The greatest freedom – the freedom to choose your response

The greatest freedom man can have is the freedom to choose the response he gives to any person, incident, situation or circumstance. You will experience the taste of true freedom when you are able to give the response that you want to give. Else, you will end up doing something that you didn't want to do, and remain a slave of the habits of your mind. For example, you might have often heard yourself say: 'I didn't want to hurt him, but I did.' – 'I didn't want to get angry, but I couldn't control my temper.' – 'I had decided to eat the sweets tomorrow, but I couldn't control myself and I finished them off today.' – 'I wanted to shut off the TV immediately, but ended up watching it for hours together.' – etc. Man is weak because he doesn't have this freedom. If Independence Day is able to remind you of true freedom, you will celebrate it with the right understanding; else your slavery will go on. Now the question is: How and where do we find this kind of freedom? Is there such a place, standing on which, we can choose the best response? Yes – it is in our heart, our tejasthan. The decisions we take with our heart take us to the ultimate liberation. There are two things in every incident – the incident itself, and your response to it. Between these two, there is an interval – a gap, space, emptiness, blank.

This interval is the place from which you have to take a decision about the appropriate response. Focus on that interval. Be alert in that interval. If you are able to remain onto your tejasthan during that interval and give the right response, freedom will be yours. But if you move even slightly away from that place, you will lose your freedom, because your response will then be a reaction. And that reaction will be according to the hardened habits of your mind (patterns). So always be alert and aware in the interval.. It is a very short duration of time; be awake in that duration. Do not get glued to the incident during the interval. Do not get identified with the incident. Detach yourself from the moment of unconsciousness.

A Living Maestro

Sirshree's spiritual quest began as a child. Immersed in his spiritual quest, he practiced many meditations. His quest led him to various schools of thought and teachings. His thirst to spend more and more time in the search for truth led him to relinquish his college teaching job. He undertook a long period of contemplation on the mystery of life till his quest ended on enlightenment. He came to the understanding that the missing link in all paths that lead to truth is 'Understanding' itself.Sirshree says, "All paths that lead to truth begin differently - but end in the same way - with understanding. Understanding is the whole thing. And, this understanding is complete in itself. Listening to this understanding is enough."

The true definition of rich and poor

Seeker: Lord Buddha and Lord Mahavir were very kind-hearted. But, as a matter of fact, we have never heard that they built hospitals, schools, colleges, etc. for the poor like Mother Teresa, Maa Amritanandmayi or Shankaracharya have done.
Sirshree: First of all, understand the meaning of ‘kind-hearted’ and ‘poor’. You will work for those whom you regard as poor. Who were poor according to the Buddha? The Buddha did not consider those who do not have money as poor. For the Buddha, those who have forgotten their original nature, their true inner identity, were poor. He worked for such people. When you understand the real meaning of ‘poor’, then you will do something for the truly poor. What is the point if one becomes wealthy but internally the state of the mind is still the same – filled with ego. What is the person having political power thinking? There is hatred and jealousy inside him. What will you call such a person? Is he rich or poor? Such people are very poor in the eyes of the Buddha. He felt something should be done for them. Thus Lord Mahavir and Lord Buddha also worked for the poor – whom they considered to be poor. People of today are working for those whom they consider to be poor. When you understand the truth, you will understand the definition of ‘poor’.