Other planes of consciousness

When I go to various cities to give talks, most of the time I remain inside my room. I read books or other things. I am not interested in seeing things or shopping or anything like that. Some people, when they go to other planes of consciousness, look around and see everything. Others are not interested.

Again, when some people visit historical places, they will not pay any attention to the physical beauty there; they only think of the historical significance. That is what they find inspiring. So, when one enters into the higher worlds, one may care only to see which powerful souls came down from a particular plane of consciousness, which Avatar stayed there and so on.

Anybody can enter into the higher planes and people often do enter there during their sleep. But this is not done consciously. If you do not do a thing consciously, you won't be able to get total satisfaction. Now, sometimes it is possible to get real satisfaction by seeing a place through somebody else's eyes. If somebody tells you about Germany and gives you all kinds of fascinating details, at that time some sensation, some reality is created inside your mind. It is not false imagination. You are enjoying the reality more deeply and more tangibly than if you saw the reality itself. When you go to the United Nations and see it through the eyes of the tour guide, then only will you be able to appreciate it. Otherwise, if you go to this room and that room and see them with your own eyes, you may not be able to understand the significance of the rooms. Seeing is one thing, but the capacity to appreciate and understand is something else.

When a spiritual Master goes to the higher worlds, he sees them with his full and vast knowledge of Truth. But when a seeker goes to one of these planes, it may mean nothing to him. He will go there, but his mind may make him think that he is in his own room, his own apartment. Or he will go there for just one second and feel, "Oh, I thought that this place would be so beautiful, but it is not. So the best thing is for me to go back home." Then he will come back to the ordinary plane of consciousness.

For the disciple it is of utmost importance to see the Truth through the eyes of the Master. Even if the disciple doesn't see the Truth with his own eyes, if he can become one with the vision and realisation of the Master, then that will be a solid achievement in his life. If the Master gives him a full description of the higher worlds and he believes the Master and becomes totally one with him, then he is getting and achieving infinitely more than if he went to those planes and saw them personally. If the disciple can see the Truth through the Master's eyes, then today he will know the Truth and tomorrow he will become the Truth.

There is a well-known story about Sri Krishna and his dearest disciple, Arjuna. Sri Krishna said that something was black, and Arjuna also said it was black. Then Sri Krishna said, "No, it is white," and Arjuna also said it was white. Then Sri Krishna said it was red and Arjuna again agreed. Finally Sri Krishna asked Arjuna, "Why do you keep changing? Don't you have eyes of your own?" And Arjuna said, "If I see through your eyes, then I see the truth the way it has to be seen. If I see with my mind that this is black or white, there my knowledge ends. But if I see through your eyes, through the eyes of one who has the infinite vision, inside black itself I will see all colours. If I see through your eyes, I will see all the colours inside black."

The realised Master can see the ocean inside the drop and the drop inside the ocean. So it is always best for the disciple to see the Truth through the eyes of one who has himself seen the Truth and grown into the Truth. Otherwise, what today you will call truth, that very thing you will have to justify to your mind tomorrow. You may always doubt your truth. But if you see the Truth with the Master's eye, then it is all inner certainty.