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Talks in Eerde Castle, Holland, 1926
MIND, THE CREATOR
We often feel that what we do is right, that our particular path is the only path, that our particular temple, our particular altar, our particular ceremony, our particular form of worship, and our particular creation of the outward form, can alone be the true one; and that through that channel alone can the Divine express Himself in outward life. We say in effect: You are wrong, but if you follow me, if you do as I do, think as I think, then you will be right. That is what you are all thinking. That is the real stumbling block for each one of you who is attempting to enter the Kingdom. For here, there is no such narrow uniformity; here anyone who is struggling, who is living a noble life, who is really beautiful by nature, in mind and in emotion, can be one with all and is one with all. The sense of unity is what matters most in life; that is the only food you can give to the hungry, the only solution to all the problems of life. The intolerant idea that you must be wrong if you are independent, but right if you follow me -my special intuition, my special Master, my special Deity- is contrary to spiritual progress. As long as there is enthusiasm, the spark of divine discontent, the longing for happiness, the longing to escape from the Maya of life, it does not matter if you belong to any religion or to none, to any sect, class, color, or to any faith. Because then you are on the true road leading to that Kingdom. This is the only idea you must bear in mind always.
You can only enter this Kingdom if you are living a noble life, and you can only become a citizen of that Kingdom if you are struggling against narrowness, against the spirit of exclusion. It is for this purpose you must have a mind that is clear and clean and includes all things; because, if you have such a mind, you will have equally noble, happy emotions; whereas if you are exclusive and desirous to shut out everyone else because you think you are different -which is but the assertion of self- then you shall not enter into the Kingdom of Happiness.
If you know that some person is suffering, if you know that he is going through difficult times, that he is not happy within himself, that he is struggling, the only shade under which he can rest, the only comfort that you can give, is this Happiness that you have tasted, this delight that you have experienced in finding the things which are eternal. I wish I could give you this Happiness so that you, your turn, could give it to others, could wake others feel its immense reality; I wish I could lead you to that Kingdom of Happiness, because only when you have entered that Kingdom, have lived in that domain, can you feed the hungry, appease the suffering, and give balm to the wounded soul.
You must live there your own life, obey your own Voice, find your own Master, your own breath of life. This is the only ambition worth having. Then you can be of the world and give to the world, because you are full, because your soul and your body, your whole mind and emotions, are full of that Eternity; and you can give without the least hesitation, without holding back at all. The more you grow, the more you must cultivate this spirit. You cannot be happy until you make others happy, and you can only make others happy if you have entered that Kingdom, if you have obeyed, if you have caught the whisper of that Voice which is Eternal. In that way only you can lead people, in that way only you can give them happiness, and encourage the struggle after nobility, encourage them to listen to their own murmurings of Divinity. In struggling they will suffer, but all suffering, all struggles, are part of the process towards the deed accomplished, and that deed is the finding of Happiness. This is the true breath from the mountains, that makes you intoxicated with Eternity, that gives you the immense strength to stand alone.
The tree on the summit of a mountain must naturally be much stronger than a tree in the plains -it must be, because it gets all the breezes of the world, its roots are deeper because it must withstand mighty winds; it must be much more dignified, much more noble, because it is nearer heaven; it catches the first rays of the dawn, it is nearer the stars. It should be exactly the same with you if you would enter into that region of absoluteness; you must have deeper roots, because you are nearer to the Gods, and deeper agonies of growth, because you see the first rays of the sun. And when you are at that height you will realize the illusion, the Maya, the uselessness, of the things which are not lasting, which are not perpetual. The idea of such a solitary tree, always living in the fresh air of the mountains, getting stronger and stronger day by day, which can only fall when the mountain ceases to stand -such an idea as this gives me strength.
That is the spirit which He will give us, that is the spirit which we must possess to understand Him, that is the only Happiness, the only conviction worth having, that is the only way by which we can hold Him in our hearts, that is the only way in which we can follow Him; because we do not think and feel we are different, because we do not belong to narrow sects, because we have drunk at the fountain of reality, because we have been there and have the capacity to reach the heavens, we desire all others to come and taste the same lasting happiness.
This is the only Truth which anyone who is intelligent, who is happy, or who is suffering, can accept and must accept; if you can only have that personal knowledge, you will become like the tree which lasts through eternity, under whose shelter men can rest, a tree which only grows in that Kingdom.
You must grow wings, new wings every day, to fly to that height; and you can only grow new wings if you are all the time soaring, expanding, growing, struggling. That means you must change every day; you must throw off all those things which clog, which bind, which restrain, which do not give you absolute freedom, which bind you to the illusions of life. That is the only way to grow, to have fresh energies, fresh delights. And only with new wings can you soar into the heights.
You must be falling in love all the time. Everything that lives, everything that moves or does not move, should give you a fresh impetus to love more; as you desire everyone to dwell in that Kingdom, you want to bring everything around you into that Kingdom. And when every one of you can spread this Kingdom of Happiness, you will then realize that outward forms have no intrinsic importance, and that your only real value lies in bringing others into that Kingdom. That is why I wish that I could give you a part or the whole of that Happiness which I have found. Having once tasted this I can taste it again, having once realized this I can always realize it again; but the person who has not tasted it, who does not know the richness of it, the beauty of it, can never realize the fullness and the glory of life. When once he has tasted this, he will never be satisfied with transient things. That is why I want to give you, that is why I should like to make you taste, make you breathe, my Happiness -make you live in my Kingdom.
For this reason you must wake up, you must open all the windows and all the doors of your souls and issue forth in search of the one reality in life; you must not lose yourselves in feverish and vain attempts, in corridors, in darkened alleys, but must seek out the places of light, the abode of Truth, the Kingdom of Happiness, and there each one of you must dwell.
In that state of ecstasy, of tremendous joyousness, having lost the one thing that keeps you down, the self, you find the only source of inspiration, the only beauty that you need, and the only truth worth clinging to, worth possessing, worth struggling for, worth sacrificing everything to attain. You must have that ambition -I cannot find a better word for it- you must have that intense desire to enter that Kingdom; and then whatever your actions may be, they will bear the mark of Eternity, and wherever you may be, you are the emblem of that Kingdom.