khoj

Edition 4 ; page 25.

HOW AND WHAT TO THINK

We should think about ourselves. We should neither go on thinking about our faults nor about the faults of others all the time. Thinking like that will increase our weaknesses. It is essential to be conscious of our thoughts. But at the same time it is also equally important to think how and what kind of attempts are made to get rid of such negative thoughts. It is very important to evaluate and see whether such efforts produce enthusiasm, zeal and ardent feelings to be free from such weaknesses. If we do not feel this way, then it is not possible to advance towards our goal. Inner force is required to change our thought process and act on it. Our ancient sages found out that the naam-smaran of God is the best way to develop such inner force.

Pujya Shree Mota
Prabhuni khoj
Edition 4; page 25.

USE OF NAAM-SMARAN IN WORLDLY LIFE

The human intellect is a superior tool than the wealth. The wealth is acquired by using the intellect and the mind in our worldly works. When the intellect and mind are confused and afflicted, how can it be useful it earn the money? Naam-smaran is an easy tool to keep the mind and intellect in good shape. It is an excellent tool that can be used to tackle our problems, difficulties, puzzles and be peaceful in the society that we live in. When you have a perplexing problem and the mind is unsettled, try sitting in a lonely corner of the house and do naam-smaran. Perplexity will go away and you will get the solution of the problem. It is also a good tool to use when you do the social work since the works are done in a better way. If you create the habit of doing naam-smaran while doing the social work, you can definitely reduce the attachments and jealousy within you.  

Pujya Shree Mota
Prabhuni khoj
Edition 1; page 68.

DO NOT LIVE IN HYPOCRISY AND ILLUSION

Our destiny depends upon our deeds. Yet our deeds are neither restraints nor obstructions in our path towards the God. The very fact that we are born as humans show that there is a possibility to experience the divine consciousness. But we do not have the aspiration like the erupting volcano. It is necessary to have that inclination but we do not think about it. We cannot sit idle if we have that inclination and thought. When the aspiration becomes intense it is bhakti. I consider hypocrisy if someone does naam-smaran all the time and yet continues to foster jealousy and desires. People say that you can achieve salvation by reciting God's name for million times in a day. I say to those people that it is a false belief. Do not promote false hood and ignorance. Even continuous Naam-smaran will nor excel if there is no reduction in desires, jealousy, anger and greed.

Pujya Shree Mota
Prabhuni khoj
Edition 1; page 67 - 68.

My two cents -- It may be helpful to read and review the blog (beware of hypocrisy) written on May 10, 2011.

NAAM-SMARAN FOR HAPPINESS

If you have decided to experience the divine consciousness as a goal then you must make a constant effort. It is still possible to achieve peace and happiness in the world even if the goal is not experiencing the divine consciousness. I appeal to those people to try Naam-smaran and see the results.

We may not be able to fix the goal to experience the divine consciousness and yet can try Naam-smaran to protect against the difficulties and problems of life. Even though the naam-smaran is done as a spoken word, its light enters our conscience. We can forget the word, but the associated remembrance is both spoken and heard. Naam-smaran is such that it gets deep in our conscience as it is repeated. It enters our conscience with higher aspiration in proportion to the intensity (bhavna) with which it is spoken. When we speak the word with extreme anger, it produces the disturbances in our prana. God' name produces vibrations and its results are according to our aspiration.

When the naam-smaran becomes continuous we can stay in a state leading to higher aspirations. Certain periods during this naam-smaran results in concentration and bhavna. This leaves deep impressions in our psyche. As the period of higher inspirations increase, these impressions gets dense and deep.

Pujya Shree Mota
Prabhuni khoj
Edition 1; page 65 - 66.

PURIFY THE PRANA TO ACHIEVE THE PEACE OF THE MIND.

Once the purification of the prana is achieved, mind stops to function in duality (sankalp and veekalp). In realty mind is never without activity and constantly plays in duality. As long as expectations, anger, greed and infatuations etc, persist in our prana, there will always be sprouting of inner tendencies in the mind. This leads to constant flow of thoughts in the mind. To sublimate the prana requires more courage than the courage of a soldier in the battle field. One who has lively and creative eagerness and desire can win this battle. So if we remove the base of the prana, mind has no way to function in duality. Mind then achieves tranquility and quietude. So understand that the mind gets the quietude if there is purification of the prana. This does not happen without the great effort. Naam-smaran is the easy way to achieve this.

Pujya Shree Mota.
Prabhuni khoj
Edition 1; page 64.

NAAM-SMARAN AND INNER IMPLEMENTS (MIND, INTELLICT ETC.) --- HARMONY AND CONNECTION.

Experience this my brother. Act with equanimity so that there is equilibrium between mind, chitta, intellect, prana and ego. I have heard from some holy men that you can attain heaven by reciting or writing God's name for 70 million times. This is absolutely false. Naam-smaran will never be effective if you let your mind, intellect, chitta, prana and ego behave as before. So the major way is to develop a connection of the Naam-smaran with the mind and the intellect. There is no way to advance without reducing attachments and jealousy.

You will not achieve salvation even if you recite God's name for millions of years. It is very difficult for us to cultivate the state where we are without attachments and jealousy for most of the time while still being in our ordinary lives. Is there any way out of it? Yes, there is. We work with our mind and intellect to reduce attachments and jealousy while getting automatic help from naam-smaran and prayers. To do this we must interact with unity, harmony and goodness with our aquaintances. You must keep in mind that this may lead to injustice to you and you must learn to bear that. You should know for sure that the interactions done with the bhavna ( always remembering that the purpose is to reduce the attachments and jealousy) will keep you in the condition of happiness.

Pujya Shree Mota
Prabhuni khoj
Edition 1; page 63.

My two cents -- Please refer the blog " naam-smaran and analysis of the mind" written on June 30, 2011. This is another way of looking from a different angle.

FAMILY, THE FIRST STEP

Some people boast about their worship of God. But these kinds of talks are not befitting and exaggerated. They merely talk but do nothing in realty. Learn to interact with goodness and harmony with the souls that come in your contact due to past karmas and destiny. We cannot experience divine consciousness without going beyond duality and all three gunas (satva, tamas and rajas). If you cannot climb the first step then how can you move forward? If you cannot develop goodness towards your family, this kind of talk will only increase hypocrisy.

We will get the full benefit if we let go and sacrifice for our close family with love. Everybody suffers in one way or the other. If we do this with love, it is going to benefit us otherwise we will get nothing but unhappiness and misery.

Pujya Shree Mota
Prabhuni khoj
Edition 4; page 42.

My two cents -- This talk was addressed to the devotees who have just come out of Maun Mandir.

Lots of time this reflected the mental conflict and anguish of the devotees while in the Maun Mandir.

UNFIT FOR SADHANA (SPIRITUAL PROGRESS)

The soul that refuses to accept his fault, thinks that his behavior is always right, never understands the appropriate hints from others and gets angry when others point to his fault, can never enter the field of spiritual progress. It is not possible to develop devotion to Bhagwan when the mind is playing in the field of attachments, infatuation, prestige and the heart is in enjoying the wealth and glory in the society. The soul that wants to travel the path of spirituality must detach his mind from such distractions.

Pujya Shree Mota

Jivan manthan

Edition 3; page 210.

SAFTY AND SECURITY IN SADHANA

It is important for the sadhak to topsy turvy safe and secure position. This is an opportunity to train and develop good qualities like firmness, stability, inner happiness and equanimity during struggle and difficult times. The sadhak who thinks and understands that this is an opportunity and is ready to take advantage of it with clear awareness and untiring effort, gets all the benefit. The soul that prefers to stay in safe and secure position never progresses in sadhana. One who prefers to be safe will definitely get tangled up in ordinary life. Sadhak should never get satisfaction whenever he has that tendency. He should rebel against that tendency and try to come out of it. It is not possible to progress in safe and secure position.

Pujya Shree Mota
Jivan manthan
Edition 3; page 207.

TRY TO REMOVE DISTORTED NATURAL INSTINCTS

There are innumerable inner natural tendencies within us that try to satisfy itself in variety of ways. When it fails to do so and there are hindrances in its way, it has a tendency to distort or pervert itself. This in turn perverts our lives. We should not just sit and do nothing. We have to find the root cause of this perversion and remove it from the roots.

Pujya Shree Mota
Jivan manthan
Edition 3; page 206.

My two cents --  As for an example, when we try to deal with the anger and try to control it, it can come out in a distorted way in the garb of sarcasm, unfair criticism and feeling of revenge.
Naam-smaran is the way to purify all the aspects of prana rather than dealing with them individually.

GOD IS RESPONSIBLE FOR OUR ACTIONS -- BUT WHEN?

Trichinapalli,
9/21/1942.

My dear sister,

The experiences that you talk about should produce the condition where one keeps the attention of one's mind focused towards the God all the time. So if we have such divine experiences and our mind and life do not reflect the divine, then there is a problem. Either the experience is an illusion or our base is not developed to reflect the experience.

"All the actions are directed by Bhagwan" may be 100 percent true from the philosophical point of view. But we can say that only when we are in touch with divinity all the time and carry out our actions as per its will. If we have not done so far, we need to understand the fallacies of the mind, chitta, intellect, prana and ego. It is true that God's divine energy is present in everything and yet the person who wants to be the instrument of God must have a clear vision of himself, his surroundings and all his contacts. We want to perform the actions with clear understanding, knowledge, love and devotion. Our actions should not be directed by certain beliefs and fancy. Even though the belief that God directs us to perform all the actions, sadhak cannot afford to say that. We can never say that our actions are directed by God when our minds keep busy with all our thoughts, inner natural tendencies, unreasonable actions, habits, insistences and beliefs. There is a clear danger of being delusional. We will never have clear and true understanding of the real facts. Just because we believe that we have walked a hundred miles when we have walked only five miles does not make it true in realty.

Pujya Shree Mota
Jivan darshan
Edition 3; pages 68 - 69.

FACE THE DISTURBANCES OF THE MIND

Kumbhakonam
April 24, 1952.

We must separate from the mind with firm determination and effort, affirming the belief that what ever spring up in the mind at any moment is not our true self. Once we stop to give attention to the fantasies, thoughts, flood of emotions arising from prana and fallacies of the intelligence there will be out pouring of these in our mind. The more we try to separate stormier are those disturbances. It is quite possible for the sadhak to get overwhelmed and loose the direction at this point. Precisely at this juncture he is truly and appropriately being tested for the strength and the conviction of his life. The soul that keeps his path of spirituality in front of his heart, takes the appropriate steps and considers it as a true way to progress survives. Others just fall by the wayside.

Pujya Shree Mota

Jivan sopan

Edition 3, pages 138 - 139.

WAYS TO CALM THE MIND

Some people ask me about the ways to calm, quieten and silent the mind. I have mentioned those ways earlier. But who makes an effort to follow it with sincerity of the heart? One who tries achieves it. First way is to develop awareness to separate yourself from all the functions of the mind. This needs to be done with knowledge and wisdom. Then try not taking any part in the activities of the mind. Just keep watching it with even handedness and equanimity without taking any part in it. If this is done in a right way you will definitely experience the quietude of the mind. The other way is to throw out whatever springs up in the mind and concentrate it on naam-smaran, guru bhavna or peaceful heart center.

Pujya Shree Mota
Jivan sopan
Edition 3; page 140.

SHAKE OFF CONTRARIWISE FEELINGS.

Contrariwise feelings for others should be shaken off from our mind whenever we experience such feelings just like the dog shakes off the water from his body. It requires our willingness, awareness and perseverance.

Pujya Shree Mota

Jivan manthan

Edition 3; page 279.

TRUE SWAJAN

I do not need money or any physical material things. What I need is the love and the heart of the swajan. Swajan who gives me his soul, makes his heart elevated, develops intense desire for the development of his life is my true swajan. When it is done with deep knowledge and devotion it makes me joyous. Any one who keeps helping me in this fashion is my true swajan.

Pujya Shree Mota

Jivan manthan

Edition 3; page 129.

Swajan -- person close to, near and dear person.

MIND -- LEARN TO BE SEPARATE FROM IT

So far we have let the mind wander on its own. It did whatever it wanted to do and we followed it. It is very natural that it rebels when it needs to change its path. If we surrender at this point then we hand over the victory and accept the defeat. It is impossible to come out of this defeat. Mind will protest when it is made to accept a higher stage. Mind can produce hopelessness, confusion, discomfort and apathy at this time. This is the time to get away from the tendencies of the mind. It is difficult and hard to act differently even with equanimity and even handedness. In spite of this we can separate from the mind if we have the intense desire and aspiration for it.

Pujya Shree Mota
Jivan manthan
Edition 3; page 104 - 105.

MIND -- CRITICIZE, STIRR UP AND BRIGHTEN IT.

Dear sister, Struggle with nature and prakruti is necessary. It is a kind of war when that happens. He who gently criticizes and stirs up the mind repeatedly cannot stay in the same condition. He will always have new ideas. At the same time he will find solutions of the problems and also learn the art of behaving accordingly. New truths are revealed from gentle criticism, stirring up and brightening the mind. True life begins from the deep study of this practice. It gives us true support, inspiration and comfort at the time of sadness and trouble. It helps in our struggle to come out of the difficult period. This process causes struggles but at the same time it shows us the way out of it also. Mind does not get tangled up in the struggle mode. It finds the way out and pushes us in the new direction for progress. It shows us our real nature and shows us the true way to fight and get above it. It bestows us success after the struggle.

Pujya Shree Mota
Jivan manthan
Edition 3; page 104.