Women Mystics

All are translated from Hindi talks.

I have spoken on enlightened men. For the first time I start discussions on enlightened women. It was easy to speak on enlightened men. I can understand them - they are alike. It will be a little bit difficult to speak on enlightened women - it is a little stranger path. Although man and woman are one in their innermost core, their expressions are very different. Their ways of being, their appearances, their statements, their thought processes are not only different but opposite.

I talked on Kabir, on Farid, on Nanak, Buddha, Mahavira and hundreds of enlightened men, but that was just one-dimensional. Today I add the second dimension. That first dimension has prepared you to understand this second dimension, because a wonderful phenomenon happens: whenever a man reaches to the last step of liberation, he becomes like a woman, he becomes feminine.

Translated from BIN GHAN PARAT PHUHAR Meera Meera is a launching place for your pilgrimage. Her scripture is the scripture of love. Perhaps calling it scripture is not right. Take Narada's BHAKTI SUTRAS - sutras of devotion - that is scripture.

There one finds reasoning, method, fixed precepts. It is a system of devotion.

Meera herself IS devotion. You won't find systematic argument. Fixed logic is not found there. There lightning has struck the heart.

In Meera, found nowhere else, is a natural expression of love. There have been other devotees, but they all pale before Meera; they become the background. Meera's star is a very bright, shining star.

Come, let us go toward this star. If just a few drops of Meera's juice rain on your life, flowers will bloom in your desert. If in your heart just a few tears make rain clouds like Meera's rain clouds, and in your heart a melody begins playing as it played to Meera, it is enough. One drop will color you and make you new.

So don't listen to Meera logically, intellectually. Meera has nothing to do with logic and intellect.

Listen to Meera with feeling, with devotion. Look with the eye of trust. Push aside logic, leave it to crawl along the bank. For a little while, let yourself go completely mad with Meera. This is the world of the mad. This is the world of lovers. Only then can you understand, otherwise you will miss.

First, a few things about Meera. Meera's love for Krishna did not begin with Meera. Such a rare expression of love cannot begin just like that. The story goes back. This Meera is one of the GOPIS - devotees - who was with Krishna. Meera herself has declared it, but the scholars can't accept it, as there is no historical proof for it.

I accept what Meera says. I am not interested in measuring true and false. To me it is pointless whether it is history or not. Meera's statement - my agreement; when Meera herself says it, the matter is finished. The question does not arise of someone else raising further doubts about it. And those who raise doubts like this, they won't ever be able to understand Meera.

Meera says, "I was Lalita. I danced with Krishna in Vrindavan, I sang with Krishna. This love is ancient." Meera insists, "this love is not new." And it entered Meera's life in such a way that it is clear from the very beginning that the pundits were wrong and Meera was right.

Meera was little, some four or five years old, when a SADHU was a guest at her house. When this monk got up in the morning, taking out his idol - a statue of Krishna hidden away in his bag - to set it up to worship, Meera went completely mad.

DEJA VU happened. A memory from a previous existence came. That statue was such that picture after picture began opening. That statue became a catalyst - and once again the story began. It shocked her. Krishna's form returned to her memory. Again that dark face, those wide eyes, that crown of peacock feathers, the flute-playing Krishna - Meera went back thousands of years in her memory.

She started to cry. She began begging the sadhu for the statue. But the sadhu also had great affection for his idol. He refused to give it; he traveled on.

A whole day passed. She ate no food, and drank no water. From her eyes tears flowed - on and on she cried. Her family was alarmed, now what can be done? The sadhu has gone, where can he be found? And will he give it up? Very unlikely.

And this statue of Krishna was certainly very lovely - the rest of the family felt it too. They had seen many idols, but in this one there was something alive, there was something alert, the aura of this statue was something more.

Certainly someone had carved it with love, not just for trade. Someone had carved it with feeling.

Someone had put his total prayer, his full worship into it; or someone who had once seen Krishna had carved it. But the statue was such that Meera was gone, she simply forgot this world. For her the idol must be brought back to stay, if not she will die. This is the beginning of VIRAH - deep longing for God - at the age of four.

That night the sadhu saw a dream. Far away in the next village he slept. A dream in the night - and Krishna was standing there. He said, "Return the statue to whom it belongs. You have kept it for many years, this was a guardianship, but it is not yours. Now don't carry it on unnecessarily. You go back and give the statue to that girl. It is hers, give it back. It is hers, your caretaking is over now. You have arrived where you were to deliver it, now the matter is finished." The idol is for the one whose heart contains love for it. Who else?

The sadhu was scared. Krishna had never shown himself to him before. For years he had been praying and worshipping to this same idol - flowers were offered, bells were rung. Krishna had never appeared. He became very frightened. He fled back in the middle of the night. Arriving at midnight he woke everyone up and said, "You must forgive me, I have committed a great wrong." He fell at the feet of that little girl, gave her the statue and went back.

This event, happening at the age of four or five, reopened her vision. Again the love flowed, again the journey began. Thus a deep relationship with Krishna was started again by this Meera in this lifetime.

This small, accidental event, happening when she was four or five years old... and a revolution happened. Meera remained ecstatic, as if she'd drunk liquor. By the time Meera was thirty-two or thirty-three years old, all those who had been important in her life until then had died. Everyone that her affection went out to, that she had loved, they all died.

Those who have written books about Meera, they all say, "unfortunately." I can't say that. I will say, "most fortunately," because for me there is no such feeling toward death that it is necessarily some form of curse. It all depends on you. Meera used it rightly. Wherever love was torn out, each and every vessel of love gone, she offered this love of hers up to God.

The last stage was staying with her father. Her mother died, her husband died, her father died.

There were five deaths passing in a continuum. All her attachments in the world were broken.

She made good use of it. She turned broken worldly attachments into detachment towards the world. And the love that became freed from the world, she offered up to the feet of God. She submerged herself in the passion-song for Krishna.

And these deaths did one more fortunate task - she was shown one thing, that everything in this universe is momentary. If the beloved is to be sought, seek in the eternal. Here nothing is yours.

Don't go astray here, don't lead yourself astray. Here everything touched will go away. Here death, and death only, increases. This is a graveyard. Don't get any idea of dwelling here. No one has ever remained here.

All that she'd seen with her own eyes...

Thirty-three years old is not very old. She was young. So many deaths happened in her youth that the thorn of death showed her totally, clearly, that life is momentary. And then her mind turned away from all this. Turning away from this one can turn towards the divine.

First Meera danced only at home, before her Krishna statue. Then love began to rise like a flood, and the house could not contain it. Then she danced in the village temples, in the sadhu's SATSANGS.

Then love started rushing in such a flood that she was no more conscious. She drowned, she became absorbed, she became filled with Krishna.

Naturally, as she was a lady of the royal household, of a respected family, trouble came to the family.

The family always becomes troubled. A thousand kinds of rumors began to spread in the community, because the matter went beyond the tradition.

You can imagine - Rajasthan of five hundred years ago - women didn't come out from behind their veils; their faces were never seen in public. And in the royal household, even more difficult. And she began dancing in the streets, she began dancing in the midst of the common people. Even though the dance was for God, to her relatives dance was still dance - there was no difference for them.

And those who had been the closest to her were all gone.

Her brother-in-law was on the throne. Wherever Meera sings that the king sent poison, that the king sent a snake in a basket, that the king had thorns scattered in her bed, it indicates her husband's younger brother. Her husband had passed away.

Her brother-in-law was Vikramajit Singh. He was an angry youth, an ill-natured youth. And this was too much to hear... Meera's fame was insufferable to him. Meera was so famous, people began coming from far away. Ordinary people came for her darshan; saints, monks, respectable people came too. Hearing the news of Meera they came from afar. The fragrance began to spread. The perfume was like the musk deer; everyone whose nostrils got a whiff of musk had to come.

This is a very surprising thing. From every part of the country people came, but the blind family members couldn't see. Those people coming became the cause of more difficulty for the family because Meera's fame was a shock to their egos. The king on his throne thought, "Someone in my own family higher than me? This is unbearable." Then he found a thousand excuses, and all the excuses logical - fault can never be found in them: "She is mixing with the commonfolk, with her veil aside. She is dancing in the streets; sometimes while dancing she doesn't pay attention to her clothes. This is unbecoming. It is not proper for a lady of the royal household."

But consider the stories: poison was sent and in Krishna's name Meera drank it; and it is said that the poison became nectar. It must have become! It's bound to. With so much love, so much welcoming - if someone drinks even poison it must turn into divine nectar. And if in anger, in violence, in hate, in enmity you drink ambrosia it too will become poison.

In these events that have taken place in the lives of enlightened ones, I look for demonstration of this psychological truth. Meera receives the poison as nectar; then it becomes nectar. How you accept the world is how the world becomes. This world is created from your acceptance. This world is the extension of your vision.

It became difficult for Meera to remain in her village, so she left Rajasthan. She went to Vrindavan.

"I'll go to my beloved's town," she thought. She went to Krishna's village, but the same troubles started up. Because he was not there now, Krishna's village was under the yoke of pundits - brahmin scholar-priests.

There is a lovely episode. When Meera arrived at Vrindavan's most famous temple, an attempt was made to stop her at the door, because entry to the temple was forbidden to women. The high priest of the temple had never seen women. Meera was a woman, so arrangements were made to stop her.

But those people who were standing by the door to stop her, they were struck dumb. When Meera came dancing, holding her EKTARA in her hand, playing music; and a crowd of devotees behind her, spreading wine in all directions, and all drunk - in that drunkenness those who stood guard were also stunned. They forgot they were meant to stop her until Meera had entered inside.

The breeze was as one wave - it went right in and reached the inner sanctum. The priest freaked out. He had been worshipping Krishna; the tray fell from his hands. He had not seen a woman for years. Women were not admitted to that temple. How had this woman come inside here?

Now think a little... the guards at the door became immersed in feeling, but the priest could not dive in! No, the priests are the most blind people in the world. And to find a more unintelligent person than a scholar is difficult. The guards too were drowned in this juice. This drunken woman, this ecstatic Meera came, came as a wave - they too forgot for a moment, forgot completely what their job was. They remembered only when Meera had gone past.

It was a thunderbolt. Once the EKTARA was playing inside and the crowd had gone in, then they became alert to what had happened. But the pundit did not plunge in. Meera came dancing in front of Krishna, but the pundit was not immersed. He said, "Hey woman, do you understand that women are not permitted in this temple?"

Meera listened. Meera spoke, "I had thought that besides Krishna no other man existed. Are you also a man? I had understood Krishna was the only man and the rest of the world were his beloveds, that all were celebrating with him. So you, too, are a man? I hadn't thought that there were two. So you are in competition?"

He was shaken. The pundit didn't understand how to answer now. Scholars have answers to fixed questions, but this question had never been raised before. No one had asked it before Meera, no one had ever asked, "Does there exist some other man? I have never heard of this. You are saying very strange things. Where did you get such arrogance? Krishna is the one man, the rest are all his beloveds."

But troubles were beginning, after this event. Meera was unable to stay in Vrindavan. We have always given ill treatment to enlightened people. After death we worship them; living we misuse them. Meera had to leave Vrindavan. She went to Dvarika.

Years later the political situation changed in Rajasthan; the kingship changed and the youngest son of King Sanga ascended the throne, Udaysingh Mevar. He was King Sanga's son and the father of King Pratap. Udaysingh had great feeling for Meera. He sent innumerable messengers to Meera to bring her back: "This is our disgrace. This is Rajasthan's disgrace that Meera wanders from village to village, moving here and there. This stain will always remain on us. Let her come back. Bring her back. We ask forgiveness for our mistakes. That which has happened in the past is gone."

People went, pundits were sent, priests were sent to explain and convince, but Meera always gave the explanation, "Now where to come or go? Where should I go now, giving up this temple of my life's love?" She was ecstatic in the Ranchhordasji temple.

Still Udaysingh tried very hard. He sent a group of one hundred men and said, "Bring her back no matter what. If she doesn't come, give her a threat. Tell her you'll fast sitting at the door of the same temple." And they gave the threat. They insisted, "You must come, if not then we'll die right here."

Then Meera said, "This again; if I am to go, then I will go and ask my love. Without his giving permission, I cannot go. So I'll ask Ranchhordasji." She went inside and the story is very lovely, very surprising, very significant. She went inside and it is said she never came out again. She disappeared into Krishna's statue.

This too couldn't be historical, but it should be, because if Meera cannot merge into Krishna's statue, then who can? And she had dissolved Krishna so deeply into herself, couldn't Krishna at least let her be merged into himself? If not then the whole foundation of devotion will be broken. Then the trust of the devotee will be broken. Meera has dissolved Krishna so deeply into herself, then Krishna too has a responsibility.

Be aware, don't take this as a fact and sit thinking over it. This is truth and truth is very different from fact. Truth is far above facts. Just what is there in facts? Not worth two cents. Fact is not the limit of truth. Fact is that which man's small intelligence can understand. It is a fragment of truth; truth is vast.

If you ask me, I say it is so. Is has to be. If not, the devotee's trust is wrong.

Meera must have said, "Now what's your feeling, shall I go now? Where will I go? Either come with me or take me into you." Ultimately that which you love, you become.

Love with care and understanding. Make your friendships with awareness. Because this friendship is no ordinary matter. Meera's friendship was with Krishna, and if finally she merged into his image then to me this seems to be completely right. It must be so. It is just so.

Translated from MAINE RAM RATAN DHAN PAYO Sahajo In Sahajo, woman appears in utter purity. Man and woman are two dimensions. And if you clearly understand the difference between the two, the songs of Sahajo will be clear to you. Don't try to understand them as a man. Just forget who you are, otherwise your conditioning will create the barrier.

Sahajo was a sannyasin, a celibate. She didn't have a family. The world didn't attract her. She left everything at the master's feet. Those feet were her home, those feet were her family. Here is her total acceptance of God.

And I would not ask of Sahajo that she should be in a family, should become a wife, a mother. If she had asked me, I would have said, "Do whatever you feel like. Don't force anything on yourself."

Her celibacy was not forced... because nobody ever saw Sahajo in misery. She was always happy, ever-blossoming like a flower. Nobody could find a reason for there to be any other direction to her life than what she had chosen. That was her direction.

It is said that the fruits are the proof of the tree; then the achievement of a life is proof of the life. If Sahajo attained the ultimate bliss in her life, it means she lived life as she should have. If she could be ecstatic, if her lotus could blossom, then it is the proof that the way she lived was right; otherwise the flower could not have blossomed.

Sahajo sings:

I OFFER EVERYTHING TO CHARANDAS. I CAN LEAVE GOD BUT NOT THE MASTER.

God has been found in the feet of the master, Charandas. Everything is offered to him. "I can leave God but not the master" - as God has taken form in Charandas.

Charandas was a very simple man. So simple that the ordinary man could not differentiate between himself and Charandas. He was very ordinary.

And remember, you can be saved only if you can catch the glimpse of the extraordinary in the ordinary. Only then do you know that there is someone who is so close but is still far away; who is so close sometimes that you start doubting that there is any difference between you and him - perhaps he is also drowning with us.

So Charandas was a very simple man. He saved Sahajo. That is why Sahajo goes on singing his songs. She says, "Even if I have to drop God, I will drop him, but I will never leave the master.

Because God threw me into the midstream and drowned me, the master saved me and brought me back to the bank." Hence, "I can leave God, but cannot forget the master."

Nobody would have known about Charandas. Sahajo's songs brought his name to the masses. He had two disciples - Sahajo and Daya, like two eyes of a man, like two wings of a bird. Both sung the songs of Charandas. So people came to know.

Soon we will talk about Daya. And her songs are so similar. They are bound to be, because the same master has saved them, they have found shelter under the same master, and the same master's heart was beating in them. Their songs come from the same source. That is why I have named the series of discussions on Sahajo, "BIN GHAN PARAT PHUHAR, Raining Without Clouds" - these are the words of Daya.

When I speak on Daya, then the series will have the words of Sahajo, "JAGAT TARAIYA BHOR KI, World: The Morning Star." As the setting star of the dawn, just about to disappear, such is this world - "World: the morning star."

It is as if they are both the beatings of the same heart. That is why for Sahajo I used Daya's words, and for Daya I will use Sahajo's words.

Translated from BIN GHAN PARAT PHUHAR HOW DO YOU KNOW THAT SAHAJO WAS ENLIGHTENED? ARE JUST HER WORDS PROOF ENOUGH?

The question is a little difficult. Words cannot be proof enough, because words can be borrowed.

Whatever has been said can be the repetition of what has been said by someone else. Hence words cannot be a sufficient proof, but they can be an insufficient proof. They can give a hint that perhaps this person has known.

An enlightened person's words will be spontaneous. They are just coming from the source - fresh and new. These coins are just being minted, they have not been used in the market.

The words of Sahajo have just come from the mint. Sahajo is not a scholar, nor is she a poet. Her words are simple and straight - there is not much fuss, nothing has been hidden. And she has spoken in such a way as no one else has before. So there was no way to borrow.

Whenever God descends into someone, he descends in a new way each time; God does not like repetition. Every single verse of Sahajo is unique. Never before and never after have there been such verses. So words are insufficient proof. Nothing becomes certain by them, they are just possibilities, hints. Then, how do I say that Sahajo was enlightened?

The empty spaces between the words have to be read, the empty spaces between the lines have to be read. The lines will give the insufficient proof, in that empty space the sufficient proof will be found.

But you will be able to read the empty space between Sahajo's words if you have read the empty space inside you. That is why I said that the question is a little difficult. It will not be solved by my answering. It will be solved when the answer comes from your own life.

Sahajo is enlightened; this you will understand only when you become enlightened. The one who is enlightened, will immediately recognize whether another person is enlightened or not.

Translated from BIN GHAN PARAT PHUHAR Daya has trodden the path and is acquainted with it. She has left no stone unturned on that path.

She has died in the dust of the path. Treading on the path, traveling on the path she has become empty in every way. Now just the fragrance of the path is there. That very fragrance has appeared in her small verses.

Daya belongs to those devotees who have left no information about themselves. They drowned so much in singing songs of the divine that no time was left for leaving information. Just the name is known.

Now what is special about a name? Any name would do. But one thing is certain, she has remembered the name of her master - she has sung songs of the divine and remembered the name of her master. Her master was Charandas; his two disciples - Sahajo and Daya. Charandas has called them his two eyes.

Both remained in his service their whole life. When you have found the master, service is the discipline; just to be close is enough. Whether they practised anything else is not known. But this is enough. If someone has achieved, it is enough to be with him. When you pass through a garden, your clothes catch the fragrance of the flowers. If you are with the one who has known, your being catches the fragrance. The fragrance flows, spreads. So they must have been massaging his feet, preparing food for the master, fetching water, doing just small errands.

There is not much of a difference between their verses either. The master is the same, so whatever has flown through them cannot be very different. Both drank from the same cup - the same taste.

And they come from the same village, in the same region that Meera came from. Blessed is that region, because no other region has the prerogative of giving birth to three women mystics together.

TRANSLATED FROM: JAGAT TARAIYA BHOR KI