Gurudev Chitrabhanu
Life is a miracle, but those who perform miracles are misleading you. They are blinding you, diverting you from real miracles. The biggest temptation bigger than sex and more than money is the temptation of miracles. Soon you know sex as sex and money as money, and you know they are not permanent. But miracles-oh! You read about them in all the books and scriptures. Then you try to levitate to astral travel; you desire to go invisibly into somebody's room! Why? What is this curiosity? Are you not a living miracle? Some people read books of miracles and biographies, they say, "Oh, my god, this is what I want!" But they never get it. When you desire them, they don't happen to you. Then you feel frustrated. I have found many people who have left the spiritual path because they did not reach those miracles. They say, "It's all phony. We practiced for ten or twelve years and we didn't find anything." It is a blind desire and the people don't understand. The books become temptation - some people read only to find miracles. But a person who is drawn to the path because of the miracles is not going to stay long. If the miracle does not happen, he or she will be disappointed.
In reality this is a greedy desire and spirituality is to go beyond all greed. Those who speak of miracles and attract people with miracles are doing a lot of harm because eventually the followers are deceived. Ultimately the miracle is to know reality. Reality is a law of cause and effect. Sow the seed and reap the fruit. This is the harmony of cause and effect. Love is miracle. Love reveals everything and everyone. When your heart knows love, miracles happen.
Buddha once came into a town. In that town one very famous learned lady had lost her grandson. She could not bear the sorrow. It was a painful blow to her in her old age, and she felt shattered. That evening somebody came to see her and said, "Do you know, Buddha has come to our town?" She exclaimed, "Buddha has come?" She felt some hope. "He will help me now!"
She rushed to see Buddha who was staying in a nearby garden. She bowed to him and said, "Sir, I can't bear the pain of this separation. I have lost my grandchild and you, a man of power, a man of wisdom, a living God, you have all the power to make him live again." Buddha set calmly and said, "yes, but there is one thing you have to do. Bring seven mung beans to me" She said, "Only seven mung beans?" "Yes," he said, "but wait. You have to bring these seven mung beans from that house where no death has happened, the house where no one has died." She said, "I will find it."
She left in a hurry, not pausing to think. She went from house to house and said, "Please give me seven grains of mung beans." Generally people in India keep mung beans in their house and they are ready to part with them. Then she would ask, 'Has anybody died in your house?" They would reply, "What a question! My father died". Another said, "my grandfather died." Another said, "my sister died when she was only a baby." It happened in each house until she got tired. She was so confused because attachment did not allow her to think properly. She was exhausted because everywhere she heard the same story.
Finally, she came back and said, "Sir, there is not a single house where death has not occurred." Buddha said, "Now think of life and death. It is a change". It is leaving one body and going into another. It is changing clothes. When you wear clothes for a few days, they become dirty. They become full of odor. Then it is time to change.
Young and old is a time concept. Life is eternal, it is evolving. In eternity every life is a process of completion. And when that mission is completed, the person leaves the body as you leave the waking state and go to sleep. You leave the sleep and go to dream, you go from dream to sleep, from sleep to waking. It is all nothing but change.
The lady was able to overcome her fear and sorrow when she realized that nothing in the world lasts, save eternal change. Death is a change, which opens a door to the permanent. Behind all changes there is the changeless.
There is pain only in our mind; there is no pain in death. It can be very peaceful and smooth, gentler than sleep. But we have horrifying thoughts because of attachment. Attachment creates more pain and disease than any pain from physical causes.
In my experience, I have seen some people die in a way that makes sleep seem less peaceful. My own father's death is an example. It was my birthday, July 26, 1959. We celebrated in the morning, and in the evening he said, "I have a little pain in the heart." So he put his head on my lap, and began saying "Namo Arihantanum" [1.].He closed his eyes, and with a little jerk he was gone. Before I could think, he was in a different world. A doctor who happened to be there saw my father and said, "It is over." I could not believe it, but it was the truth. He passed gently as a ship that moves on the water to another shore.
But how can the mind conceive this idea? It is very difficult. This mind has so many attachments and so many plans. The problem is of the mind, not of death. That is why, once you know the secret, you will be free of the fear of death. When you are free, you will not be afraid of death and you will not run away from it. When you know the nature of death, you will neither hide from it nor embrace it. Those who say, "Death, you are my beloved," are extreme, and those who call death a black frightening monster are at the other extreme. It is not a monster, it is not a beloved. It is a change, a way of life when the time comes. It does not happen until the time is right. Some people take sleeping pills to finish their life and yet they do not die. Instead, somebody comes and gives them medication; they vomit and are saved. A person jumps from a bridge and does not die, but someone else yawns and dies. Another person goes to attend a concert and does not come back.
If we avoid thinking about it, we will always remain in fear and we will never be able to understand what death is. It is a law, a way, a stage in life. As we experience childhood, adulthood, maturity and old age, so we experience death. They are all changes. One has to know the process. When the process is known, the fear, which takes away your energy, disappears, so you have energy to live. We are here with a mission, to fulfill necessary obligations and free from all binding Karmas. If you are aware, you live life and burn your Karmas and you are free from all the cycles. When your debts are over, there is no rebirth. When your account is closed, you will not receive a monthly statement from the bank. Now every month you get a statement, which comes from your unpaid account. Close the account and the bank will not send you a statement. Birth is a statement, which comes from an account with somebody. So we are here to even all the accounts and not to build a new account.
In life, if two people meet and understand that they are here to burn Karmas, they will see that there is a beautiful harmony in life. There will be a new dimension in life because the fight for the things will be over and the growth for both of them will start. So say: "We are here to grow and that is why we have met. You help me and I help you, and helping each other we will be free."
- Namo Arihantanum is the most sanctified mantra in the Jain tradition. It means "I bow to those who have conquered their inner enemies." When one says these words, he or she shows deep respect for those who have attained enlightenment in the past, present or future without regard to religion, race, nationality or any other such distinction.
