NINE out of ten people, if asked where their mind is, will point to their head, where we think our brains are! Brains are not where our minds are. Mind is all over our body; within each cell, within the cell structure, embedded in the intelligence of the DNA and other building blocks of the mind body system that we are. There is as much mind in our little finger as there is in our head or our heart.

Mind is not fixed and permanent; not our cells as well. Cells die and are recreated every second. Our entire mind body system undergoes renewal every so often. What we are now is not what we were a year ago, not what we will be a year from now. Our mind body hardware is constantly renewed.

Yet, we behave the same way as we did a year ago or ten years ago, by and large. We are just as greedy, just as angry, just as depressed as we were a year or many years ago unless we have taken dramatic measures to change. We seem programmed in our behavior pattern.
We are programmed. We are programmed in our belief systems and attitudes based on our past experiences and memories of these experiences.

It is these memories that drive us in all our actions. Unfortunately, all these memories lie in our unconscious mind.   We are driven by our unconscious, not by our rational mind as we wish to imagine. We call this software of emotion filled memories that lie buried deep in our unconscious, samskaras.

Samskaras are the embedded memories of our past, sometimes of previous lives, that drive us into action in the future. Since samskaras are from the unconscious, we are unable to do anything to stop them, to control them or modify them. Unless, a big unless, we learn to penetrate the unconscious.

We can indeed penetrate the unconscious and dissolve our samskaras, so meticulously built by our mind since childhood.   All we need to do is to bring ourselves into the present moment. In the present moment, no samskaras exist, as these are products of our past.  In the present moment, we have neither regrets nor anticipation. We just are.

Meditation leads us into the present moment. Meditation leads us into awareness of our samskaras and from there into their dissolution. Meditation gives us control over our life, taking it away from the embedded software of our mind.

- Paramahamsa Nithyananda

All our questions come from words (from the Manipuraka chakra or the navel center). To answer them, we seek words again. Words can never solve words, like how blood cannot clean blood. In asking or answering questions, people simply want to either show that they are knowledgeable or that they are seekers – their 'seeker ego' surfaces.

One man came to the ashram and had a long conversation with me. He went back and told everyone that I am a very good orator. Trust me; I did not speak to him at all. He spoke all the time and I simply listened. He is happy that I heard him, that’s all! When your wife comes to you with a problem, don’t give her any solution. Just listen to her problem; she wants somebody to listen to her, that’s all. She knows the solution herself. She simply wants attention. It is the same with males too. No one wants answers.

Anu! Try to pick up that book. Just try to pick up the book. Don’t pick it up but try to pick it up! This is exactly how people try to get enlightened. They keep attempting to get enlightened. These seekers are actually deceiving themselves. Either they should pick up or drop it. There is nothing called trying to pick up. You are cheating yourself when you say, “I am trying.” You are actually playing, but it is a costly game. In the end you will say, “I was a seeker throughout my life.”

Shastras talk of the goal. Stotras are an expression of the experience. Shastras say that the goal is there. Stotras say, “Oh, so beautiful the goal is!” Shastras say, “Go to the mountain.” Stotras sing the beauty of nature from the mountain top. But how to reach the mountain? This link is given by Shiva – as the ultimate enlightenment meditation, as a wonderful book - The Vignanabairava Tantra. Tantra means technique. It was given by Shiva to His consort Eashwari, to clear her doubts. It doesn’t belong to any religion, creed, caste or sect. It is simply techniques to reach the Ultimate. Anyone who wants inner light can get through it a life solution. It connects the shastras and stotras. It fulfills the shastras and stotras. It gives ultimate fulfillment. It is the technique that leads you to the Ultimate Being. Here only one question is asked and that is - How? By answering this question, it puts you directly into the Experience where the questions and the questioner dissolve into the Experience or Eternal Bliss!

My love and blessings to you to reach the state of Nithyananda or Eternal Bliss!

- From the series on Shiva Sutras. More articles at Nithyananda Foundation.

You experience God according to your own experience of yourself. Whatever you lack, you worship. You worship the idol which will be the fulfillment of your Being. For instance, if you are a poor man, you start worshipping the Goddess of wealth. If you are in a highly elevated state of consciousness, you experience God in that fashion.

Man stays in the seven chakras or energy centers. If you are in the lowest level, that is the muladhara chakra or the root center, you are caught in lust and desire. You worship a God who can grant all your boons. That is why God is understood as a giver of boons throughout the world and is very popular. People are caught up in fantasy, expectations and desires and whoever fulfils these becomes their God. The moment they miss giving a single boon, the Gods will get dethroned!

Next is the man who is caught in the Svadhisthana chakra or the being center (fear). You worship the God who gives confidence, who you believe will take care of you - you go behind the idols that have many weapons and many hands. You experience God as a protector.

The third level man stays in the Manipuraka chakra or the navel center (worry). You continuously worry and and remain confused. You worship the God who gives clarity and peace. You will want idols that radiate peace.

Next is the man who lives in the Anahatha chakra or the heart center (attention need). Here, you are attracted towards the God who showers love on you. You worship the God who gives emotional fulfillment.

Next, if you are raised to the level of the Vishuddhi chakra (the urge to be unique) or the throat center, the God of creativity or Energy appeals to you. You experience God as the creator.

If you are centered in the Agna chakra (Ego) or the Brow Center, you are locked in ego. Somebody in the egoless state attracts you – Rishis, Seers, Sages, Prophets and Masters attract you. The egoless man becomes your idol.

That is why I say - Man creates God in his own mould! You simply relate to God or the Masters from these six levels; a relationship doesn’t happen - you simply reduce them to mere mortals. You have a concept in your mind and you are demanding from them that concept - it is simply a monologue. In the Agna chakra or the brow center, the dialogue starts. Only in the Sahasrara chakra (gratitude) or the crown center, the communion happens! If you understand that you are actually relating to your Gods and Masters from these chakras and that you need to go beyond this and catch the transcendental expression of the Divine, all your problems will dissolve!

When you are in the Muladhara chakra, the Master drills into you, like a crowbar. At a little higher level, he is like a knife penetrating you. At the level of the Sahasrara chakra, he is like a fragrance! If you are alert and aware, the Master can transform you. Allow me to enter into you like a fragrance when you are established in the Sahasrara chakra. You just need to be passive for the alchemy to happen. I am not going to give you any rules or restrictions. I am going to radiate ecstasy, bliss and fragrance. If you are alert and aware, you can catch the smell and experience it!

Excerpt from a talk on Shiva Sutras

For children, the universe is wonder-filled because they don't have logic. They don't think that this is the same Sun which they saw yesterday. They don't think that this was the same chair which was there yesterday. They don't think that this is the same room which they sat in yesterday. They know the Truth - the Sun is new, this room is new, this chair is new, I am new, you are also new! You are changing continuously; continuously you are getting updated.

A Western philosopher said, 'You can't step into the same river twice.' Why? Because the moment you put the second step, the water has already flown. But I tell you, you can't step into the same river even once, because the moment you put your feet in, by the time you travel from the water level to the ground level, the water has already moved! You can't put your feet even once in a river; where is the question of twice!

Existence is continuously changing. If you trust that Existence changes and you also change, you can never get settled with your ego. Your ego is nothing but a rigid mechanism, a definite pattern. Only a person who is ego less can trust that the universe is changing and he is also changing. The man who sells his time will never understand that the universe is changing because he is caught in a routine. Not being caught in a routine is a basic discipline for enlightenment!

If you are in a routine, you become so unaware that you stop believing, you stop realizing that Existence is changing. I have seen some government servants working for 30 years in the same office. They would not even have moved their table from one place to another and eventually forget that their table can be moved! Even in your house, don't live with the same kind of furniture arrangement for years together. Shuffle it so that your mind does not get stuck with a single attitude. Once in a few months, change the order; create a little bit of chaos! Otherwise you will become dead. I have seen people - they will have ten rooms and because of their habit, they will follow a certain track in their own house and as a result would not have stepped foot on eight rooms for months together. How many of you have not gone to the extreme of your own garden in the last two years? This is because you live on a certain track.

The mind feels comfortable if it has got a definite system. That is why rituals are so popular today. Rituals are so complicated and yet people do them with all difficulty, but when they come out of it, nothing would have changed in them. But in meditation, they are not sure of the outcome. Some personality change may happen. Going into meditation is seen as a risk! People are comfortable seeing Gods in temples because the Gods don't speak; because they don't change your life; but here I will ask you - what are you doing? how is your life? There comes the trouble. Either consciously or unconsciously you might start changing because I am such a solid force and I may start penetrating you.

Be very clear - the most definite thing on planet earth is your tomb, your graveyard! The more you live with definition and security, the more you are dying. That is why, when you live with a definite track in your house, your house will have the vibration of a graveyard. Once in a while, dance in the main hall of your house - the space will be purified. If you live with the same things, you will create a track of memory. You will then have very less access to your own Being. Your mind and your house are one and the same. Your Being and your house are one and the same. If you don't live in your whole house, be very clear, you are not living with your whole memory. Drop your rigid ego, break free from your mental patterns, understand change and discover the reservoir that you have within yourself. Explode in all directions and realise your unlimited potential!