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HOW TO THINK (3)
and the churning stuff. At times there is not even a vessel, nor the churning rod-all is imagination. And we hope to get butter out of it! For butter, we need the curd as well as the churning. Mere intellectual discussion is like churning the water. There is no curd, but the churning is going on. There is the empty vessel, or the vessel is filled with water. Discussion must be combined with practical work. No mere theory would do, practice must go with it.
There are two aspects of education (I say it on the basis of experience and ancient tradition)—theory and practice. Learn the theory and put it into practice! Then alone full understanding comes. Many people come to me in a hurry. They would say, "Sir, I have to go back immediately. I can hardly spare a few minutes. My mind is utterly restless; I am much perplexed, facing a great many problems. Kindly tcach me the way to make the mind tranquil." I tell such a one, "You are an extraordinary creature. You have a tremendous problem on your hands—the problem of the mind, and you want a solution within two minutes! I don't possess a magic wand. I don't believe in sudden explosions of energy. Nor would mere blessing do the trick. I only believe in awakening a spiritual practitioner's own intelligence; I want to activate his own valour, so that he ardently seeks the truth on his own which alone is the liberating factor. One of the maxims of preksha meditation is : 'Find out the truth for yourself.' Let each individual find out the truth about himself. Let him not depend on anyone. Dependence upon another can prove very dangerous. Mutual dependence is a necessity of life. But there is a limit to it. Complete dependence upon another is often harmful. One must not depend even upon a guru beyond a certain point. Nor leave it to the guru to do everything, or one is in for disappointment. One must not depend even upon one's own father. What will you do when the father is no more? The father is not there for all time, is he? After all one will have to stand on one's own feet. What is required is an awakening of the pupil's own wisdom. Some masters make tempting offers to their disciples, give out sweet assurances that everything would turn out well even without their doing anything. All that turns out to be delusion. The disciple later complains "Sir, what you assured me would happen, has not come to pass."
The very belief in a guru is misleading. Why do you take the guru's word for granted, and later you start complaining? Whether it is religion, or God, or the guru, whether it is one's own self, or another, there is a limit to belief. Up to a certain point you have to trust another. But going beyond the limit would create complications. It is said in the context of preksha meditation, "Find out the truth about yourself. Discover your own path to salvation!" We are of course here to provide limited assistance. If the engine of a motor
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