Pleasure

December 12 , 1996Bangalore Ashram, India

The mind that seeks pleasure cannot be centered. When you are centered, all pleasures come to you anyway, but they cannot charm you any longer because you are the source of the charm.The mind that seeks pleasure can never achieve the highest. And if you enjoy drowning in your suffering, you cannot be centered; you are far away from the Path.If you are after pleasure, forget about Satsang. Why are you wasting your time? This is the Art of Leaving.You either seek pleasure or come to me.Susannah: What should we do when people talk negatively?Sri Sri: From your side, give license to everybody to talk about anything, about anybody, anywhere, at any time.Exercise: Talk maximum negativity about everybody this whole week. This is a challenge.

Self-Reliance and Surrender

December 25, 1996Lake Lucerne, Switzerland

Self-Reliance needs enormous courage. When there is nobody else or you want to depend on yourself for everything, you need a lot of courage.Surrender needs less courage.A person who cannot surrender cannot be self-reliant either. If you don't have enough courage to surrender, then it is not possible to be self-reliant; you simply fool yourself. If you don't have a hundred dollars, you cannot have a thousand dollars. Even a little fear is detrimental to self-reliance.Self-reliance contains surrender. Fifty dollars contains ten dollars.Often people think that surrender is a way to escape from their responsibilities, then they end up blaming the Divine for all their problems. In fact, true surrender is taking total responsibility for everything.Susannah: How can we do that?Sri Sri: You take responsibility and you pray for help.Surrender eventually leads you to self-reliance because there is nothing other than the Big Self.

In the Solitude of the Self

October 31, 1996Hong Kong

Buddha is not on the peak, rather the peak is beneath Buddha. One who goes up to the peak comes down, but the peak seeks the one who is stationed higher, in the inner space.Shiva is called Chandrashekhara, which means the mind that is in Shiva (transcendence) and is always above the peak.People run after parties and celebrations, but for the one who does not run after them, parties and celebrations follow him wherever he goes.If you run after parties, loneliness comes to you;If you are in the solitude of the Self, parties surround you.