Please find below extracts from The Path Supreme.
The Master readies us for the final stage of sadhana (spiritual practice) in three main ways: His unfathomable Silence, the practical training of sadhana and service, and through the Teachings imparted verbally during satsangs. The Master never compromises on the Teachings. Babaji's answers to devotees' questions always emerge spontaneously from His own experience of the Ultimate Truth. When the Master's golden words penetrate the deepest layers of the mind, the aspirant becomes inspired to sincerely practice the Teachings and thus get elevated to the highest peaks of Spiritual Consciousness.
As a true Yogi, Babaji constantly guides the seeker back to the source of abiding Peace and Happiness, the Supreme Self. Life in Babaji's Ashram is also focused on this, emphasizing an expansion of awareness by encouraging one to overcome the ego and gradually become more composed and peaceful. Ashram life stresses dissolving the small 'I' and discovering the Eternal One.
The enlightening words contained in this book are the transcribed and edited talks with Babaji during satsangs, which took place in His Dehradun Ashram from September 2006 to August 2007. In this book an attempt has been made to present some of Babaji's Highest Teachings to clear misconceptions about spirituality and inspire readers to take up sadhana seriously. Babaji always reminds us, "Peace is the recommended goal." It is for Peace and Happiness that we do everything in this world. Sadhana helps us rediscover our Real Self, the Abode of Supreme Peace.
Question: Do the brain’s reflections not get erased during Tapas? Do they not become purified?
Babaji: Yes, it is purified. The brain’s reflections are very minimal; it does not affect the mind. Only if the consciousness wants it applies the brain. It does not allow the brain to go on playing on its own. Now the Self is the master. It is commanding both the brain and the mind’s activities. Earlier for a person, the mind and brain would have gotten involved with each other. It is like the hen coming out of the egg, and the egg coming out of the hen, they both get involved into a whirlpool. So both the mind and brain had become uncontrollable for the Self.
(Chapter 32, page 230)
Question: What happens to the awareness of the Self when the Yogi becomes aware of the presence of others?
Babaji: The Yogi is actually aware of one single Self at all times – that is the Divine. His attention is always on the Divine. That is what He is aware of. He is not aware of His own physical body. He is not aware of this world or universe or any such thing. It is like a vague dream for Him. It won’t be solidly sitting into the mind, because once He has become a Yogi everything has been washed away in the mind, and the mind does not absorb anything at all.
(Chapter 33, page 233)
Babaji: I got a chance to serve my Guru physically for twenty years. During that period, sometimes I got a chance to sit for seven to eight hours of meditation in the backyard of our Dehradun Ashram where it was very peaceful, with mango groves and fruit orchards. Nobody was there in the surrounding area for long distances, it was totally serene. But apart from that and more than that, I tried to surrender, and never allowed my mind to get agitated. Whenever I had to be serving my Guru or the Ashram or whatever He ordered, suppose all His devotees came and I had to take care of them, or if I had to be looking after a mentally retarded boy, or cleaning the Ashram - any such karma - at all times I tried to keep my attention towards my Guru;that was my Deity, that was my God. So these things helped my mind to become quiet and recede. It never got agitated or jumped into this world, never went into any cravings. This led to that final Tapas.
So the basic reason you are made to sit for meditation is also this - so that your mind can recede, it can lose all imaginations, all agitations. If this purpose is served through karma and bhakti, then karma yoga and bhakti yoga become successful and you come to this Tapas stage finally.
(Chapter 3, page 19)
Question: So it sounds like permanent Self Realization is different to temporary Realization? You were having experiences of the Self I believe in those first couple of years of Your Tapas, but it was not until the end of the fourth year or so that being in and being out was the same - that it was permanent, it was natural. So I think that maybe there are people who have experienced the Self but haven't been able to make the Self a permanent living reality when they are in activity?
Babaji: Somebody might have come and entered inside the compound but may not have entered the actual building. So that is what has happened. They would have had a glimpse of that Supreme state. After having that glimpse, a blissfulness occurs. At that time, one has to remain until it totally becomes composed and settles peacefully. That is why Peace is the recommended goal, beyond bliss. With that bliss itself somebody might consider, "Okay, now it is done, I have got that Realization." Realization is not such a thing to say, "Oh, now I have got it." There is no such thing. You simply go there and remain there. You have gone to town, you come back from town to your home and you be at home. That is what it is at all times. You are always aware of that one. So that is the complete Realization. Even after Realization, a Yogi has nothing to claim really. "I have become Realized" - this does not make any sense at all.
(Chapter 10, page 69)
Question: Can the Soul be referred to as God?
Babaji: Yes, the real Soul is God. That is what is recognized as God. For that I always keep telling you, the mind is the basic clue. It is infinite, you cannot show it to anyone, but its real existence is Pure Consciousness. Suksham (subtle) - that is what I was trying to tell by the word 'infinite.' Not that there is only one mind. Because of the brain, there are going to be so many minds, so many droplets. But the Soul is One. From the same Soul all of these different consciousnesses have arisen. Because of the brain the differences appear. Oneness does not appear. Because of getting involved in the reflections of the brain, the mind starts thinking of the separateness.
If you remove all of the thoughts, what remains is the Pure Consciousness; still that Existence is there. The more the thoughts are removed, the more the mind goes toward the Self. And what you experience as that Self, as Supreme Consciousness, that is also recognized as God. That is why God Realization and Self Realization are all the same, there is really no difference. As long as the mind exists, there is an ego of an imagined individuality which really does not exist at all. Just like a droplet wants to know the depth of the ocean and jumps into the ocean, it becomes one with the ocean. That is what happens.
(Chapter 19, page 132)
Question: Babaji, is it possible to understand that state [of Realization] from the faculties of mind?
Babaji: Impossible, because mind exists based on its own imaginations. Its only quality of existence is imagination. The moment it loses all of its imaginations, mind is no more a mind, it is Consciousness of Existence. So whatever the mind tries to give you, it is based on simply its own imaginations. So it can never tell the Truth - impossible. It simply imagines.
Question: The mind will have to cease before reaching this?
Babaji: It will have to cease. You have to go beyond time and space. To go beyond time and space, mind will have to cease. It is the mind which is giving you the experience of time and space, which perceives the difference in these things. That is why simply meditation is taught. The Guru gives you the clue, "Lose all imaginations, lose all imaginations. You go, go." Then what remains is the Consciousness of Existence. So as you go on losing imaginations in meditation, one day what you experience is that you are still there; you do not disappear, you do not vanish, and you do not become unconscious.
Gradually you are becoming unconscious of the body and surroundings, but you are becoming conscious of your Real Self. It is a reverse gear, that is all. You are not destroying yourself, you cannot destroy yourself. That is how the Sages must have reached the conclusion that the Soul is Immortal. They tried to give the teachings in the Vedas by experiencing this only - that this Self is indestructible, this cannot be destroyed, this cannot vanish. This is always there, the Immortal and Eternal Existence.
(Chapter 10, page 74)
Question: Babaji, so as sadhana increases, mind becomes disinterested in the world, loses imaginations, and recedes. How will a person going towards Realization or becoming a Realized One then be useful living in the world?
Babaji: Actually when such a thing is happening, you are not totally losing that mind. You are simply taking control of the mind, turning its attention towards the Self. When it is losing consciousness of one thing, gradually it is gaining consciousness of the other thing. So you have been looking too much towards the world and now you try to look towards your real Self.
(Chapter 2, page 14)
Question: Babaji, why has religion been prescribed since ancient times? Are there really any benefits to following such practices?
Babaji: With religion so many misconceptions and misinterpretations have happened. And that is why the younger generation like yourselves have lost faith in the system itself.
It was prescribed for some specific purposes. The purpose of religion is physical health, mental health, and moral health. When you are able to practice all of these things, then you are a perfect religious person. That is the basic aim of religion. Exercises, like the yoga asanas, are prescribed so that you can keep your body healthy, along with a proper type of diet. Using this healthy body, if you practice meditation, worship and all these things, then you can control the mind and keep it restrained, under your control. You can be the master of your mind. Then the mind will be healthier. It will not make you dance to its tunes, which is the basic reason for stress and unhappiness. You can work whenever you want and when you do not want to work you can keep the mind quiet.
Finally, when you achieve this mind control, you will have consideration for a larger cause always. Your selfishness, your narrow-mindedness comes to an end and you become a broad-minded personality. So that is the moral values, the moral health âonsideration for each other. This will enable society to live more harmoniously.
So if these things are practiced then only I call it religion, otherwise the rest is all simply superstition.
(Chapter 2, page 12)
Question: Babaji, the same thought can be experienced in different ways. Sometimes you can think, "There is really nothing, it is all illusion," and you feel peaceful, and sometimes you think, "Oh, there is really nothing," and it can be a depressing thought. That there is nothing in this world can be depressing, yet that same thought sometimes strikes you as so peaceful.
Babaji: Because 'nothing' has a particular imagination in your mind, so the mind has to rise above that also. It is neither something nor nothing. That is why sometimes people misunderstand the highest philosophy as very dry, not giving any excitement. But in true form it is the Supreme Peace, it gives so much contentment and satisfaction. But that happens only when you are ready for that. Just like for me, as a small boy of ten or eleven years, it came very naturally. Despite everything being perfect - my childhood was comfortable, siblings were loving, my parents were very caring, I was the youngest and they were affectionate to me - still I felt very restless. I felt as if I had come to a place where I do not belong. The mind used to think about its own imaginations, "If at all there is some technology to switch off the entire universe, maybe with the press of a button, there shall be Peace." That is how I used to imagine.
So then gradually as I grew up, some time after reading Yoga Vasishta also, much before my Tapas and all such things, I used to think, "Oh, that is really wonderful. If we are going to be one with this infinite space, this is wonderful. Even if I am going to be nothing, it is really interesting. Every problem is because of something only." This is how we used to visualize. The mind was ready for that. So it was never dry for me. It was so interesting to be nothing. The real botheration is when you want to be something. In this world also, you see the logic, your mind goes into botheration when you want to be something. When you just do not want to be anything you have peace. You have nothing to lose.
(Chapter 19, page 135)
Question: Babaji, You always tell that there is Supreme Peace in that [Realization]. But is it true to say then that it is not really an experience, that the Yogi is not really experiencing the Supreme Peace like normal experiences. You become the Supreme Peace?
Babaji: You, yourself are that Supreme Peace actually. You and Supreme Peace are not separate entities. Always in this world, you all try to imagine a separate entity. Through the separate entity you are getting the peace or happiness, you imagine.
If you eat a banana, you think this banana is giving you happiness. Actually it is not the banana which is giving you happiness. Whenever you eat something, your mind becomes quiet for a fraction of a second.
It stops on that object. When the mind stops, you get that happiness. But you imagine, "Because of this I am getting the happiness." You don’t notice the technology. You are getting the happiness because the mind is stopping.
That is how the Sages observed and did the research. Then they understood that the mind's cravings had to stop. Buddha said the cravings of the mind are the basic reason for unhappiness. He understood.
If the cravings stop on its own without a banana, chocolate or anything else in this world, that is the same Supreme Happiness which you are looking for. It doesn't look for anything else. As long as it doesn't get that, it keeps looking.
(Chapter 29, page 210)
1. Meditation
2. Sadhana and Living in the World
3. Real Surrender is when the Mind becomes Quiet
4. Peace is the Real Achievement
5. The Mind and its Tricks
6. The Parallel Paths of Devotion and Knowledge
7. Have Faith, Do Sadhana
8. Spiritual Principles of Living in the World
9. Absorb the Words of the Guru into the Mind
10. Efforts lead to the Effortless State of Samadhi
11. Realization has no External Indicator
12. Drawing Inspiration from the Lives and Teachings of Saints
13. Dealing with Desires and Cravings
14. Adopt the Right Methods for Spiritual Success
15. The Yogi is One with the Divine
16. Pure Consciousness: The Gap between Thoughts
17. The Key to Effective Sadhana
18. Surrender and go Beyond all Dualities
19. All that is Needed is to Become Quiet
20. If you have to Imagine, Imagine the Highest
21. True Peace lies Within
22. The Final Battle for a Human is to Win over their own Mind
23. The Science of Visions and Manifestations
24. The Self is Beyond all Imaginations
25. Samadhi and Realization
26. The Real Miracle
27. Beliefs and Rituals on the Devotional Path
28. Spiritual Truths of the Yoga Vasishta
29. Realization - The droplet becomes One with the Ocean
30. The Guru says, 'Do not Analyze, Just Keep Watching.’
31. Facing Obstacles with Determination and Detachment
32. The Yogi is the Ever Silent One
33. Beyond Myths and Illusions
Shri Babaji - A Short Biographical Sketch
Glossary
Index