Class - Peace I & II

-Sathyam begins the class by asking everyone how their meditation was.
-Someone talks about how good they felt while meditating in the “light.”
Sathyam: Being in the light is really, really awesome. It is also very freeing, because there is not the form to carry.
Last week we talked about peace, and I would like to continue talking about that tonight. I asked how many of us would like to have undisturbed peace forever. Does everyone agree with Me that undisturbed peace is something we would all like to have? (Everyone agrees)
My next question from last week was, what is it that we are doing for it? Are we really going after nurturing this peace, watering it and watching it grow? Or do we do things with our thoughts, words, and deeds that actually disturb it?
The question is we know what we want, but are we doing anything about it to really be established in that peace? These are very good questions, because every time we are doing something that disturbs our peace, it is brought to our attention. Then we can say to ourselves, “I want peace more than anything else in this world, why then am I doing that to myself?”
The peace is always there, if we don’t feel it, it is because our thoughts, words or deeds have not corresponded by initiating the harmony with it.
It is like the candle light always being there, but if we keep blowing it out, whose fault is it? Because we don’t pay attention to our goal or the cause of its destruction, we can go around very easily and blame the present circumstances, the family we were brought up in, the things that happened around us or within ourselves, etc. for the lack of that peace that is actually always there. It is always there!
More attention has to be given to what is already there and less attention through the thoughts, words and deeds to what actually disturbs it. I guarantee that whatever disturbs it is not lasting. The emotions that disturb it are not lasting, they come and go. The thoughts that disturb it are not lasting; they come and go as well as the deeds.
If we can hold onto the ground of what is eternal, what is always there, then the pain comes and the pain goes. One of you practiced this tonight when your body was experiencing some discomfort; you did not get involved in destroying the peace and harmony in your body and it just vanished.
This is reversed living, different from the way most people live in the world. We are very much a mental universe right now; we have to feel things to believe that they actually exist. We have to see things in order to believe that they exist, we have to touch them. What is happening is that we begin to develop these inner senses. We are going to meditate on this and have it proven right.
In everyone’s meditation, if they were not disturbed by their thoughts or the sensations in their physical body, they would have a peaceful meditation. Where did this peace come from? It came from the lack of mental and physical agitation and because of that, the peace was already there. Much concentration should therefore be given to something that is eternal and always there.
Now, one of you just shared with us one of your recent reactions to a situation in your life. Most people have a reactive life, why is that? It is because they have a set idea of what is good and what is bad. If anything shakes the good, the bad begins to come out and react to it. This reactive life is an instinctual life, almost animalistic in nature. What is the divine life, how do we live the divine life? It is done by staying upon the core of our Being.
We might say “I don’t have time; I have so much to do and so much going on.” That is only an opportunity to watch it and make sure we stay in that peace, which is felt in silence. In order to have it proven to each one of us, as far as our own experiences go, I would like us to do a meditation [together].
First find yourself either in the light or the silence. In that, dwell on the peace and find out if we are actually nurturing this peace daily. If not, what area do we need to let go of in our lives?


Meditation takes place for about minutes.
Sathyam: Slowly open your eyes. Did all of us experience that the peace is there? Did we also find out from our own self what disturbs it? Does everyone feel that they found the peace?
-One of the men says that he did not find the peace during his meditation.
Sathyam: Did you go and find out what disturbs it?
The man replies: A million thoughts.
Sathyam: I would like for you to close your eyes gently and act dead- think that you just died. Don’t be worried about it and don’t have any fear, because you are not actually going to die. Just act dead!


This meditation continues for about a minute.

Sathyam continues: Slowly open your eyes. How did it feel to be dead?
He replies: Just blank.
Sathyam says enthusiastically: Thank you! You see, where did the thoughts go? The thoughts are always there, when you think you are somebody. You are “nobody”. I am telling you that you are better off being “nobody”. Take My word for it. Don’t insist on being somebody, it kills you (laughs).
You see, that was peace, the blankness is who you really are, the pictures come afterwards. What disturbs one’s mind is any thoughts that are contradictory, any thoughts that bring any negative emotions, and any thoughts that concern us about the body or our surroundings. Whenever these thoughts come, act dead; don’t go with it and just don’t care!
By doing that, you are nourishing your peace, which is already there. You do this same thing with your body, when it is experiencing discomfort, and that is why the discomfort goes away. (Sathyam specifically says this to one of the men who has back pain.) The more we do that, the less we will live a reactive life, the less we react to things within our own self; it is that easy. It really is that easy.
It is difficult if we don’t give it interest, and unless we reverse that by giving more attention to the peaceful and less to the un-peaceful, life will be a roller-coaster, unending until we reach our grave.
I know we have some people even in our own family who are addicted to worry, concern and un-peacefulness. They don’t want it, but they are addicted and if you tell them about the way to peace, they protect their weaknesses. They say things such as, “but you don’t understand, because “that” happened, “this” is happening now.” And I say, “why are you protecting your weaknesses, come to My side of the alley.”
So here we are, and we have a very simple method to realize that the pretense of the world can end in one instant. Then should we not live this life in this Truth, try to nourish and be the peace that we already are, try to spread this peace and initiate more and more the appearance of this peace that is already there?
As an example, one of you had their car break down today, and on the emotional level, you had two choices that needed to be made immediately. You could have gone with the past tendencies, reacted to it, felt sorry for yourself and asked “Why me? What am I going to do now, this is going to cost me money, etc.” and go berserk.
Or in a split second, you could decide that things happen, that this is a part of a life that is temporary and that it is o.k., because it teaches me that what I think is eternal is not! The car is not lasting, the body is not lasting, the home is not lasting, the wealth is not lasting and the relationships are not lasting. Even the people that we adore are not lasting!
As we go through life daily, from the time we wake up in the morning, until we go to sleep, we become watchful of ourselves and not our surroundings! We don’t become curious about the wars that may be happening or what is being reported in the news. If a thought does not initiate our peace and actually disturbs it, it is no longer worth giving it much attention.
If a thought, word or action we engage in is not actually keeping us in the peace that we are, we drop it. We don’t fight it, we don’t push it away, we just turn the other way. Unless we have this type of a relationship with ourselves, it is very hard to bring joy to another person’s life, it really is! This is because we have to have that ourselves, and I am sure we all have it to varying degrees.
I would like to ask you to be ultimately selfish and I tell you why. Because when you are selfish [in the usual sense of the word], you are thinking of yourself to be the body and the ego, and you want everything for yourself. But when you are selfish for the peace of mind, you are actually seeking the right Self.
At that time it is o.k. to take some time off and be quiet. Does everyone follow why that is? While selfishness to the wrong self could create a disaster, once you start initiating more and more nutrition and love to your peace, it becomes a selfishness that is extremely urgent and necessary. To take that time off, to sit, to hear the birds sing, to be in quietness, to contemplate and to be at peace with oneself. There is no chance of having peace in the world, until we have peace in our own thoughts, words, and deeds.
-One of the men talks about recently reading a book on mindfulness. This book talked about paying close attention to small details in nature when out and about.
Sathyam: Now, what you are talking about is the beginning of really living, because before that, it is a dead man walking. It is the beginning of noticing, of being watchful, being alert, but it gets to the point that even your alertness is beyond this world. This however is what takes you there. In other words, the expansion within oneself is so great that even … I am just going to drop it right there, because it is not even necessary to say it. (Whispers: it is not necessary to say it; it will take us to confusion.) Yes, mindfulness is very, very important.
I always say that if you come out of your house, before you actually get in your car, on your way to work and you don’t pay attention to things such as how the weather is, if there are birds around or not, if they are not around where did they go, etc.- you are too busy with your mind, or you are rushing through life too much.
I go on regular walks and do things such as touch flower petals. I try to catch butterflies and give love to trees. I try to sit under a tree or feel a pebble, I look for heart shaped rocks, etc. These little childlike games that I play are for being right here and now. This is a true sense of living, and that is noticing these little things. I am sure most of you have done this.
People would like to know how computers and cell-phones function, how fax machines and TVs work, how a remote control works, and you would be thinking that I am totally stupid if I tell you what I am curious about. Perhaps one of you could answer it. I am curious about where birds go when it rains.
-Class participants give various answers, such as the birds being in the trees, in their nests, etc.
Sathyam: How come we don’t see them? (She asks very enthusiastically.) As soon as there is a sprinkle of rain in the air, you no longer see them. Believe Me- I have looked, even underneath the leaves of the trees.
Now, before we go, I would like to have a few minutes of meditation, where we go into the silence and feel the peace. Whenever something comes in the way of a physical discomfort or a mental thought that disturbs the peace, I want you to practice not going with it and just stand the ground of peace.


Meditation takes place for a few minutes.

(The video then ends.)

CLASS Peace- Parts 1 & 2
2005