Indian, Gorakh, Death is Divine Chapter 4: See the unseeable, Question 4

The fourth question:

Question 4

ON THE ONE HAND YOU SAY, 'WHATEVER YOU DO, DO IT TOTALLY -- WITH SAMAGRATA.' AND ON THE OTHER HAND YOU SAY, 'DON'T GO TO EXTREMES IN ANYTHING, REMAIN IN THE MIDDLE.' CAN YOU PLEASE REMOVE THIS APPARENT CONTRADICTION.

Anand Maitreya! It is not a contradiction. Think about the word samagrata -- totality. Consider some other words of this line: santulan -- balance, samadhi, samanvay -- harmony, samyaktva -- rightness, samta -- equanimity, sambodhi -- enlightenment, samvet -- collective, samagrata -- totality. These have all arisen out of one small root: 'sam.' Sam means peaceful, tranquil. Samta -- equanimity comes from it, samanvay -- harmony comes from it, also sambodhi and samadhi. This same sam is present in samagrata -- totality.

Samagrata is not at the extreme, samagrata is never extreme. Because the state of sam is only in the middle. So when I say do it totally, I am not saying go to extremes.

Such an idea can come to you. It seems to you that if you do it totally, it will become extreme. If it becomes extreme, then totality is missed. There are two ways to miss totality: go to the left or go to the right. In both situations totality is missed.

If I say to eat totally and without extremes, there is no contradiction between these two. One who eats totally will stop at the right time, when the body says enough. And the body always says enough in the middle. When there is hunger the body will not say enough, nor if you overfill yourself will the body remain quiet, not saying enough. If you are hungry the body will say, a little more. If you start to eat too much food, the body will say, enough, not now. Now no more.

The body never goes to extremes, the mind goes to extremes. Try to understand this. This is why no animal goes to extremes, otherwise what would be the condition of animals! There is no one giving them guidance. They haven't got any Mahatma Gandhi or other mahatmas etc saying, "Listen, don't eat too much grass. Fast today, today is the eleventh day of the moon's phase." But have you ever seen an animal eating too much? Go to the jungle and look carefully, do you see any animal that you can say has over eaten? Do you see any animal that is fasting?

There is no mind, so there is no extreme. An animal takes only as much as the body needs. He takes what is needed. Let your cow loose on a flourishing pasture, he will select the grass that is favorable to his body leaving the rest of the grass. If you let a goat loose in the jungle, he will choose what is right for him, he will choose leaves that are right for him, leaving alone all the rest. Who is telling him not to eat this leaf? It also looks green. It may also be tasty. It has some taste or other. But no, he chooses what is appropriate to his body, what is in tune with his nature, what maintains his nature in the state of sam, tranquillity. This is happening spontaneously. There is no mind here.

The mind disturbs. Only the mind feeds you too much. The mind says, "Go ahead, take another delicacy, it is tasty." If you listen to the body, the stomach is saying, "It is enough, please, now it will be too much." But the mind does not let the body be heard. And you are usually told that the body is your enemy. The body is not your enemy, the mind is your enemy. And those who have explained that the body is your enemy, have told you something very wrong. Because of them you believe the mind is your friend, you believe the body is your enemy. The body is spontaneous and natural. All faults and all disturbances are in the mind. The mind does not listen. The mind says, "Taste a little more. Have a little more. What difference does it make? If the stomach has a little difficulty, then let it." The stomach is saying enough, but you are not listening to the stomach. And your so called sadhus curse the stomach.

Understand the mind. The mind causes extremes. The body always answers at the right time. It will not go an inch higher, or an inch lower. But man's mind is very deceitful. I have just heard that the Ganges was in spate. The chief minister of the province went to some village. He said to the engineer, "What is the matter? What is the situation?"

"The water is reaching the danger mark."

So the chief minister said, "Brother, why don't you put the danger sign a little higher? At least it won't touch the danger mark." As if moving the danger mark a little higher you would deceive the Ganges -- or who are you deceiving? But this is what is happening. The mind is doing just this. The mind does foolish things exactly like this.

And the mind will make you go to extremes. It says, move the danger sign a little higher. Don't listen to the body. What's the body? The body is blind. What intelligence does the body have? One day the mind feeds you too much, then the next day there is discomfort. So the mind says now fast -- one should fast one day per month. Or one day per week is very good for health. Now fast. Then the body says, brother, I am hungry bring food. But the mind says fast. Slowly slowly the absurd activities of the mind destroy the subtle sensitivity of the body. Then the body doesn't say anything. When it is not being heard it slowly slowly becomes mute. With this mute body you go to extremes.

Scientists have done experiments and a very amazing result has come to hand. Scientists have experimented with young children to see what they will do if they are left near food. You will think they would over eat. You are wrong, they don't over eat. Their mother and father over feed them saying, "Eat more. Eat, get a little more robust. Show a little radiance, look at you? Eat a little more." The mother is sitting on your chest saying eat more, just a little more. The child is crying and and somehow managing to eat. You often see children crying. His body is saying no. His body is saying go outside, jump and leap a little, go climb trees. And you go on feeding him. The doctor says that every three hours the child needs to be given milk. The child is not drinking, and he turns his face this way and that. But the mother goes on feeding him milk because three hours have passed. This following the average time does not work. When the child is hungry he will cry, he himself lets you know. There is no need to look at the clock. The child has his inner body clock. But you go on ruining his clock. And each child will feel hunger differently. One will feel it in four hours, another in three, another in two hours. Now it is a great problem, a rule has been established -- the rule of the average.

Beware of the rule of averages. Averages work like this: five hundred people are sitting here. We measure everyone's height and count everyone. All the heights are added up then divided by five hundred. Suppose the height comes to four feet three and a half inches -- the average height. Now there might not be anyone here who is four feet three and a half inches, it is unlikely. There are many small children who are only two feet and some gentleman who is six feet. But adding them both together the average height becomes four feet each. No one is four feet. Neither the six foot man nor the two foot child is four feet. But adding a man of six feet and a child of two feet, gives eight feet, divided by two gives an average of four feet. Now there is trouble, now stretch the child, make him four feet then he becomes average. Now cut the six foot man. Or tell him,"Draw in your feet, pull your head inside a little, pull your limbs in like a turtle, you are a little too big."

In Greece there is the story of Procrustes. He was an emperor. He was a very terrible emperor. He had his own custom. Procrustes was a great mathematician. He lived by mathematics. Everyone was afraid to be a guest at his house. No one wanted to be his guest. He had a bed of gold -- valuable -- studded with diamonds and stones. He would put his guests to bed on it. And the danger was that if the guest was too long he would cut his limbs, because the bed was precious. The bed could not be made longer, could not be made shorter, it couldn't be done so quickly. But the guest could be made smaller or bigger. And if someone was too short for the bed then Procrustes' two strongmen came and stretched him, trying to make him longer. No one stayed at his house.

This story is meaningful. But this is the story of all mathematicians. All children have been combined: one gets hungry in four hours, one in three hours, on in two hours, one in two-and-a-half hours, one in two-and-three-quarter hours. All are combined, the calculation is made: in three hours all are hungry! Now it is fixed at three hours. Procrustes is set! Now he watches the clock, if three hours have passed, then feed milk. If the child takes two hours, at two hours he will cry. But three hours have not yet passed on the clock, let the child cry. You will slowly slowly destroy the natural sensitivity of his body. Slowly slowly he also begins to watch the clock to see when he is hungry, because hunger should come from the clock.

This has become your condition. If you receive food every day at twelve o'clock, you are watching and when the clock strikes twelve you are hungry. Whether you are really hungry or not. It is possible that the clock stopped in the night. It was striking twelve all night. Now it is only eleven but seeing the clock strike twelve all at once you are hungry. This hunger is false. The food you eat listening to this false hunger is a transgression of the body. It will be hungry, there is no need to look at the clock. The body has its own inner clock.

Scientists have discovered that the body operates according to a clock. Following it women's menstruation begins in exactly twenty eight days. The body has its own clock inside. Following it you will feel hunger at the right time. Following it you will go to sleep at the right time. Following it you receive signals that the stomach is full, enough, now stop. If you live according to the body then there will never be extremes. You will not over eat, you will not eat too little. And there will be totality. There will be bliss. However much you eat will be in complete bliss. You can completely dissolve into that taste, because taste is also god. ANNAM BRAHMA -- food is god. The same respect, the same worshipfulness, the same worship as in the temple should also be with food, should also be with taking meals, should be with all processes of life.

When I say to you live totally I am not saying go to extremes. I am saying that if you are to live totally, with samagrata, you will have to remember 'sam' -- tranquility. And sam is non-extreme, the middle. So live totally and don't go to extremes. There is no contradiction in this. They are two sides of the same coin.

Gorakh

DEATH IS DIVINE

Chapter-4

See the unseeable