Habits Change

Talk by Sri Swami Vishwananda Darshan in Shree Peetha Nilaya - Springen, Germany, 26 February 2011
subject to minor changes
A few days ago, somebody asked me Swamiji you always say to pray to God, always, but Im working in the outside. How will I attain the Divine? I think many of you ask this question. The answer is simple. There is one sentence in the Gita. Of course, ones duty is very important. One cant not do ones duty. In the Gita it said that the dharma, one have to do. No matter what, dharma is very important, but how one has to do it, that is the most important. There is one form of doing ones duty, which is nishkama karma, which means to do ones duty without expecting anything, to do ones duty in rendering service to others without even thinking of the result. That is what the Gita said: Whatever one does, if one is attached to the fruit of the action, one will suffer. Its true, because when we expect certain things, when we do certain things, there is always certain expectation and when the Wherever your expectation is not met, what happens? You get dharma is, wherever sad, no? You feel upset. Where does this come from? You created it. You make yourself sad. God has put you, no So when one does ones duty without even matter what kind of expecting something that means that the mind is already surrendering to the Divine. In another work he has lead way, the mind, what is said, the mind, when it you to, theres a has the satvik quality, the mind doesnt have any power into it. This is where whatever one does is reason for that. a complete surrender to the Divine, but whereas when one gets a little bit mixture of rajasic quality into the satvik quality, then one, always, says I will do good to the world. Into that state well see that the I is very big. The mind, whenever the mind picture the I, it doesnt mean the I of the Self; it means, always, the I of the ego [thinking] I can do this; I can do that. As long as you have not Realised your Self, the I of the ego is always big. Thats why it is said in the Scripture: Remove this I. Put Him, you know, the Lord, because as long as one has not Realised anything, one has to remind oneself continuously that All, it is Him. Even what you perceive that you are doing, actually, it is Him which is doing through you, Thats why the great Sages, when they have Realised Themselves, they always praise the Lord by saying Lord, I am the vehicle, but you are the one which is driving it. I am the chariot, but you are the charioteer. I am the wick of the lamp, but you are the light. I am the house, but you are the dweller of that house. So in that state one has fully transcended the human nature seeing only the Divine working in everything. So in that state, one sees the world in a different angle, not the same as with the egoistic mind point of view. Often people come, they say Oh, Swamiji, I have seen this vision and that vision. No, no, because people always want to think that they are special in whatever they do. Very often, without judgment, you see them very proudly Oh, I have seen that. I have seen this., but what is that if it is not just pride? Because when one comes face to face with the Divine and really experiences something from the Divine, one doesnt talk about it. One treasures it as the most precious treasure inside ones heart. And into that state, the mere mention of the Divine Name will make one cry out of joy knowing that this experience

that one have received from the Divine, it is real. And this is all due to the nishkama karma. Whenever you do your duty, it doesnt matter where you are, it doesnt matter what you do if you do it with a mind surrendered to the Divine, if you do it with your heart completely full of love, even there God will come to you. I always give an example there was once somebody who cleans the road. Somebody who cleans the road, always people consider this job as a very low job. They will, always, say What will somebody like this be?, you know? There was once a great Saint. He, also, would, always, clean the road and one day when he was cleaning, Krishna Himself came to him and said to him Bless you, because through you who are cleaning the road for me to pass everyday, you never ask for anything. You never even ask me for my blessing. You never, you just do it out of love knowing that this road leads to the temple. Thats why, today, I came to you. Like that, there are so many Saints, you know -- in the lives of Saints that I can give you -who were in the outside world doing very simple things, but, yet, deep inside of them they are fully connected with the Divine. That shows that wherever your dharma is, wherever God has put you, no matter what kind of work he has lead you to, theres a reason for that and if you do it with love and real happiness, real joy inside of you, even there you can Realise God. For sure in the nowadays time we cant ask everybody continuously to think of God, which will be quite difficult, but from time to time if one has a little bit of time, in place of gossiping, in place of doing unnecessary things, if one takes the time and communicates with the Divine within ones Self, that will help. So in this communication, when you are alone with the Divine, you have, also, to learn to listen. And how would you listen? If the mind is busy, its very difficult, you know. So thats why it is said to first chant the Divine Name to calm your mind. And when you chant the Divine Name, dont just chant it mechanically and do some other rubbish thing like many do, you know. And they think that yes, by doing that in place of thinking of other things, God will come to them. No, it will not happen, nothing. Then its just purely mechanical. But when you chant the Divine Name, you have to fully have the vision inside of you. You have to have the Divine Image inside of your mind. Then you are chanting the Divine Name. Then He will manifest Himself. But if you are chanting, you are doing something else, you know, Im doing this whatever, yet I am chanting the Divine Name, it doesnt help. So even if you cant do it, just try. It doesnt mean much to try, no? Its easy to try something, no? Its true [that old habits] catch up from time to time. But old habits, also, do change after time. There are, always, new habits. So you see, even with the old habits, whenever there is something to change, one will always change. Its like when you drive, you always go to work on the same road, no, but when there is a diversion, what do you do? Do you carry on going through the same road? Or you go for the diversion, no? So in the same way, old habits change. So to try something, it is easy, actually, but you have to say to yourself, you know, I want to change certain things. This is the first step. If you dont take the first step, well, it will not come to you. And this first step, you have to take it and, when you take it, take it with a strong determination that no matter what, you will achieve that through Gods Grace knowing that He is with you, because if you are doing something to please Him, He will help you. And Im telling you, the Divine Mother is such a good help into that. Dont miss a chance and even if you cant, just ask Him for help, ask Her She will come to help you, because this is Her joy to see Her children awake, you know. Even in the simple things you do, She will come and help you. So just try. Its the same as bhajans. You can try to sing, also, and if you cant, just clap your hands. Its easy, no? Swamiji begins singing Govinda, Govinda, Gayi Re, Bhajo Radhe Govinda Krishna Gayi Re