Questions On GOD

Seeker : Does God exist?

Sirshree: Some say yes. Some say no. But, both are incorrect. The reality is that “only God exists”. The real question is that do you exist. You think of yourself as something different, but is it true?

Seeker : How is God?

Sirshree: How do you think He will be: Does He have any form? Or is He formless? Or is he formless with the potential to manifest?

Seeker : I think that the second one is correct ...

Sirshree: Will a layman give more importance to ornaments or to gold?

Seeker : Of course – to ornaments.

Sirshree: Similarly, people always give more importance to form and shape. But for the goldsmith, both gold and golden ornaments are the same.

Seeker : Where is God?

Sirshree: You choose from these three answers: He is within. He exists externally. Both in and out.

Seeker : I guess the third one.

Sirshree: Exactly. For Him in and out makes no difference. The difference is only in our contrast mind[1].

Seeker : Then where to seek God?

Sirshree: You tell me. If he is both in and out, then where should you seek Him?

Seeker : Maybe “in” would be easier.

Sirshree: Precisely. Even if you seek Him outside, you will ultimately reach within. We look out into the mirror (an external source), but what it does is just to reflect us as we are. All idols and religious symbols stand for only one reason– to take us within. Then only do temples serve their purpose.

Seeker : If God is within, then who created God? How was he born?

Sirshree: Do you think God can die?

Seeker : No, absolutely not.

Sirshree: Only one who is born dies. The one who doesn’t die cannot be born either. God is beyond life and death, beyond time and space, beyond all perception and beyond every imagination.

Seeker : Then when did the world come into existence – this world that God created?

Sirshree: When the world was created?" -- this question is to do with time. But the concept of time came after the world was created. Do you understand? Are you getting it?

Seeker : Yes. Somewhat.

Sirshree: Actually what is important is – What "was" before time? Because that which was before time always existed, exists and will always exist. That’s the reason for the Final Truth Discourses.

Seeker : Then what should one do? What next? So is the first step that of getting liberated from anger and other such aversions. If so, I cannot do it. I have tried several times, but all in vain.

Sirshree: No, the first step is to know your true self. Get stabilized in your true self. First attain the bright happiness within. Once you are in that bright happiness, that ecstatic bliss- anger dissolves automatically.

Seeker : Then who am I?

Sirshree: One is that "I" what people think of me to be. One is that "I" what I think of myself to be. One that "I", which in future I want to become. In reality, you are beyond all these. Don’t try to know this in words – know by being there. Being is knowing. Not by being the body, not by being the mind.

Seeker :Will I understand these deeper truths of life? Can I fathom the depth of it?

Sirshree: Why not?

Seeker : But, how?

Sirshree: First you have to understand the mind – the mind that has shadowed the truth. This mind has many facets – all of them can be broadly classified under seven categories. These, I call the seven legs of the mind. With understanding, the seven legs will automatically break.

Seeker : How can I break these legs quickly?

Sirshree: This is the mind that is saying it. The mind in itself cannot make the mind fall.

Seeker : Then what should I do?

Sirshree: Attain understanding. Walk with me step by step. Give an hour every week for listening, for understanding. Listening to the Final Truth Discourses. Listening will bring forth understanding. Then “understanding in action” will emerge. Eventually, you will discover the pearl – the pearl that has been covered by the oyster. Pearl means truth. The mind is referred to as an oyster – which has thick layers of desires and cravings. That keeps drifting between the past and the future. But it cannot remain in the present. Understanding through listening will break the shell and the pearl will be revealed. So, are you ready for listening?

Seeker : Yes, of course.

Sirshree: Thank you for the opportunity to be of bright service to you.

Questions on Happiness

What is real happiness?

Sirshree: Real happiness is not that happiness which you get when you achieve some thing. The mind has cast a shadow over the real you. When the mind falls -- then what is behind the mind -- that manifests. And when that happens it is real happiness. Suppose you have an aim, a desire to achieve something or to own something. And when you actually achieve it -- then the mind that was thriving only on that desire --falls for some moments because the desire has been quenched. And in those few moments of no-mind, you experience emptiness. This you call as happiness or bliss. All happiness you have ever experienced is only because of the mind getting empty, because of the no-mind state, because of the lifting of the shadow of the mind. But the false notion that you get is that because the target was completed -- you got happiness. Because of what you desired - you got happiness. Because of this false notion, desire for newer and more things increase. But, anything that gives you lots of happiness today does not give you the same amount of happiness later. After some time happiness diminishes. It ends. The real thing - the one that is shadowed by the mind -- after that is experienced -- then you get "bright" happiness (Tej Anand). This "bright" happiness never diminishes.

What then is "bright" happiness ?

Sirshree: That bliss that is beyond happiness and sorrow. For which there is no opposite. To site an example, the opposite of 'success' is 'failure'. Similarly: hot - cold, up - down, love - hate etc. - all words are related. But what is beyond both opposites is "bright". What is beyond love and hate is "bright" love. What is beyond happiness and grief is bright happiness. There is no opposite to "bright" happiness. Because that is 'one'. When you come to know of that "one" then, you are liberated from dualism.

Why is man unhappy?

Because of double unhappiness.

What is double unhappiness?

You are troubled by something. The body is under pain – this is first unhappiness. But on that unhappiness the mind becomes unhappy, why does this exist? Why me? Why not others? When would this pain go away? ---- Then the unhappiness of the body increases ten times over. The body was in pain. The body was curing it too. Nature on its own was curing the pain. But the thorn of the mind made it “my pain”, “my unhappiness”.

Does this mean we should not be unhappy?

This means unhappiness over unhappiness should not be there.

What does this mean?

This means that the comparing mind (contrast mind) that raises its head and defines the state of unhappiness shouldn’t be there.


I didn’t understand ...

Understand it like this. You got angry. It does not trouble you as such. Children get angry and the very next second, they are peacefully playing. But you are thinking as to “why did I anger?” Even after the incident has occurred, what is being thought over it for hour together --- that gives you trouble. So you get angry over anger and this troubles the mind. The more your understanding increases, you are rid of this double unhappiness.

That means unhappiness alone cannot trouble us?

Absolutely correct.

How is that?

When unhappiness is not acceptable, then double unhappiness begins i.e. unhappiness over unhappiness as to why I am unhappy? But when there is acceptance of this unhappiness, then unhappiness on that unhappiness doesn’t happen. Depression on depression doesn’t occur. And then this understanding will occur that it is only “non-acceptance” that is unhappiness and only acceptance is happiness.

Question Answer Sessions with Sirshree Tejparkhi
On this page, you will find answers given out to truth seekers by Sirshree Tejparkhi. Some answers have been given to individual seekers who later wrote from their memory. Some are excerpts from his discourses where seekers asked questions and his answers thereto were documented.

Questions on Meditation

(A seeker's account of what happened to him)

This is an excerpt from an article by a disciple Tulsi Harwani where he describes how one question answer-session with Sirshree transformed his understanding.

One day I went to Sirshree and asked him some questions on meditation. I didn’t know then that the discussion would change the course of my life, my entire perception. The discussion that followed is described as follows:

Tulsi: Nowadays I am unable to practice vipassana meditation. What should I do? I am not able to concentrate and hence I feel guilty.

Sirshree: Who meditates – know that first.

Tulsi: Meditation, of course, I was the one doing it. But nowadays I have discontinued the practice.

Sirshree: First know “Who am I?”. Then you will be only in meditation. In other words, you become meditation, you become devotion.

Tulsi: I did not understand this.

Sirshree: Fine. You have to listen from the beginning. Listen by dropping all your false notions and concepts, without any comparison. Then you will come to understand that the meditation of Self (sakshi) is continuously happening. The moment the mind falls – there is meditation of Self - meditation of bright awareness – where there is awareness of consciousness and awareness of unconsciousness – both. That is bright awareness. Bright awareness is meditation. You don’t have to meditate – but just understand that “You are meditation”.

Tulsi: What! No need of meditation?

Sirshree: Not only meditation, but you will be free from all types of karma. You will get the understanding that you were the non-doer of karmas(akarta), you never did any karma right from the beginning. Then how did you become the doer of meditation?

Tulsi: So what should I do to attain this understanding?

Sirshree: Come and listen to Antim Satsang discourses. Through listening, the meditator will remain no more and what remains is only meditation. The path to end suffering, the road to happiness will emerge. You will be in the bright bliss of silence (moun).

Tulsi: I will definitely keep coming. Since then I attended the Gyan Group Retreat. I found the path to end suffering. I understood what Antim Satsang is all about. The more I listened, the more the conviction grew that everybody should come to know about Antim satsang and the final truth taught here. With this hope and conviction, I made an effort to write this small article. I believe this book will solve its purpose.