We always want something from outside. We have expectations, and thousands of times we have talked about those expectations. But what expectations do we have from ourselves? If you want to get something, what have we got to give? Because we have expectations, we don’t get anything. If we don’t have any expectation from any source, instead of losing hope, we’ll come out bravely and tell ourselves and others, “I don’t care if I don’t get till I’m ready to give.” This principle is true in every walk of life. For example, the one topic that is closest to your heart—relationships. Isn’t it funny? We sit here and talk of relationships, and we know the secret of relationship is total detachment and still total enjoyment. Somehow people don’t get it. How is it possible to enjoy the whole world, enjoy your relations and everyone without being attached to anyone or anything. 

Anyway, the secret is this: (in your personal life, too) if you go on thinking about what you are getting, you will not get anything because you will always be like a storekeeper who is not presenting himself and his wares properly and goes on thinking about what customers are giving him all the time…counting, counting, counting. If you just forget what you get and know how to give, you will get everything. It is so easy a theory. When it comes to doing, how many of us pass the test? Today I will narrate to you a true story of a true disciple who got everything from a teacher who was a great guru and refused to give him anything. 

You have heard the story of the Kauravas and Pandavas in the Bhagavad-Gita, two royal families, the most respected families in India in ancient times. They were cousins and there was a great war. Those royal families lived together. They were always competitive, but the teacher was the same. His name was Dronacharya. He taught them archery. He was the greatest archer in the world. There were great secrets in archery. They could create rains with mantras, and they could create fire. Great concentration was needed. His favorite disciples were the 5 Pandavas, and the chief of them was Arjuna, who was the disciple of Lord Krishna in the Bhagavad-Gita to whom he taught all the secrets of self-realization. He was a master archer. 

One day a tribal boy appeared before Dronacharya, the guru. In those days there was great prejudice against those people who were the tribal people. They were criminals. They were considered to be dangerous and untouchables. He appeared before that high guru, who was the greatest guru. The boy said, “I want to be blessed by you. As you are teaching others, I also want to be taught by you.”

Dronacharya said, “I cannot take you as my disciple because you belong to the untouchables, to the caste that is criminal. No. These are royal families. I teach only the members of the highest royal families. Nor can you afford to give dakshina. (Dakshina means the money given in appreciation for the teachings received.) So you have to go back.
The boy said, “I will go back.” So saying he looked at him from head to toe three times. He had the eye of an eagle or rather an artist. He was a great sculptor, too, and he looked at him, bowed down his head, and left. In his mind and heart he said, “It is not in your power to tell me to go when I am inviting you in my heart.”

And so saying, he went to his cottage, collected some clay, and created a likeness of Dronacharya. It was a striking resemblance when it was finished. For five years he sat in front of it. With total concentration he looked at it. As his concentration grew so his powers grew. He left his body and found himself in the astral and was talking to the guru in the astral. Dronacharya was communicating with him. So every day after that, he used to sit down in front of the image and he used to get lost in the astral world. Dronacharya was different in his subtle body. You leave your prejudices behind when you leave the body. He very lovingly taught him everything. Every night he taught him a new secret of the art of archery, and the next day that boy used to practice and perfect it during the daytime. Again at night time Dronacharya used to appear before him. Day in and day out the image of Dronacharya became sharper and sharper. It almost became three dimensional. And he learned everything from him. He could use his bow and arrow better than anyone else. 

They lived on two hills. On one hill the royal family lived; on the other hill the tribal boy lived. One day Dronacharya taught him the secret of the art how to take an aim at a point between two teeth so that the arrow might get stuck between two teeth. It doesn’t hurt the teeth; it doesn’t hurt the face or lips, but goes straight between the thin partition between the two teeth. He hit a dog. The arrow stuck between his two teeth. It didn’t hurt the dog, but the scare was so much. He was barking and howling with the arrow coming out. The dog came out from that hill and went to the hill where these princes were learning from Dronacharya. “What is this?” 
“Sir, this is a dog with this arrow.”
“Arjuna, can you take this arrow out, dislodge this arrow and put your arrow in its place?”
Arjuna said, “Probably I can do what he has done, but I can’t do this, dislodge this and put my arrow right in that place in one shot.”
“Take this dog and go out in the forest. You will find someone with a bow and arrow and ask that person, “Can you do that?”

Sure enough the tribal boy was there on the other hill. They found him there and said, “Who did it?”
He said, “I did it.”
“What is your name?”
“My name is Eklavya.”
“Who is your guru?”
“Dronacharya is my guru.”
“We have never heard of you. We have been with him for years and years. Where do you come from?”
“I come from the tribal area.”
“Dronacharya can never take you as his disciple.”
“Then don’t tell me that. Do what I have done.”
“But this is not the question. Can you take this thing out with your arrow?”
He took his arrow and hit the dog. That arrow was sprung out and his new arrow got stuck in its place. The dog was again taken to Dronacharya.
“This is not the same arrow. It is a different arrow.” He knew what was happening. That was a real threat to his disciples. 

I am telling you today a story in which the guru is acting in a way unlike a guru and the disciple is acting in a way very much unheard of. The resolution in the heart of the disciple was, “It was not for you to give me. It is for me to take. I will take with the power of giving.” 

So, my friends the only power you have is the power of giving. How much have you given to the love that has offended you? How much you have given to your dream of becoming something, if you have any dreams. I don’t think any one of you has ever dreamt and put it as first priority to become a multi multi millionaire because none of you is. So you must have some other aims. What aims have you? If you don’t have any ambition, for god’s sake have an aspiration. In that way the life will be balanced. If you don’t want to have millions then have that treasure which is very rare on the other side of the fence. Be a conqueror there and make it a first priority. Even if you make money a second priority you can still be a millionaire. It is so easy. So many millionaires are there. How many realized beings are there? Rare. Not one philosopher was realized. Think of it. What a rare being you would be. You need only three to twelve years of your life. You need seven years for that tinsel called “M.D.” diploma. After six or seven years of hard labor you prescribe what may be poisons to people. Seven years. And here give 3 years. That is what Baba used to say. He said, “Do anything you like. Anything.” He said, “You can satisfy all your needs.” Can you believe it? He said, “You can satisfy all your material desires. You can have everything in your emotional life. You are free. Only attain God first. Then go out and do whatever you like.” And he openly said, “I do whatever I like.” And he really did it. He said, “I do whatever I like.”

Whatever happens to you happens to God. You should identify yourself. Realize you are no different from him. Not only in theory—then you would be a hypocrite. That is the difference between knowing and realizing. When you actually become realized then you don’t have a desire to do things which normally you have done. And even if you have them, they are done in a different way, in a more aesthetic, beautiful way. So whatever is in the world, you can always achieve it. 

And so, that boy…to come back to our story…got everything from him. Then the great fear came into the minds of the disciples and of the guru, too, that he will one day challenge Arjuna who is a champion. Arjuna was his favorite. So one day he called Eklavya and said, “You have never given me any dakshina.” Dakshina is the donation that the disciple or the student gives to the teacher. “You have not given me anything so you have no right to my teachings and the teachings will be withdrawn from you.” He was right. Unless you give, you have no right to take. 
Eklavya said, “I am prepared to give anything. Anything.”
“Then give me your right thumb.” That is the thumb with which an archer pulls the arrow. Archery depends on the right thumb. 
He was shocked to hear that, but he cut his thumb and offered it on a plate and left.

After that day he started practicing with his feet and reached the same state. There are stories that he did certain things which Arjuna could not do. Again, they were brought before Dronacharya. Dronacharya didn’t even say who did it, he said, “Eklavya must have done it.” 
“How could he have done it because he didn’t even have a thumb?”
Dronacharya knew the boy had the power to give and you can’t compete with him. “No one can compete with Eklavya. I can’t compete with him. He got everything from me when I said no. He created an image of me and put life into it and talked to me every night. I can’t help it.”

So it does not depend on the person or the power or the source of your bounty. It depends on you how much you get. And how much you get is measured by how much you give. If your mind is elsewhere, you can’t even give your attention. If your heart is somewhere else, then the message does not reach or hit you on the spot. Then it has no effect upon you. Giving gives you the power of attention because you have put your life at stake. When you put your life at stake, then you know you don’t have to look back to anything. When you don’t have to look back to anything, you get everything. The one thing you look back is your undoing. That is why I say “the art of life.” This is the art of life—don’t look back. 

You look back and cry and identify yourself with that person who has been a victim of emotions, a victim of this, this, or this. You can never change because you are not moving from that spot. You are fixed there. All people have memories, and they are prisoners of life. They are prisoners of memories. When I say, “Total detachment” they are afraid. 
“How can I be detached from my sweetheart?”
They say, “I can’t renounce anything. I can’t go to God. I love my children. I love my wife, my girlfriend or boyfriend. How can I go to God?”
“What will God do with your girlfriend or boyfriend? Why should he want them? He has no use of them. So keep them.”
“What should I renounce?”
“The habit of looking back at them. Going back to them in your mind, being attached to them. The habit of clinging to them.” 

You are hooked, my friends. Each one of you is hooked somewhere. Even to the highest thing you are hooked and you have no choice to move away. It is not proper even if it is God. If God keeps you completely bound, then you are in slavery. You have a choice to move away. Finally your ultimate freedom is the greatest thing. God gives the freedom of choice to you. But there is no other place to go but God. So, you come back to him. Freedom is your right. Think what has captured you. That is the most important thing. Give some time to it. Contemplate it.

Sometimes you are hooked, and you are very proud of it because you are achieving the results. You tell yourself, “Unless I am totally concentrated on my job, how can I achieve results? I have deadlines. I have this and this and this.”
Your lines are dead, my friends. Where will they take you? They are blind lanes.

You have to be totally free. How many of you are there who walk away from your store, from your office, from your work, from your profession totally free and not paying any attention what happened during the day? How many of you walk away from your loved ones, whether they are children, boyfriends or girlfriends after meeting them, totally free without bothering what happened with them. You still carry them in your heart. Then you are a prisoner. You have nothing to give. A prisoner can give nothing. A prisoner is a beggar. 

If you all the time expect something to get, then you are not free. Think about this. All of us expect something. A stage comes when you don’t expect anything. When you imagine that state and you want to practice it, the first is pessimism. “I don’t expect anything.” Then you say it like an orphan. “I don’t expect anything; I don’t want anything from anyone.” Inside you cry like a baby. How can you not expect when you are a baby? A beggar has to cry. “Ten cents, please.” Only then he gets ten cents. Kings don’t cry; they go and get it. Be that. But there is an art of doing it. On the material plane you attack people with the power of your money, the power of your status, or the power of whatever force you have to go ahead in this world. On the other side, on the spiritual side, you have the power of giving. No one can stop you from going anywhere if you have that power to give. So apply this principle for one day. For one day when you talk to someone whom you love very much, concentrate on one thing. What you are getting is of no consequence; it has no importance at all. Don’t pay any attention to it. Don’t revel in it; don’t feel sad or happy about it at all. Have gratitude and enjoy whatever you get, but don’t pay attention to it. All the time go on seeing, how much are you giving. 

The fact is we do not know how to give. You have never questioned yourself that way. “In what way I should behave that should help a person.” We help a person as we think is right for that person. That is not the way to help. You help a person as the person needs that help. Then you will become very bright inside, and your help would be relevant. Then for the first time you will see a person, what a person really needs. That person has to be free of you so step back. That is the least price you can pay. Back off. If the person belongs to you, the person will not back off. And if you take one step back and the person takes two steps back, then you should take four steps back. You have that power of giving, giving up. If you are giving up one thing you love most, and then you will have emotional power of freedom. Then you’ll be surprised what kind of result you get from your emotional life. Why? Because everyone would feel very safe with you. You don’t have claws to hold on. Actually people put their claws into others. 

Here in this room sometimes dramas take place. I watch them with great amusement. A boy was so dedicated. He used to come regularly and go into deep meditation. Then a girl came and he was in meditation and his eyes were open. He couldn’t help it. He used to follow her when she went home. One day I asked him, “Are you putting your hooks into the girl?”
“Yes.”
“Forget it. She is my girl.” I said, “You know she is my girl.” 
His eyes widened considerably.
I said, “She is my girl. You take the hooks out.” He stopped coming. He got so scared. 

How can you meditate? How can you be free in your mind when your attention is hooked on to a girl or a boy sitting here? You can do only one thing: nourish it more and more. In that case that emotion is nourished more and more. You are in a place of great energy here, and you are not aware of it. In a place of great energy everything will be multiplied. If you are angry, you will be very angry here. And it happens. It happened to me when I went to the ashram. I was the angriest man there for years and years. 

Energy is the source of everything. She is the source of lust; she is the source of love. She is the source of poverty; she is the source of prosperity. Don’t confuse her, don’t mistake her. Don’t be deceived by her. She has great maya (delusion). She pushes the veil of delusion on you. And when your mind goes to lust, it is she who is creating it. You cannot get out of it unless you recognize what is happening to you. 

Some emotion takes possession of you and then you identify yourself with it. There are demons in you; they have to come out to die. The worst of you will come out. Unless it comes out you can’t improve. If the rooms are filled with moss and with dirt and filth in corners, and you clean the rooms with a broom, don’t complain if the room is filled with contaminated air. It has to come out. Finally you throw it out. It goes out. Open the windows and then everything is clean and good. 

There should be no fear in the heart, no hesitation, to give yourself away for the sake of yourself. This is what I consider to be a precious sacrifice. That is your life’s work. At least you are worthy of that. Sit down quietly and think, “What is it you are laying down your life for?” You will be surprised. It is not a high ideal. You are laying down your life for something very, very ordinary. Very ordinary. You can get it even without betting your life on it. Why do that? Then you ask yourself, “Is my life worth that? Up till now what have I achieved?” If I have achieved something in business, what of it? There are better people than me. And better people than them, better people than them again. It is not much of an achievement. Even if you call yourself genius, the genius is futile because your thought, except giving you a big ego, has not taken you anywhere. Where have you reached? Where has the world taken you? 

A girl from Italy was very fond of a man, and she was in the ashram. The man said, “I don’t want you to go to the ashram. I’ll give you everything. My life…whatever you want from me. Don’t spend your time in the ashram.”
She said, “What should I do? I love this man.”
I said, “Perhaps you don’t. Or you wouldn’t be asking me this question. How should I answer?” I said, “Write to him, ‘I’ll go all the way with you to the end of the world and beyond. I will never question you. Never, ever question you. Tell me, where are you taking me to?” Ask this question. 
The man never answered.

You can easily know anyone you love, where that person is taking you. You can give your life for that person, that is fine. What you call love, that is fine. But where is that person taking you? How far will you go with him, or how far he will go with you? 

The day she was leaving the ashram I asked her, “Tell me, what did you learn in the ashram?” We used to sit there and talk for hours and hours. I loved the company of that girl. I said, “What did you learn in the ashram? Tell me in one sentence.”
She didn’t hesitate. “There is one thing I learned. Kick yourself out of yourself if you really want to attain freedom.” That is the lesson. Kick yourself out of yourself. You cannot do that if you are trapped. You have to kick yourself free out of yourself. 

The same sentence is in the Bhagavad-Gita. Free yourself by kicking yourself out of yourself. What do they mean by that? You have trapped yourself into your imagined prison house. It is not there. Nothing is there to bar you, to hold you back. Nothing is there, and you are under a delusion, just as someone who is hypnotized. You can easily hypnotize a boy and say you can’t move up beyond this line, take care. And the moment you ask him to step out, he will scream, “I can’t step out of it.” It is his own creation. All of us are hypnotized by your own emotional needs. We are so poor, so how can we give anything? The way is to see yourself. Be your own witness.

I say meditation is of no use unless you look at yourself as an outsider. The mind has that power. The mind has the power of looking at itself. It never uses that power; it is a secret. The mind looks at everything and never looks at itself. You think, “Perhaps it can’t.” But it can. It depends on you. Who is using whom? The mind doesn’t mind being used at all. So tell the mind, “I want to look at myself.” And then suddenly you will find yourself standing out of you. See your whole life, how you have lived in life, how you have been thinking and thinking of something day and night. You are really trapped. How you imagined an imaginary duty and obligation to someone while you were all the time going beyond a sense of duty and proportion and sacrificing everything for no reason perhaps. Why you have been denying yourself all the joys of life because of certain preoccupation with anything, whether it is profession, love, or this and this. How you are binding yourself with imaginary conditions which did not exit, and then finally you will have a breakthrough. Give freely, but with open eyes.

Nothing should bind you. The joy of freedom you can’t imagine. Nothing should ever stop you from taking a decision which you want to take. The only joy of living is to take a decision which comes right from your deepest heart. 

Thank you.