Hari Babaji (The Guru of Pilot Babaji)
The stone continued for a long time to speak to me in its silent language. I was in a strange state—I felt that the stone was also me. And at that very moment I heard Hari Baba calling me from the cave. I ran to where I had left my clothes. Perhaps the stone was laughing at me, because Hari Baba was also laughing at the entrance of the cave, and the swans by the riverbank were watching me attentively. I tied my clothes in a knot around my waist and went to the cave. Hari Baba was smiling. I felt ashamed, but then Hari Baba abruptly stripped off all his clothes and hurled them onto the floor. Hari Baba said:
– Thoughts and emotions are what dress themselves in various garments. It is thoughts that lead to attachments. It is thoughts that tell us about life and death. The study of the outer and inner worlds is also just a thought. Everything is born of our thoughts—old age and youth, whether you are a man or a woman, shame, love, compassion. In any action, thoughts play the central role. You must master your thoughts. You are man, you are woman, you are society, you are nation. If you feel shame before a nation, before society, before a woman, then you must change your way of thinking. Remember the stone that only recently conveyed a silent message to you. That, too, was you. Although the stone was silent, it was able to affect you with its ideas, because those were also your own thoughts. They were your own thoughts, delivered to you through the stone. You yourself exist in two worlds: the material and the spiritual. Within you there is both the feminine and the masculine.
You will have to climb snow-covered peaks and ask them what your own truth is. You will have to become the flow of a river, rise with the current, descend with it, and endure blows from boulders and small stones. You will have to become a tree, patiently enduring both rainstorms and thunderstorms. You must become an animal fleeing from a predator. You must become a predator chasing its prey. You must become a courtesan awaiting her client. You must become loyal and dependent like a dog, desperate like a thief, proud like a king. You will have to resemble an animal running from mortal danger, and in this way, truly realize the value of life. Only then can something come of you. A true ascetic drinks water at any ghat and inspires others to do the same. In all these situations, it is your own thoughts that will drive you to action. You are naked, but this is nothing other than your own thoughts. Let society insist otherwise—that you cannot be naked. The whole world does not wear clothes. Everything exists solely in your thoughts: creation and destruction, victory and defeat, feelings and emotions. All the knowledge of the world is contained in this fact. Now take your clothes, dress yourself, and look at this world. Look at yourself—have you changed? Has that which was at the very center, at the very core, or anywhere else, changed?
This world is an illusion, Maya. The material world is immersed in matter. A person thinks only of the material—thus opening the door to their own destruction. Human beings, with all their might, destroy nature, guided solely by considerations of their own convenience. People are constantly seeking something new, challenging themselves. The latest achievements in science and technology make humans believe in their own greatness. Yet in doing so, they forget themselves, they forget their true nature.
A person is completely dependent on machines and technology. Yet one can attain anything only by seeking the truth within oneself, by “killing” the old self to give rise to a new life. Otherwise, the five elements will destroy this mortal body. If through yoga a person makes their body immortal, the soul will not need to repeatedly change its location by taking on a new body. After all, life resides in the physical body. Through various actions, whether good or bad, good or bad karma is generated. If a person fully abandons the creation of karmic particles—samskaras—they can achieve liberation and become independent. This is the ultimate truth and the goal of every human being. Yet in the modern world, people often fall into the traps of Maya, and because of this, the flow of their thoughts constantly shifts according to the surrounding world. That is why people are often indecisive. They do not know what to do or what will happen to them tomorrow. They build their lives on hopes and assumptions. People are constrained by society and various circumstances, yet they dream of liberation. However, the disorderly flow of thoughts prevents them from achieving it.
You were mistaken as well, and I always tried to show you the way. I came to you at every critical moment of your life, refreshed your memories, destroyed past karma, and illuminated your path. I explained to you everything that was happening to you. Today you have turned inward, because the immortal words of Gorakhnath Baba have shown you the right path. Being in the presence of this great being, you are able to reflect on yourself and on the stage of spiritual development you have reached. This great yogi comes to people only on rare occasions. He comes to those who have very good karma, or to those with whom he is connected through a past incarnation. This applies to you as well: you have very good karma, and you were connected with Baba in your previous births. Baba Gorakhnath was waiting here for your arrival and urged me to go and bring you to him. The human soul takes up residence in the physical body in order to work out its karma. There exists a teacher, a guru, one who shows the path, and he himself finds his disciples through his divine abilities. Until the disciple attains enlightenment, until he is freed from the burden of his own thoughts, this bond will continue to exist.
The past and the future are a bottomless ocean; they are in eternal motion. They have neither beginning nor end. The present is a small stream, flowing from the past and disappearing into the future. But you must not be lost along with it, you must not drown. Your task is to be one with the flow. Amid the eternal movement, you must remain unshakable, like the Himalayas, steadfast like Mount Sumeru.
Quotes from the book Pilot Babaji
