Healing the Soul

The Essence of Ayurveda

Session 1 Part 2 Transcription

[This follows Uddhava's graphical presentation of the three modes of material nature] 

Babaji: So as we can see from this graph, activities in the mode of ignorance lead to degradation [of consciousness]. If someone performs activities in the mode of ignorance, everything [in their existence] deteriorates, beginning with their consciousness. They're going to fill their minds with so much garbage, nonsense, trash, low quality [information] and just plain lies and low things, that will degrade the quality of their consciousness, the quality of their health, and we'll talk in a little bit about all the [other] things that go with these different modes.

Similarly, for a person in the mode of passion, their activities lead to mediocrity: just normal, average, run of the mill. Nothing special; nothing great, just normal, mediocre. But there are a lot of people who think that this is very desirable: a better job, a newer car, a prettier girlfriend or boyfriend, more power: "Oh, this is great!" Just look at the commercials on TV; they're all pushing this passion. "Enjoy! Ah, Isn't it great!" There's only one problem: if you act in this mode, you create nothing but suffering for yourself in the future. 

Now, the mode of goodness leads to elevation, means that we'll improve in every way, beginning with our consciousness. Our consciousness will improve, our emotions will improve, we'll be be happy, satisfied, healthy, and we will have a much better destination in the spiritual world. That's a very important thing. The future is coming; we're all going to be there. So what kind of future are we going to have? What is our destiny? Meaning, where are we going after this life? Heaven, earth, hell, the spiritual world? Where are we going? 

There's one more thing that we haven't mentioned: there's something even higher than goodness: transcendental. There is a way to act that does not generate karma. But to know this, we have to be very advanced in spiritual life. The Vedas say it like this: "When a person's every act is devoid of the desire for sense gratification, then he is acting in the transcendental consciousness." So this is a very advanced stage; it is only for those who are self-realized. But the point of Ayurveda is that everyone can become self-realized because we're all spirit souls. 

Now I'd like to talk about some of the associations of these three modes. Ulises was talking about the literature. The literature of someone in the mode of ignorance will be popular, nonsense fashion things.  Someone in the mode of passion is trying to get more money, more power, more status, more possessions, so they're interested in financial, political [literature]; all kinds of ways of getting more. Someone in the mode of passion wants more. Someone in the mode of goodness will be interested in literature that will elevate them. So they study philosophy, religion, like that. But someone in the transcendental mode, they are only interested in God. So they have a direct, personal relationship with God. This is very rare, but it is actually the goal of human life.

So if a person's taste in literature is determined by which of these modes they're in, what about their taste in food? Uh-oh, put your helmet on; here comes another one of those crazy things that you don't want to hear! So, what kind of food do you think somebody in the mode of ignorance would like? 

Audience response: Meat, garbage food. 

Babaji: Yeah, fast food, stale, garbage. Now what about someone in the mode of passion? Very spicy, dry, hot, gourmet, very fancy, expensive. They like all those things. They like to eat out in expensive restaurants, impress their friends. But everything they do ultimately gives them heart trouble, arthritis, rheumatism--these are all diseases of the mode of passion. Diseases of the mode of ignorance are chromic conditions, sexually transmitted diseases, cancer, things that come from contamination. OK, what about people in the mode of goodness; what kind of food do they like?

Audience response: Vegetarian.

Babaji: Clean, pure, organic, vegetarian, mild, satisfying, fresh, and cooked by a real artist: someone who is in a good state of mind. Why? Because the energy of the person who is cooking goes into the food. In the temples in India, the most advanced monk is always in charge of the kitchen. Why?

Audience response: Because he's wise.

Babaji: He's wise, and his energy is going into the food. So everybody is happy, healthy, making advancement in spiritual life, because every day they're eating something that's coming from good energy. So when you go in the supermarket, and you see all the shelves of plastic bags and cans, this is food for people in the mode of ignorance. Then when you go to a nice restaurant, you'll see all the people in the mode of passion. They're simply eating disease. I never eat in restaurants--never, never, never. I cook my own vegetarian food, because I know what my body wants, and I cook for what my body needs. That's the sane way to do it. 

Now what about the transcendental people? What kind of food do they eat? Any guesses?

Audience response: He doesn't eat anything; just air.

Babaji: No, no. Don't believe that. The transcendental person eats only food which is offered to God with love and devotion. Just like when you go to church, in the Mass they take the bread and wine, and offer it to God. Why don't we just go to the store and buy some bread and wine? What's the difference?

Audience response: The intention.

Babaji: Yeah, the intention. Because we're saying, "We want to share this with You, God, first. Then we take it. That's transcendental; that's spiritual. God is a person; He likes to eat! Or more precisely, He likes to share His food with His friends. Jesus is a perfect example; before eating himself, he gave the food to all his friends. That's spiritual; that's love. There's no meaning to spirituality without love, and there's no meaning to love without a person. We're all personas, so where do we come from? We have to come from a person. Everyone here is a person, and their mothers and fathers are also persons; and their mothers and fathers are also persons, et cetera, all the way back to God. 

God is the original person. So everything that persons like, God also likes--just on a grand scale, an unlimited scale, ever-expanding and perfect. So if we want to approach God, then we have to "Become prefect, just like He is perfect." Who said that?

Audience response: Jesus.

Babaji: Yeah. We're teaching the same thing, that's right. 

So if this Ayurvedic system of modes and tastes applies to food, it also applies to other things, for example, music. What kind of music does a person in the mode of ignorance like? 

Audience response: [Laughter]

Babaji: Whatever their parents hate! [Laughter] No, seriously, the same as in literature: people in the mode of ignorance like music about sex, or just having fun, or music about drugs, heavy metal, like that. What about people in the mode of passion? Passion, passion, lots of trumpets! Big orchestras--that's passion! What about people in the mode of goodness? 

Audience response: Silence. [Laughter]

Babaji: Nonsense! It says nothing; it offends no one; it means nothing. Actually this kind of idea is ignorance. Just like the people who say that God is impersonal: some kind of light. Ignorance: they don't know anything. Or maybe they're angry at God; rebelliousness against God is also ignorance. So where were we? Oh yes, music. What kind of music for goodness?

Audience response: Mozart, Gregorian chant, mantras, chants that glorify God.

Babaji: Very good! Mozart, hymns, chants, mantras--precisely. And transcendental music is the Holy Names of God.

So we can see that everything in life has these four different flavors: clothing, work, a person's style of management, dealing with others, a person's emotional life, their relationship patterns--everything in life comes in these four different flavors of ignorance, passion, goodness and transcendental. And you can understand from these symptoms in what level of consciousness an individual is situated. In our course we're going to go into this in great detail. 

I want to move along now because I just wanted to introduce this concept of the three modes, but there's a lot more to know, and this is very practical. You can go in the store, and pick out your clothes according to the three modes of material nature. Go shopping the market according to the three modes, or listening to music. 

Why are these things important? Because our actions affect our consciousness. Every time we perceive something, it creates an impression in our mind. An impression is like a photograph o a recording. So everything I see, everything I hear, everything I taste and smell; and also everything I speak, everything I think, my emotions, the feelings in my body, all generate impressions. And the quality of our consciousness is determined by the quality of the impressions in our minds. And at the end of this life, according to the sum total of all the impressions, that determines our destination after death. 

This is given in the Vedas; I can even quote the Sanskrit.

yaà yaà väpi smaran bhävaà tyajaty ante kalevaram

taà tam evaiti kaunteya sadä tad-bhäva-bhävitaù

"In whatever condition one quits his present body, in his next life he will attain to that state of being without fail." [Bhagavad-gita 8.6]

Isn't that beautiful? Whew. No really, Sanskrit poetry is very powerful, because these words are originally spoken by God. And what it means is, "Whatever is in our minds at the time of death determines our destination in the next life." We all know this instinctively; but here it's confirmed in the scriptures. 

So what does that mean? What is in our mind at the time of death? Has anybody here had a near-death experience? Nobody? I'm the only one? Ah. What was in your mind?

Response: Communication with God.

Babaji: No, before that.

Response: My family.

Babaji: At the time of death, we re-experience our whole life in just a few minutes, and we think everything over. And the question on our mind is, "How well have I loved?" If we had to sit down right now, and write down every person that we had a relationship with, and score ourselves on how well we loved them, that's what it's like in the few minutes before death. Our whole life goes before us, and we remember everything very fast. 

So this is your homework tonight: if you were to die tonight, who would you want to call up and tell them, "I love you"? It doesn't matter if they're still here or not. But you should become comfortable with your relationships, because we never know when we're going to get hit by a truck in this crazy traffic. 

So the point is, if we have lived a life full of impressions of ignorance and passion, we're not going to be very satisfied at the time of death. We're going to regret so many things we did and said; we're going to feel sorry for so many things we didn't do, that we wish we had done. So if we live a life of goodness,  that means we're gentle. We're not killing animals, we're not killing ourselves, we're not killing other people, we're not causing emotional violence, we're considerate, learned, pious, clean, pure in every way. So at the time of death, if we're in the mode of goodness, we have no regrets, because we have followed God's law every step of the way. 

Question: What happens when a person dies when he's unconscious?

Babaji: We're never really completely unconscious. Our consciousness may not be connected with the body, just like in dreams. In dreams, we're conscious, things are happening and we're aware of them. We're even doing things and going here and there, talking with people, but not in this body--in the mental body. 

Just like there are four modes of existence, there are four modes of consciousness. When our consciousness is completely merged in ignorance, this is sleep with no dreams. When our consciousness is active but not connected with the body, then we're dreaming. And then we have normal waking consciousness, which for most people is also a kind of dreaming, because they're not aware of the Absolute Truth. They have all these opinions and thoughts floating around in their minds, but none of them is final or conclusive; so this is like dreaming. 

Compared with transcendental consciousness, when one is completely aware of the Absolute Truth, and is living completely according to the Law of God. That is truly waking consciousness; that is the fourth state of consciousness, beyond anything physical. A person in that state of consciousness doesn't really care about the material world. Although they may be situated in a material body, their only interest is in serving God, and they have direct consciousness of God in a spiritual body. That is the fully developed state of consciousness. 

Where does Ayurveda fit into all of this? Because to reach the mode of goodness, we have to attain balance. But as I said in the beginning, no material body is balanced. Every material body has a tendency to be out of balance. Why? Take this bottle for example. If I set it on its bottom, it's stable. But if I set it on its top, any little touch and it falls over. 

Similarly, if we think that we are this material body, it's unstable, like the bottle sitting on its head. It's an unnatural condition. It's ignorance; it's actually a diseased condition of consciousness. If we identify with this material body, and think that it is our self... Just like sometimes I hear people say, "Do we have a soul?" What are they saying? They're saying, "I am this material body, and maybe I have a soul." They haven't understood anything about spiritual life. 

If you are conscious--is anybody here conscious? 

Audience response: Yes! Yes!

Babaji: Everybody? Great, because if you're not conscious, then you're not a spirit soul. Because when you take the spirit soul out of the body, what happens? [knocks over the upside-down bottle]

Audience response: The body dies.

Babaji: Yes, the body's just a piece of meat. It's a very fancy piece of meat, very complicated. But it's like a tool. Without the person to handle the tool, noting is going to happen. So without the soul, the body is just a piece of matter. It's inert; it's useless. When somebody dies, what's the first thing we do? 

Audience response: Get rid of the body.

Babaji: Yes; get it out of here! So that means that what is dear is really the soul. And why is the soul dear? Because he is the energy of God; he is similar to God, and God has all good qualities. So all of the good qualities that we have are due to the presence of the soul. But when the soul leaves the body, we want to get rid of it somehow or other, before it starts to smell. 

Question: How long does it take the soul to leave the body when it's dead?

Babaji: Hmmm, good question. Remember when we talked about the symptoms of the soul? Well when those symptoms are gone, so is the soul. The soul also leaves the body at night, during sleep. And then we experience the mental body. But the mental body is also material. And here's the proof: did you ever change your mind? Change the way you think about something? Change your opinion? Of course. So that mental body is not permanent; it can change. 

Just like this material body. When I was three years old, the body was about a meter tall. Then when I was ten years old, my body was like his. Then when I was a young rascal like him, my body was almost that thin. Now? So, what happened to that body? Where is that body? It's gone; and science will tell you that every cell in the body changes every seven years. Every seven years you have a new body. The old body is gone; all those cells are dead. 

Question: Is that what you call personality?

Babaji: No; personality is not the body. We use the word personality very loosely, like slang: "He has a nice personality." But actually personality means the state or condition of being a person. And the symptoms of being a person--individuality, identity, consciousness, a certain taste or style, energy, initiative, creativity--all those things are because we're a spirit soul. Now our opinions may change, but the basic fact of being a person is always with us. Is that clear now? OK. Any more questions while we're at it?

Question: What's the difference between spirit and soul?

Babaji: What's the difference between plastic and a bottle? The plastic is the material and the bottle is the thing that's made from it. Similarly, spirit is a substance and soul is the thing that's made from that substance. That's why we call it a spirit soul. It's not a glass soul, or a mind soul, or anything else; it's a spirit soul. So spirit is the radiance of God. We often hear about 'the eternal light;' but what is the eternal light? It's the basic material of everything that exists. This room is nothing but light; our bodies are nothing but light; even our minds--although sometimes they seem very dark--are nothing but light: Brahman. This Brahman is the effulgence of the body of God; but because we don't know God, we think that the light is God. But actually it's just the symptom of His presence, just like this body is the symptom of our presence. The eternal spiritual light, the infinite Brahman, is the symptom of God's presence. 

One time somebody asked me to prove the presence of God. It's very easy; you see the rain coming down? Well when the rain comes down in little drops, where is it coming from? From the clouds, right? Where do the clouds come from? 

Audience response: From the ocean.

Babaji: Yes. So the ocean is the reservoir of all the water. When we see the raindrops, we know by induction there must be an ocean. Even if we can't see the ocean, we know it's there. Similarly we see the light; where is the light coming from? 

Audience response: From the sun.

Babaji: Where's the sun? We can't see it, but we know by induction that because the light is there, there has to be a reservoir, there has to be a source. There is no such thing as energy without a source. Every energy has a point of emanation. OK, so then when we experience the soul, the consciousness within the body, where is the emanation? The soul is like the drop, and God is like the ocean. 

Audience response: He emanates energy and we emanate energy also.

Babaji: No; we are emanated by Him; therefore we have similar symptoms. That's the point I'm getting at. Yes, the soul emanates energy, for example the life energy of the body. But the quantity of the energy that we emanate is very, very tiny. 

Audience response: It's reciprocated because as we thought, and we receive His thoughts, we are in contact with Him.

Babaji: No, that's another matter. As we discussed in the beginning, God is present everywhere, and we are made of the same material, and have the same qualities. Therefore, in theory, it should be possible for us to communicate [with God]. So in the Vedas, this is called Supersoul. We are the soul; God is the Supersoul. So we can establish communication. What is this called, when we communicate with God?

Audience response: Meditation.

Babaji: Meditation is when we listen to God; what is it when we speak?

Audience response: Communion.

Babaji: Communion, prayer, meditation, intuition, inspiration--these are all forms of contact with God. Also compassion, gratitude. Because we are the knowers in this body, but God is the Knower in all bodies. 

So real health begins from balancing our relationship with God. Having knowledge of Gd is a prerequisite for this, just like I can't call you if I don't have your phone number. To get in contact with you, I have to have some knowledge first. So what is God's phone number?

Audience response: Love, prayer, good behavior.

Babaji: To have love or prayer, we have to know who we're loving or who we're praying to. The Holy Name of God is God's telephone number. When we call out the Name of God, we're immediately in touch with Him. He hears everything; He knows everything. So as soon as we want to get in touch with Him, He's aware. He sees everything; we cannot hide anything from Him. So we might as well just be honest and just talk to Him, because He's the greatest Friend. He's the most dear, most intimate Friend. God loves us unconditionally, eternally, and in just the right flavor that we like. Because He knows what we need; He knows our preferences. Just like that song about Santa Claus: "He knows if you've been bad or good... He knows if you are sleeping, He knows if you're awake." He doesn't even need a little notebook, because His consciousness is unlimited. 

This is God. So in all scriptures of the world, God's Name is praised as the highest thing. If we don't know anything else about God, if we simply invoke His Name, then He is immediately present. Actually he's already present, but we have gone away from Him. So when we turn back towards God, it means we turn within, because God is also subjective. Just like the symptoms of consciousness, the symptoms of the soul, God is only known within. 

This is the most important piece of knowledge you can have. If you just use this knowledge, then you can attain the highest spiritual realizations. Jesus said, "Only in the Name of God will you be saved," and every scripture has something like that. So, what is the Name of God?

Audience response: Depending on culture.

Babaji: Well, what is the Name of God in your culture?

Audience response: Dios.

Babaji: Dios, God, is a position. Just like I say "El Presidente," it's a position. Who is the person in that position? What's His Name?

Audience response: Any person.

Babaji: What? Wait a minute. Any person?

Audience response: You are son of God. Vital energy. Love

Babaji: Is that the name of a person? So that is my question: Who is the person in the position of God?

Audience response: Love.

Babaji: That's not a name. The Name of God is the name of a person. We cannot love a word; we cannot love "love." We cannot love a light. We cannot love energy. What is the name of the person, God?

Audience response: Jesus.

Babaji: Ah! 

Audience response: Jesus is the Son.

Babaji: Jesus is the Son, but that's a good start! Who is the Father?

Audience response: YHVH.

Babaji: Somebody said Krsna. I heard earlier.

Audience response: But Krsna is like Jesus, isn't He? Jesus is the Father. Everyone is son of God.

Babaji: Is He? Everyone is son, but who's the Father?

Audience response: There are many names for God.

Babaji: I think there's a lot of confusion about this issue.

Audience response: The Son is Jesus, and the Father is Jehovah. But that's only one tradition. For Hindus it's Brahma, Visnu and Siva. All of Them are God

Babaji: All of them! All of them! Listen; when I go home, my mother calls me David. Uddhava calls me Babaji. My God brothers call me Dasanudas. Some people call me, "You &*$&^#^%@!" [laughter] So I have so many names, what's the problem with God having many names? God should have more names than me! Isn't it? What's the problem? 

Different cultures, different traditions, different scriptures--the truth is, God is named according to His qualities and activities. When He comes in the form of the Savior, He is called Jesus; when He manifests as the Father of all, He is called Jehovah; when He manifests as the all-attractive Beloved, He is called Krsna; when He manifests as the creator He's called Brahma; when He's manifest as the preserver He's called Visnu; when He manifests as the destroyer He's called Siva; when He manifests as time He's called Kala; when He manifests as the original physician, He's called Janardana; when He manifests as the source of all energies, He's called Narayana. 

There are thousands and millions and millions of Names of God--and that's just on this planet. One of the books I wrote is called "The Thousand Names of God." That was my second book. Because the Holy Name of God is so important and so powerful, there are thousands and millions of Names. Why?

Audience response: Because He is represented individually for each person.

Babaji: Ah! Very good. God manifests a separate, individual form for each living entity that exists. Within each and every atom, there is a unique individual form of God. Do you follow? It's had to hear with all this noise, and we're talking about a very delicate subject, so be a little patient please. 

So the Name of God is different depending on the type of manifestation; an He manifests according to who is calling Him. To Moses, He manifested as a burning bush; but to Jesus, He was the Father. Why? Because Jesus was more conscious of His qualities, therefore He manifested more qualities. A father has more qualities than a burning bush. So also God manifests in the paraphernalia of sacrifice. In the Mass, He manifests in the host; in the Vedic sacrifices He manifests as the fire. And as we just discussed, He also manifests in His Name, because just by taking His Name, we immediately become conscious of Him. 

Now here's a very interesting fact: if I have, let's say, the name for water; I can say, "Water, water, water," all day long, and the only result is that I become thirsty. Because in the material world, the name or symbol for an object is different from the thing itself. But in the spiritual world, there is no difference between the symbol or the name, and the person named. That's the difference between the material wold and the spiritual world. As soon as I call the Name of God, He is there. Not only is the Name of God nondifferent from God as  person, but the Name of God also has all the qualities and powers of God. This has to be experienced to be understood. 

Question: How will God manifest in a war?

Babaji: Ah. This is a question that has confused Western philosophy and theology for thousands of years. It's a tough question: if God is all-good, then why is there evil and violence in the world? That's the essence of your question, isn't it? If God is all-goo and all-perfect, then why is there violence, why is there suffering; why is there sadness, disappointment, depression? 

I'll tell you why: because we want it. We desire to be separate from God. We want to be independent. We want to have our own free will. We are all here because we are angry with God. We're envious of God. At some point we made a decision: "I don't want to see God any more." So God said, "OK, there's this little material world. There you go. Later. Oh by the way, you're on your own!" And so now we have to figure out everything on our own; we don't see God walking down the street, even though He's there in our hearts all the time; our consciousness is compulsively extroverted; because we wanted it. And because God is our dear Friend, He gave us our wish. 

So why is there evil in the wold? Because we're evil, and we're in this world. I mean, look at all the evil in the wold; where does it come from? People, right? War, violence, exploitation, suffering--it's all because of people. 

Question: I don't believe that everyone wants to be away from God; maybe some.

Babaji: Then why are we here? He loves us; He doesn't want us to suffer. 

Question: Then why some innocent people are killed?

Babaji: They're not innocent. Do you know what they did in their past lives? Maybe they killed somebody. Why is one person born like an Einstein or a Mozart, and another person is born an ignorant fool? Is that God's doing? Or is it just chance? Random chance, like the scientists say? No; it's karma. Just because we don't remember what happened in the past life, doesn't mean that God doesn't remember. He remembers everything; He knows everything. Actually, it's mercy that we don;t remember what we did in past lives. can you imagine remembering all that suffering, and all the crazy stuff we went through? No, this life is enough; even Jesus said, "Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof." 

Question: Does that apply to the leader of that war too?

Babaji: Well of course; karma applies to everyone. 

Question: Maybe it's off-topic and hard to believe, because you;re talking about reincarnation and other lives, that's hard to prove. 

Babaji: No; not hard to prove. It comes back to the question of consciousness. can we measure consciousness with any instrument? No. Then...let me finish, let me finish. If we cannot measure it with a physical instrument, that means it's not physical. Things that are not physical, what else can they be? They must be spiritual. And everything that's spiritual is eternal. Therefore consciousness is eternal. Memory is not eternal. Anyone here would have trouble remembering what they id exactly one year ago. So we can prove that matter is temporary, because it has a beginning and an end, and it's constantly changing, like the material body. Therefore memory is material; but consciousness is eternal, because it's spiritual, it's not physical. Therefore we have previous life; we just don't remember it. Now under extraordinary circumstances, some people do remember their previous lives. But the first thing we try to tell them is, "Oh, it's just your imagination." So it's very difficult to retain that memory. 

[end of tape]