Peter: Hi, Ramji.
I really enjoyed our conversation last Saturday. I was so excited to talk with you. I am sorry if I was speaking over you at times.
Question: Do you ever get really passionate, like raising your voice to make your point, whenever you speak to someone one-on-one about Vedanta? I was speaking to someone today who was asking me questions about Vedanta, and I raised my voice a couple of times. I wasn’t angry, but I guess it could’ve been taken as anger. Anyway, I know this is an apparent person asking a question about an apparent experience, but I just thought it was an interesting question. I hope you are doing well.
~ With love, Peter
Ramji: Hi, Peter.
This passion is called bhakti, love of the Truth/God/Self, etc. Once the “holy spirit” enters, you’re done. It is the Virus to end all viruses. That wound in Christ’s side near his heart means that there is a passageway for the Lord to enter. When it enters, depending on your nature, it burns brightly. It is irrepressible. Christ was rajasic, a passionate working-class person, and when it entered him he couldn’t keep his mouth shut. It wasn’t his fault, but he immediately got in trouble because the world thought he was nuts, which he was. He had a bad case of divine madness. It means you have fulfilled life’s purpose, done everything you need to do. So you ring the bell and call everyone to church. Christ couldn’t control it, so in that environment he didn’t live long.
Buddha, on the other hand, was very sattvic. He was an aristocrat, a prince. He was refined, so he kept his head down and quietly went about the business of patiently teaching people. He lived into his eighties. It wasn’t that big a deal in India back in his times, however. There were tens of thousands of enlightened people in all walks of life. There was a culture of tolerance and appreciation of the truth, so he was revered.
In my case, my teacher, your spiritual grandfather, was a great mahatma. They referred to him as “The Pope of India.” Was he passionate! It was scary to be around him in a thrilling way, like going on a roller coaster ride. He knew my tendency to get in trouble and he wanted me to live a long time and bring Vedanta to the West, so he trained me to restrain my passion and channel it.
The fire of love went in and burned like hot coals for the last fifty years. I became very crafty and let the radiance do the talking and the words of Vedanta speak. I kept my (not-) self out of it, more or less. As I got more and more power I channeled the anger (at ignorance) into criticism of unpurified teachers and shallow half-assed “teachings.” Anger is the flip side of desire. My arguments were always logical and my commitment difficult to miss. The idea was to wake up gullible seekers to the dangers that lurk in the shark-infested waters of the modern spiritual world and show them something that really works. If anger arose a few times a year, it was owing to some violation of dharma or some gross stupid resistance on the part of one of someone I loved. It was controlled, surgical and carefully directed, never cruel, for maximum effect. It dissipated as quickly as it arose, like an explosion or a cloud that seemingly covers the sun for a few minutes.
When I was quite young and into my teens I was cruel and mean, but never violent. When I fell in love, enthusiasm and joy drove out the cruelty. But I became my own worst enemy, lost in the realm of the senses. It was good, however, the wound through which the Lord entered.
Now, at the end of my life I’m pretty soft and sweet. I’ve done a great job waking up people and guiding them on the right way, so I sit quietly enjoying the company of my wife, friends and the beauty of nature.
There are many people like you who will carry on. But Rome wasn’t built in a day. I don’t want to stay longer but I don’t want to leave either. It is all in the Lord’s hands. Knowing what you are is the perfect quarantine. You have no choice. You have to sit still and wait. There was a Self-realized devotee who went to a businessman to get a job. The businessman listened to his story and asked him what made him think he was qualified for business. The devotee said, “I can wait, I can fast and I can think.” He got the job. It’s all that’s required to live successfully here.
It was fine, you talking over me. My wife and I do it to each other. I knew it was exuberance, enthusiasm, excitement, the love of God. I listened to your words carefully. I could see that you know who you are and know you have a great destiny.
~ Om, Ram