Once… Shankaran Pillai had… Why you’re laughing at somebody’s ailment, this is not good!
Shankaran Pillai had chronic tuberculosis – tuberculosis. He went to the doctor, it’s been festering for a long time, but it became too much of a problem, so he went. The doctor took an X-ray and looked – big holes in the lungs. He said, “You need to get admitted into the hospital right away, it takes a minor surgery, and you have to stay in the hospital minimum 6 months, and it’ll cost you $50,000.”
Shankaran Pillai said, “ No, no way!”, “$50,000, for sure I don’t have. 6 months – no way. I can give you $100 – what can you do? Now.” The doctor looked at him, looked at the X-ray, looked at him, looked at the X-ray, he said, “Well, for $100 I could touch up the X-ray for you.”
It is possible that you could have caused physical damage to your system, an ailment, because of your patterns of thinking
It is possible that you could have caused physical damage to your system, an ailment, because of your patterns of thinking – very much possible. Bcause you’re a psychosoma – whatever happens in the mind, invariably happens in the body. But once the damage is manifested in the body, physically, trying to think it away could be just wishful thinking. I’m not saying it’s not at all possible, but after all, you have only one life – you don’t take such a risk. Yes, you would like to assist it with your thought process also, but “No, I will just sit down and think it away.” You may think yourself away [die], you know? So, don’t try such things.
Disease or no disease, ailment or no ailment, you have no business to make a mess out of your mind, you have no business to torture this [self] being. Whether you get ailment, or you don’t get an ailment, is the next thing, but you have simply no business to torture this [self] being, because in a way, it’s a helpless being.
Once the damage is manifested in the body, physically, trying to think it away could be just wishful thinking
See, if I run after you with a hot iron right now, you will try to escape, you’ll call for help, you can do all those things. But suppose you take a hot iron and start putting into this one [self], where will this one run? Even if you’re a child, you can still have some defence. Yes? Even a 5, 6-year-old kid has some defence, isn’t it? But this [self] one – no defence. Whatever nonsense you do to this one [self], it has to just go through it, no escape.
So, this is like torturing a fetus trapped inside, now you start poking it – this is just like that, yes? The cruelest form of torture, the cruelest that you can do is self torture because a totally helpless being. Everybody else, however helpless they are, they have some defence, isn’t it? Yes? The weakest person can stab you when you’re fast asleep. Yes, or no? It’s happened, isn’t it? Somebody is weak, you went on poking them, one day when you’re sleeping they came and poked you. They can do something, even a very weak person, even a child can do something to you. But this one – totally helpless.
So, you have no business to torture this one, whether you have got an ailment, or you haven’t got an ailment. If you have gotten an ailment already, if you’ve already taken it that far that you caused damage to the system, it is better that it is assisted in all ways possible. Yes, definitely you must stop your nonsense, but if the system needs medicine, surgery, this one, that one, whatever is needed – it has to be done. Trying to just think it away because you brought it through your mind, do not think that you can take it away through your mind. Possible – I’m not saying no at all. I cannot say it’s 100% no – it is possible. But you don’t try such things because you may think yourself away. Once it crosses a certain point, then nobody can help you, isn’t it? Yes? Even your doctors give up at some point, or no? Are they? The only people who don’t give up on you is the Insurance. Everybody else gives up on you at some point. The only people who don’t want to give up on you is Insurance because, you know!
Keeping your mind life-friendly is definitely your business
So, keeping your mind life-friendly is definitely your business. Your mind should be friendly to this life, isn’t it so? Should work for this life – after all, your mind is your employee. Yes, or no? Why have you made him your enemy? If you do not know how to handle the people who work for you, they will turn into your enemies – don’t have any misunderstanding about this, don’t have any doubt about this, it happens, isn’t it so? Hmm? If you don’t handle your own children properly, they will turn into your enemies. No? You have any doubt? “No, not my son, he won’t do that.” Don’t have any doubt, he’ll do that. If you don’t handle him right, he will turn into your enemy. Yes, or no? Yes, or no? That’s the way life is.
Now, why is it your mind – such a powerful, beautiful, miraculous thing – has turned into your enemy? This is something we have to look at – whether you have an ailment, or you’re on the way. Whichever way, it’s time you look at it, isn’t it so? Hmm? You shouldn’t let any time pass because thinking diseases in, and thinking diseases out, is not fun. It’ll cost life. Once you have an ailment, it becomes a fulltime engagement, you won’t have any other luxury of sitting and listening to spiritual discourse like this. It’ll take away everything – you’ll be sitting in a hospital queue. Yes, or no? It’s not fun. Yes? It’s not fun. Till you get there, you don’t realize how bad it is.
I want you, everybody, however healthy you are, once a month take a tour of a major hospital in your town. You must – really. You must go and see, not for some perverse pleasure, but you must see what can happen to human beings – just small things wrong, that’s all. They didn’t commit any great crime, they were just every day creating little acid in their stomach – see where it’s gotten them. If you handle everything right, still, you know, the damn tick may get into you, and cause problems, who knows? Yes? You handled everything right – doesn’t matter, you got into an airplane, you’re thinking they’re all people, but the swine flu got into you. Somebody is a swine there, you don’t know. If you do everything right, still there are million problems, isn’t it so? Yes?
The nature of life is such, even if you drink milk you could get poisoned, but if you’re talking about drinking poison and living well – all the best. That’s all I can say. Isn’t it so? If you eat good food, it can turn into poison in your stomach, it’s possible. If you eat the best things, it can turn into poison. You want to eat poison, and live well – I can only wish you luck, because there’s no other way for such a person, isn’t it? You’re churning up poison, and hoping to live well? Oh, you need a lot of luck. We have to arrange the whole tapestry of stars into a straight line for you, all the stars in line for you, otherwise life will not work for you, it’ll get you.
Please keep your mind in line. It should work for you, it should do beautiful things for you, not ugly things
So, please keep your mind in line. It should work for you, it should do beautiful things for you, not ugly things. Why is your mind doing ugly things? So, now, “I can’t stand her, I can’t stand her.” If I develop resentment – resentment, anger, hatred – these are all poisons you drink, and you expect someone else to die – life doesn’t work like that. If you drink the poison only you die, not somebody else. “I hate, I hate her, I want her dead, I want her dead.” Only you die, not her. Isn’t it? You drink poison, and you expect somebody else to die – it doesn’t work like that.
So, you need to get this straightened out. If your mind is working against you, first and foremost thing that you do is, take a break from every damn thing that you’re doing, it doesn’t matter what you’re doing. You understand? Your work, your family, your nonsense, take a break from everything. Go to an appropriate place – if you want you can come here, or go to India, or go somewhere else, wherever it works for you. Do something about this one! [Self] Fix this one before you enter the world. So, sit down in one place, see what you can do about this one, because once you live in this world, either you must do something good to yourself, or you must do something good to 10 people around you.
Either you must be keeping yourself truly joyful and living, you don’t care about anybody, it doesn’t matter, at least you’re happy – you’re okay, or you’re doing something nice for somebody around you – you’re okay. Anybody who is not doing any good to himself, or to anybody around him, has really no right to call himself human, isn’t it? That much intelligence and awareness nature has put into you, isn’t it so? Yes? Maybe you can’t do some great act in the world – it doesn’t matter! At least walk gently upon this planet, that much you can do, right? Yes? Maybe you can’t go out and serve the whole world, it doesn’t matter, at least walk joyfully.
If you walk joyfully on this planet, suddenly you see the whole world looks beautiful
If you walk joyfully on this planet, suddenly you see the whole world looks beautiful. Once the whole world looks beautiful, naturally you will shed a glance, a loving glance upon everything, this is natural process. Is it so? If you walk through this very joyfully, whatever you look at looks beautiful. Once everything looks beautiful to you, you naturally shed a very loving glance upon everything that you see, you’re a blessed being – that’s all it takes. And if you’re not so, isn’t it time that you take some time off and work upon yourself? “No, no, I’m doing something important.” You’re not doing anything important, because in everything that you do, who you are will find expression, isn’t it? Hmm? Not your stupid good intentions which will find expression, who you are will find expression in everything that you do.
If you have poison in your head, with good intentions you’ll inject poison into the world. That’s what is happening in the world. More damage is happening to this world with good intentions than with bad intentions, isn’t it so? In 1934 Adolf Hitler gave a speech in Hamburg, and he said, “I’m doing the duty of my forefathers”, when people asked him why he’s rounding up people and sending them to the gas. And I want you to understand, I believe that he was not lying – he believes. That’s the most dangerous thing. He’s not a liar, he believes what he’s doing – that’s what empowers the man. Within a short span of time, the way he organized the whole nation and made everybody believe whatever he believes in, is not simple organization – phenomenal organization, isn’t it? Because the man believes 100%, and he believes that he is doing the best thing, he’s doing the best thing that can be done to the world.
So, your good intentions are not going to save the world. How you are – and how you are will change only if you can breathe, walk, lie down, sit down, joyfully. If you cannot do this one thing, everything else will be just poison, whatever you do. Only when you’re pleasant within yourself, you feel pleasant about everything around you. Only when you feel pleasant about everything around you, you move around with a certain sense and value to life around you. Otherwise, it doesn’t matter how much morality you carry in you, how many scriptures you remember, you will find ways to do the cruelest possible things.
So, the first and foremost business, the first and basic responsibility for a human being is, how he sits here – are you sitting here joyfully? Are you sitting here with some misery being manufactured in your head? This is the foremost thing that you have to attend to, only after that everything else. Because otherwise, nothing else really works, please see. Whenever you feel very miserable, always the thought comes – you want to end your life. You don’t take action on that, but thought comes, isn’t it? Yes, or no?
You try this – 24 hours you remain in misery. You always entertain yourself with a television, or a book, or a friend, or something, don’t do that – 24 hours just remain in misery. Within 24 hours, you will get serious thoughts that you want to end your life, for sure. Because nobody can bear misery more than for a few minutes. More than a few minutes, you need a diversion, otherwise you’ll go crazy, isn’t it? To understand misery does not work, that’s not the way to conduct life.
Whatever may be your life situation – whatever I’m saying. Whatever may be happening with your life, maybe when you came to the satsang you packed everything in your car and come, and you have no house to go back to – maybe, if you come from Michigan… Not you, okay, not you. Maybe something else – there may be many things in life. Whatever it may be, you are better off than when you were born, isn’t it? You came with nothing, at least you got something now – you’re on the profit side! Look at the beauty of life. You came with utterly nothing, whatever may be happening you’re still in profit, not in loss. So, you cannot complain. Hmm? Isn’t it so? So, don’t try to think your disease away, think your misery away. Hmm? If you think your misery away, ailment or no ailment, we’ll see.
