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don't know what is real, what is unreal. You don't know what has been imposed on you by others and what you have brought from existence itself as a gift.
You have to discriminate, and always choose the natural. Even if it goes against all traditions, all religions, all cultures, don't be worried: except the natural, there is no authentic religiousness anywhere. Except the existential, there is nothing holy that you can find... in the Bible, in the Koran, in the Gita.
Just watch -- inside you is nature, inside you is the existential. Always follow it, and you will never be going wrong. To be natural, to be in tune with existence, is the only authentic spirituality.
Okay, Maneesha?
Yes, Beloved Master.
Om Mani Padme Hum
Chapter #2
Chapter title: A very simple and humble affair
7 December 1987 pm in Chuang Tzu Auditorium
Archive code: 8712075
ShortTitle: MANI02
Audio: Yes
Video: Yes
Length: 78 mins
Question 1
BELOVED MASTER,
IS BLISSFULNESS AN EXPRESSION OF GRATITUDE TOWARDS EXISTENCE?
Sanjiva, it is just the reverse. Blissfulness is not an expression of gratitude; on the contrary, gratitude is an expression of blissfulness. First comes the experience of bliss. First you attain to the state of consciousness where ecstasy is natural, where your potential blossoms to its ultimate expression. A great dance arises in you, a tremendous peace and a deep silence -- but it is not the silence of the graveyard, it is a silence fully alive, throbbing with a heartbeat. This whole experience is bliss. And because of this bliss that existence makes available to you, a feeling of gratitude, a thankfulness arises.
To me, this is the only authentic prayer. Not the prayers that are being done in the churches, in the synagogues, in the temples, before stone statues of God -- those prayers are full of greed. They are asking for something; in other words they are complaining about something. Something is wrong in life and God should put it right. There is no gratitude in those prayers; on the contrary, they are absolute indicators of ungratefulness.
The
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