" Surprising indeed! How is it possible that I was sleeping and I also went to Kasi at the same time? Who is the witness for this leela? Who is the witness for your dream? You alone! Now are you the witness for my presence in Kasi or for the fact that you are sleeping? Both are contradictory. That is the state of jeevathma! We are present in two forms. Which is the real form? Your real form is that wonderful form which does not waver, which remains stable at all times, in all situations. That is the real witness state! You are sleeping here. True; there is no doubt about that. This state is due to maya. In a state of detachment, in witness conscious state, there is no maya. Again when jeeva descends from that state, he is in a state of sleep. Thus, the jeeva has two forms of sleep and awakening. Such a jeeva can remain detached for a long time and have a darshan of rasa leela only through sadhana; dhyana yoga sadhana. Dhyana yoga will take you to such an elevated plane and leave you there. There is no downfall thereafter, even after several ages. "

" Whenever Krishna or Mother calls me to join Her divine play, I immediately say 'I will come.' Play with Mother! Then we cannot have any downfall. She will give bhava deha, the divine body with which we can accompany Her to the upper worlds. She will move in all the worlds and come back to Her dham. Rasa leela dham is our permanent dham. We must seek Her permission and move to different worlds. "

" When She wants to protect Her devotee, She gives me the order to go to another world and protect that jeeva. She only provides the power to save the jeeva too! "

" If a clerk who brings a court warrant to you is beaten up, it is considered as contempt of court and may result in imprisonment too! He has such power only because he came from the court. In the same way, when someone who has rasa leela darshan and moves from there to any other world, even Brahma or Vishnu cannot stop him. In fact, they must bow down to him. They are not ordinary people anymore! Rasa dham is such a supreme, highest and eternal dham. The only eligibility to attain rasa dham is dhyana yoga. No other path can take you there. "

" I will tell you about where an ordinary man would reach. Some go to Siva loka while some others opt for moksha. 'We are unable to live in this world and lead a family life. We have so many sufferings. We want to be relieved from these problems.' Well, God grants them their wish. In moksha or liberation, they don't have anything except relief from suffering. There is no maharasa ecstasy there. Vacuum! That is why, the scriptures also advocate not praying for liberation only. Chaitanya mahaprabhu said 'Beware of two ghosts (bhukti and mukti). Bhukti refers to the material desires - wealth, children, their needs etc., Mukti, liberation, is also a ghost because there is no happiness, no emotion, no ecstasy there. He remains in solitude all the time. He will get fed up after some time and comes back to this world.' "

" During my teacher training, we were given a practical demonstration. A boy was asked to sit in a seat without moving. He was given chocolates and other savories to stop him from leaving the place. After some time, his friends went out to play. He threw the savories and ran towards them. This is a lesson. Even a retired person would not like to be confined to a room. "

" Leela, play is so important. Mukti is like sitting in one place. Rasa leela is the highest. It is beyond our imagination. That is why, Chaitanya cautioned to be away from both the ghosts (Mukti and Bhukti). Do not aspire for powers related to this world. What will you do with such siddhis (powers)? They will be present today and vanish tomorrow. Man will attain some ego due to these powers. Thinking that he is a siddha purusha, he will falter somewhere and face downfall. Sage Durvasa was a siddha purusha. One day he went near his disciple Ambareesha and threw his hair on him. Immediately, Lord Vishnu's sudarsan chakra formed a protective shield around Ambareesha. The sudarsan chakra chased sage Durvasa for more than a year. He went to each and every river and pleaded to save him but nobody could help him. Finally after one year, he went back to Ambareesha and fell at his feet. That is the state of a siddha purusha. Even though he possessed siddhas, though he drained away all his powers; he did not attain peace. Nobody with siddhis is really content. "

" Vishwamitra was also a great sage and a siddha purusha. Yet he fell so many times and faced agony. When Trisanku, Harishchandra's father came to him and asked 'You are a great sage. You are a siddha purusha.I want to go to heaven in this physical form itself. You only can send me there.' 'I assure you that I can send you to heaven, the kingdom of Lord Indra'. He performed a great yagna and sent Trisanku to heaven. Indra did not allow him to enter his kingdom and pushed him back down. Trisanku began to fall, head down and feet up. Vishwamitra could only create a place for him midway in the upside down position. Trisanku repented. 'I came to you because you are a siddha purusha. I am neither in heaven nor can I come down to earth. I don't belong either here or there; this is my pitiable state, my karma'. He struggled in this state for many ages and faced humiliation. This is the siddha state! Every great person must face defeat, insult, grief and anguish some time or other. Ravana had great siddhas but faced defeat in the hands of Lord Rama. "

" Bhasmasura prayed to Lord Shiva and attained several siddhas. When he placed his hand on anybody's head, instantly they turned into ashes. But how long did his powers last? When the Gods approached Lord Vishnu to save them from Bhasmasura, he took the form of Mohini to lure him. 'Kama esha krodha esha rajo guna samudhbhavah'. Even in such a siddha state, he is not immune to rajo guna with anger and desire. He would like to harm anybody who comes in the way of his desires. He considers anybody who defies him as his enemy. Then how can he be happy and peaceful? So you cannot find true peace anywhere in this world, not even in moksha. After remaining in the moksha state for some time, he would like to move to another plane. When he realizes that moksha cannot give peace, he moves towards the higher bhakti dham. "

" The Bhagawata says 'Athmaramascha munayah nirgrandhapyurukrame'. Truly great sages are in a state of inner happiness. That is the moksha state. They remain in silence and in peace with his inner soul. They are not affected by the bondages. God has bound man with two knots - ego and affection. Though God gave man enough freedom, he can't go anywhere within the limitation of these two knots. He will not like to go to pilgrimage leaving his family and property. He will not even opt for moksha because his affection towards his family will not allow him. "

" An artist was narrating the Bhagawata in a musical flow, reciting verses and preaching spirituality. A spectator jumped onto the stage and said 'I am Hanuman. Lord Vishnu sent me to bring you to Vaikunta immediately because you are a great devotee.' The person fled from the stage saying that he cannot leave his family behind and go to Vaikunta. Then why did he give such an expressive spiritual narration? That is for the audience only, not for himself! So everybody wants to speak and listen about moksha but nobody really wants it at the cost of giving up his family. "

" God bound man with just two knots but strangely it is very difficult for man to extricate himself from these knots. What is ego? 'I am this body. My name is . I am . son.' He identifies himself with the perishable body not the inner soul. He will preach spirituality and spend the money earned through the preachings on his family. There is no real rasa here. "

" 'Atmaramascha..' Those sages who are in constant communion of bliss with their inner self are not governed by the sense organs. They are freed from the two bondages. Yet they do not have firm and eternal bliss. They have infinite devotion. Strangely, this devotion is beyond reason. 'I am coming near Kannayya' 'What do you want?' 'I don't want anything. I want Kannayya only. I want his darshan'. The gopi devotion has no specific reason. He just cannot stay away from his Lord. When you attain such a devotion which is beyond reason, you will move towards mukti (salvation). If there is a reason for your devotion, you are in this world. When there is no reason, you will move towards higher world. "

" Mirabai sang 'Mere Giridhar Gopala doosara na koyi' - I do not have anybody else except my Giridhar Gopala. I have been abused and ostracized because I want only Gopala and not my kingdom. I do not care what people say. I am ready to face criticism and give up my kingdom. I cannot live without Gopala.' Mirabai showed such devotion without reason. One who gives up his family can give up everything. One who has such devotion cannot live without his Lord. Such infinite devotion! "

" Kuchela was Krishna's childhood friend. He wanted to see Krishna. So he started from Saurashtra towards Dwaraka. It would take four days by walk to travel that distance. Another four miles to reach Dwaraka! Kuchela was extremely tired. Thinking 'Krishna, I cannot walk anymore. I cannot come there to see you', he fainted. At that time, Krishna was in the palace with Rukmini. Suddenly, Krishna also fainted. He sent Rukmini away and rushed outside. He sent Garuda to bring Kuchela to the palace. Garuda left Kuchela at the palace gates. Seeing his beggarly state, the gate keepers refused to believe that he was Krishna's friend and and did not allow him into the palace. They offered money and asked him to leave. Kuchela said he did not come for money; he came only to see his dear friend. Krishna came running towards Kuchela calling out 'Sudama, Sudama' and embraced him. 'Krishna, we are meeting after 82 years. Still you remember my name! How do you remember me? Your grace is infinite'. Krishna held his hand and took him inside, washed his feet and wiped them. Sudama walked all the way without slippers because he could not afford them. Thorns pricked his feet on the way. Krishna held his friend's feet in his hand and removed the thorns with his teeth. Rukmini saw this scene and fainted. Such infinite love! The Lord is a complete incarnation. He did not have a single white hair or a shaky tooth like Kuchela. Such a Lord showered such infinite love and mercy on Kuchela. "

" That is how divine kingdom of love is! There is no discrimination in that abode of love. 'Though I am the Lord of all worlds, I am lesser than him'. That is true love. This love will keep you grounded and elevate your loved one, where sky is the limit. If such is Lord's love, then how many fold greater is the love of Maharasa? Man cannot comprehend that love! "

" Sage Srisuka narrated the Bhagawata to King Pareekshit for seven days. He did not eat or sleep for five days. In fact, all his body functions came to a complete halt. Such is the power of Rasa! Pareekshit only listened about Rasa and his body lost contact with the world. Then what would be the state of one who witnesses Rasa! That is what Mirabai showed to the world. Unlimited, infinite and unconditional devotion towards the Lord! "

" Maharasa dham has innumerable devotees with such unconditional love and devotion. Our final goal is to reach rasa dham. The only way to reach there is through dhyana; there is no other way. This can be proved scientifically. You need divine grace to enter maharasa. The Kathopanishad tells us that you cannot attain God by listening to discourses about God. Vivekananda wrote in his letter to Tureeyananda that God is not so easily attainable. 'Yame Vaisha Vrinathe' He must accept you and grant his darshan. You must develop the qualities that will make you eligible to attain his grace. The bridegroom will not agree to marry a girl only for money. He must like some quality in her. "

" Akbar was a powerful emperor. His son Salim fell in love with Anarkali. She was a poor girl who sold grass for her living. He knew that his father would not agree because she was poor. He also knew that she would not agree because he was a prince. So he lied to her that he worked in the palace and wore ordinary clothes. He lowered himself in order to obtain her love. What is the status for love? Love only is love's status! "

" If love on earth is like this, then how would the divine love in Maharasa, which is beyond the reach of Lord Brahma and other Gods be like? We can't imagine that dham and the hearts of the devotees who live there. I will tell a leela to give you an idea of that dham and Radhajis love. This leela shows Radhaji's heart. "

" One day Radhaji called Krishna and said 'I have a wish. Will you fulfill it? Otherwise, I will disappear'. 'Radha, I will happily give you whatever you want.' 'You must become Radha. I will adorn you like me. You must go near every sakhi and embrace her. That's all'. Krishna shed tears. 'Radha, Your love is pure and unconditional. You want me to embrace your sakhis. They will think that I am Radha, they will not know who I am.' The sakhis do not allow Krishna to come near them. They have attachment only towards Mother. She did not want to deprive Krishna of the companionship with Her sakhis. She also did not want to leave them and be with Krishna alone. That's why, She told him to become Herself and go near sakhis. Then they will not stop him. When he approached them, they were filled with joy. They fell at his feet and wept with happiness at their fortune that Mother came near them. They embraced him and kissed him; they decorated him with flowers and showered their love on him. None of this would happen if he went near them as Krishna! He was overwhelmed by their exquisite blissful state. He fainted at the thought that Radha gave him such a blissful state by depriving Herself of the same. That's why he always considers himself as Her servant. 'I surrender to Radha and Her unconditional sublime love. She owns me with Her love.' "

" The love in Rasadham is so sublime. Infinite and endless love flows there. That is our goal. The goal of dhyana yoga is the highest one. Do not be satisfied with small powers. You will be eligible to enter Rasaleela only when you get rid of the two ghosts (bhukti and mukthi). God loves leelas. He is playing the highest of all leelas, the Rasaleela in the upper world. Those who are not eligible to enter Rasa are made to move in circles in the worldly leela. God created this world only for those human beings who are filled with desire and anger. We came down to earth only because we are not eligible to enter Rasa. "

" The hide and seek game links the earthly and divine leelas. One player is blind folded by an old lady and all others are asked to hide. The blind folded player is the thief. That thief is maya. Mother is supreme sovereign; this is how the play goes on! When she ties the blind fold on thief's eyes, Mother disappears; only thief remains! This world is filled with maya and the three base modes. This maya is also associated with the Divine. The Lord said 'This is my maya. I created this play.' This play is for those who are not permitted to enter rasa. Even the best kingdom is bound to have a jail because some thieves are sure to be present. The jail is meant for only for thieves, not for all. "

" Balagangadhar Tilak told Gandhiji, his disciple that Hindu religion will remain intact if everybody diligently follows the first mantra of Esavasopanishad. What is the essence of this mantra? "

" 'O jeeva, this world is completely filled with God's tattwa. Divine light has spread all over the world. Every atom on the world is filled with divine presence. You entered such a world. While enjoying the objects on earth, man tends to consider that they belong to him. This is God's kingdom. This world is filled with divine radiance. Man is stealing objects from God's world! Do not steal. You will face punishment in jail. Goddess Durga protects the world with her trident. So do not be a thief. Remember that every atom of this world belongs to God. It is not your property. You are seeing prakrithi which belongs to God and imagining that it is yours. That is what a thief does; taking others objects for himself. Nothing belongs to you. Your punishment is that you are forced to remain in this world. The body will burn to ashes after death and disperse in the five elements and the jeeva moves to some other world. So what does man take with him finally? Nothing; absolutely nothing. "

" Now listen carefully to what the Upanishad says. You may wonder whether you should enjoy anything in this world because it does not belong to you. You can! But you must enjoy with the bhava that 'this is not mine. It belongs to Krishna, to God or Goddess' You must regard the Goddess objects as Hers only and then enjoy them. Being in the constant bhava that this object is not mine is real and highest detachment. Persons who attain this detachment are very rare. Enjoy the whole world but remain detached. There is only one common medicine to break any poison; the bhava that this does not belong to me. This is the secret taught by Upanishad. Take everything in this world but remain in the bhava that nothing belongs to you. This is the highest philosophy. No Vedic verse is higher than this. No sanyas is higher than this. Accepting sanyas does not mean giving up everything in the world. Removing the hair and wearing light clothes is not sanyas. 'This world belongs to God, to my Kannayya. Nothing is mine here. Everything is his only. I am accepting everything with the bhava that it belongs to him.' This is sanyas! This body is also not yours. As long as you think that the body is yours, you are in your worldly family; you are not a sanyasi. The Upanishad cautions you not to deceive the world. You must conduct your life according to this mantra. "

" We are entering the huge worldly leela. We must move towards sadhana through this leela. Dhyana yoga sadhaka must enter this world and move step by step towards his goal. Always live with detachment bhava in your heart. "

" 'Antar Vishnu bahir Vishnu Sarvam Vishnumayam Jagath'. Neither your body nor any object here is yours. The Lord exists in and around every object. He is present even in every fruit on the trees. Then what can be yours? Believing something which does not belong to you, as your object is a sin. You are behaving like a thief. Your punishment is to live in this world. You cannot escape from here. You are caught in the wheel of life and death; a king in one life and a beggar in some other life! The root cause of all this is the 'I' and 'mine' "

" You must be very careful every moment. When you become attached to the world, the all pervading love present within you shrunk and fell into a pit, your body. Then it became limited. The infinite and unlimited love became finite and limited. "

" The Bhagawata says that when a pit was dug on the bank of river Ganges, the pit was filled with Ganga water. Within 10 days, insects accumulated in the pit water and it began to smell bad. The perennially flowing Ganga water was free from odour! But the pit water adjascent to Ganga had bad odour. Jeevathma's love is all pervading and unlimited. His love could be seen everywhere. He could see the Lord everywhere. His heart was like the pure Ganges water. Whether he saw a tree or insect; corrupt person or a prostitute; he did not get affected because his heart was filled with pure divine love. One can attain such a state only after taking several births. Then he can see only the Lord and his rasika attribute in every iota of the world. You must see the world with such divine sight. The Lord said that one who does not see the world with ordinary sight but sees through divine sight is a real mahatma. Such mahatmas are rare to find. Generally man looks at the world as if he is seeing through his body. He does not think that it is God's body and God's eyes through which he sees the world. One in million who develops such a sight become eligible to enter Rasa! Only he can ascend the steps in dhyana yoga successfully. He will not face downfall. "

" Those who wish to do dhyana must be cautious. When Ganges water collects in a pit, insects accumulate. Your love is infinite and true. When you limit your love within this body, it shrinks and is further being eaten away by insects! There is no dhyana for this body and this love. You may be very wealthy but you lose everything when you have ego. Recently, a Russian scholar attended the parliament of religions organized in Calcutta. He revealed the highest philosophical secret through a story. The delegates were highly delighted that he conveyed deep message through a simple story. "

" The Russian philosopher spoke thus: 'The world consists of so many objects but all of them lack the quality of sacrifice. Where there is sacrifice, there is beauty; there is longevity and divine aspect! This quality is lacking in the present world. I would like to narrate a story "

" In a small village, there lived a rich girl. She was such a miser that she never gave a penny or morsel of food to anybody. One day she was eating cooked tapioca. A poor girl came near her and requested for piece of the tapioca as she did not eat since three days. The rich girl bluntly refused saying the tapioca was hers and she would not share it with anybody. When she realized she could not eat the whole tapioca herself, she threw away the remaining piece. Finally, when she died, the Gods declared her as miser and decided she must go to hell; she was descended down to hell. The fires of hell were burning. 'Please save me. The heat of fire is scorching.' Suddenly huge tapioca came from above. The small piece which she threw for somebody because she could not eat it became so huge and came to her rescue; she was so happy and held on it like a log and her descent stopped midway with the help of the tapioca piece. At that time, another miser girl was falling into hell. She requested this girl to give her a piece of the tapioca so that she could hold onto it too. She refused saying 'it is mine, why should I give it to you?' Immediately the tapioca vanished and she fell down into hell. What you thought is yours saved you when it was not yours! That which you thought is not yours became yours and saved you. This is the secret of this world. This is the law created by God. When you think that any object belongs to you, it will no longer be yours. When you think that object does not belong to you but belongs to the Lord, it will become yours.' "

" Such a wonderful example by the Russian philosopher! We have only one hurdle in this world, deha bhava - the bhava that I am this body. As long as you have this thought, any amount of penance for ages together will not help you to move upwards. The opposing power which pulls man down very fast is identifying himself with the body. 'This is my wife, my vehicle, my house, me, my, I, mine. This is our world. As long as you live in this world, your penance is of no use. This is what the Upanishads explains. "

" We are embarking on a great voyage, upwards, towards God. This body is causing a hurdle in our path. This body consists of a mind and sense organs, all which are linked to prakriti. When you think that the body and everything associated with it belongs to you, you are bound to fall. You cannot move higher in dhyana yoga. Lord Shiva's tapasya is different from that of Ravana or Bhasmasura's tapasya. They had the thought of I and mine; they failed. That is why, in dhyana, you must not have deha bhava. 'This body is mine. I am doing tapasya. This leela is so great. This beauty is enchanting. These beautiful idols are mine.' You must not have such thoughts in dhyana. "

" When you sit for dhyana, many thoughts and hurdles plague you. When Viswamitra began his dhyana, Menaka came near him. His mind got disturbed, he was enchanted by her beauty and married her. After giving birth to Sakuntala, she left him and went back. His penance was all lost; his powers were lost because he became attracted towards an object in this world. Sage vasishta utilized his powers effectively. He considered that every object should be surrendered to God because it belongs to him only. He lived with the thought that every object he enjoyed belonged to the Lord residing within him! No wonder he became the guru of Lord Rama because he constantly remained in such bhava. Rama and Sita followed his orders only because he was a great dhyana yogi. This is the secret of vasishta's dhyana yoga. He attained many divine rasas and accepted them as Lord's Prasad. Do not consider anything as your own; accept it as Lord's Prasad not withstanding whether you are eligible to receive it or not. You are safe and need not fear anybody. "

" You will find some benefits in dhyana yoga. You will attain divine grace. When you attain God's grace, remember that it is not yours. When you begin dhyana yoga, God knows that you are making efforts to reach him. He will put some objects in the jeeva's path. If the jeeva is lured and think they are his, he will be sent back down. But if he is not moved by any wealth placed before him and considers that everything belongs to God only, he will be taken up. This is the real philosophical secret! The secret of dhyana yoga! You will face many hurdles in dhyana. You must be very careful. "

" This world consists of maya. That's why it is maya leela in this world. The Lord made his maya leela here like the hide and seek game. The old lady blind folds the thief while all the players hide. When everybody runs and hides somewhere, she releases the thief. Whomever he touches will become the next thief. So nobody should be touched by him. Nobody should touch this maya form. Everybody must hold Mother without touching maya. That is the divine play! One who holds Mother without being touched by anything else cannot be troubled by maya. Once he holds Mother, maya cannot do anything to him. He need not fear about maya anymore. As long as he does not hold Mother, whenever maya touches him, he will face downfall. This is the divine play which man is playing. "

" We are moving towards Mother who is in the higher planes. We must hold Her. Maya is present between Mother and jeeva. It will touch him and he falls. When he reaches Mother after escaping maya; it will not touch him anymore. This is the play in which we all are playing a part. "

" Dhyana yoga is a strange play; a small part of the divine worldly play. Dhyana yoga leela! We must move very carefully in this leela. If you regard any karma as yours, you will fall. You will face many hurdles; don't touch any of them. Do not allow maya to touch you as you move forward. You must hold Mother only. What can you do to avoid maya's touch? It will follow you everywhere. That path that evades maya is the correct path to reach Mother. "

" When you sit down to do dhyana, you will see many objects created by maya. If you are lured by them, you will fall. You must not get distracted from your goal. Remember Gautam Buddha's story. When he sat down to do penance, maya brought his wife, son, parents and angels before him. He was not distracted at all. That is how, he succeeded in his penance. "