May 2015
By Shivi Verma
If simplicity is the hallmark of a true master, then Sri Satish Kaku, with his easy manners, mirthful chuckles, and incisive approach to spirituality would win over your mind and heart, says Shivi Verma
Sri Satish Kaku is an unlikely spiritual mentor. He is approachable, unassuming, sweet-tempered and relates to you as a friend, rather than as a guru preaching from the pulpit. “If you can mentally accept your oneness with creation…even that is a good beginning. At least I have created one more intelligent person,” he says. Even though he works tirelessly to help people heal through his Being One’s ‘Full Circle Healing’ and ‘Aatmic Awareness’ programmes, the doing appears effortless. “When love is the driving force how can I feel the effort?” he explains joyfully. A householder, he is a graphic designer for advertising companies. He has two sons, both brilliant painters. Which easily explains the beauty that surrounds his living space in Prabhadevi, Dadar, Mumbai. The Buddha’s calm and centred demeanour adorns the walls of his home in multiple hues. Satishji often addresses his wife, Rupande, as mother, just as his children do. “Shakti must be respected and bowed to if you want to be happy as a householder,” he chuckles. Perhaps that is how it was ideally supposed to be. If all of us could view our partners as an expression of the Divine Mother or Father, marital conflicts would become a thing of past. In a free-wheeling interview he shares every bit of his self and vision.
Tell us about your spiritual journey.
It is difficult to explain my spiritual journey. It did not begin today or yesterday. It is the continuation of a journey. So there is nothing much to say. I only remembered that I had to continue, and I started on the path again, at the age of 23. It took me seven to eight years to get back my lost memory.
You had a revival of your past-life memories?
It was the continuation of an earlier journey to serve people. I had a hint of the Truth from childhood, although I was never quite sure of it. Somebody asked me what I wanted to become on growing up, and I replied, philosopher. I must have been six years old at that time. I did not even know what
a philosopher was. I was bad at studies in school, but good at art, and I made it my medium of self-expression. I cannot name one point or incident
that caused enlightenment. It was just a gradual state of awareness that I came into. I used to go to gurus. In some places I became a teacher myself, but that was not what I was looking for, but when I understood what this state was which I was enjoying, I began to design my own programme in order to reach people.
Did it happen to you through a guru? Does enlightenment need a guru?
A lot of people were involved in my growth. Every book helped me. Nature helped me a lot because it was linked with my art. In fact when I look back I see that every moment was a learning moment. So I cannot say that a particular person is my guru.
Some people say that the guru placed their hand on their head and their kundalini got awakened, and they got that state.
That can happen. That is a guru’s energy and aura working on you. I can give you my energy and give you that shock for some time but still the disciple needs to keep working on himself to sustain that state. If you are a good student you will hold on to that glimpse and practise how to get that glimpse yourself. But sadly most of them do not know the process.
What happens with kundalini jagran is that usually your mind is not empty. It is full of concepts. When you force it to rise through pranayam, mudras and mantras it gets stuck, and the person may go insane. Ideas and concepts have to be cleaned first.
But what can I or any guru give? A guru’s job is to empty you, to make you realise what is already there. And what is there to give? Everything exists. Only your ego blocks you from knowing the truth. When your ego is broken you see truth for yourself. I cannot give you something you are not ready or prepared to receive. If anybody says he can enlighten you, he is lying. It is an individual path. I may tell you about this pen (holding it up) but would that be enough to enlighten you about the pen? You have to hold it, use it and feel it to know this pen fully. This depends on your willingness. It is a process of the self, for the self and by the self. We just show the path. A guru’s job is to break the ego. Only when your ego breaks will you start looking the other way. Anyway, your ego goes when you die. Guru also does the same thing. Guru is your master of death. He will introduce you to death by breaking your ego. That is what Shankara is, who is worshipped in the cremation ground. Ego breaks, then knowledge breaks, and then you are a pure understanding of love. Emptiness is full of joy. But you have to go through the process. It cannot happen in a short workshop, which can increase your baggage of knowledge.
Are you demolishing the guru-shishya parampara?
No. That process was very different. They lived in gurukuls. Students were not even able to meet the master straight away. They were made to sweep, wash dishes, fill water, get firewood from the forest for many days. Then slowly, when the disciples were ready for higher knowledge, the guru initiated him. But now people come straight to you, and you tell them the truth as you know it. It makes them more intelligent but perhaps not enlightened. For enlightenment one needs to be empty. We do not look at emptiness from where everything comes. Our focus is to feel good by filling the emptiness with music, diya, photo of God, keertan, bhajan, satsang, talks. It feels very good when we do it and we confuse it with enlightenment. We do not want to face emptiness.
But there is a chemical change that needs to happen within you to be able to sustain that awakening experience. Sri Yukteshwargiri gave Paramhansa Yogananda a profound experience by knocking on his heart chakra. Was that a sidhhi?
Yes, it was. See, if you are ready for it, a guru can give it to you. But if you are not ready and he gives you the experience, you would not be able to handle it, and may go crazy. Sri Yukteshwargiri knew that Yogananda was capable of receiving that experience and sustaining it, since he had undergone intense training for it. He was a willing and deserving student. He knew how to handle such energy.
Are these experiences and visions necessary?
No, they are not. For experience you need to exist. Whereas in oneness there is no you and the other to have and document the experience. There is nobody over there so what experience would you have? That experience is a physical experience. All that you need to get rid of is memory, because memory creates pain. Enlightenment has nothing to do with memory. Every experience you have is a physical experience. In the now there is no memory of anything. You are not stuck with anything, because everything is. You become open to receiving.
But you cannot be open to receiving everything. You must have a sense of discrimination.
Who are you to discriminate? As long as you are discriminating you are not enlightened. For enlightenment, you need to be above all bodily senses; all you need is sakshi bhaava. There is nobody left because you are in everybody. Everybody is you, so there is no sense of discrimination. Emptiness or shunyata is a place of unconditional happiness for no reason… enjoying every moment of life as is. Happiness is the answer to all questions. I know it, but you have to taste it yourself. I can only guide you. This is something Buddhism called mindfulness. You are open to everything. You are not stuck to anything. Everything IS.
Why have you named your foundation Swarg foundation?
Swarg means a place of ultimate bliss. Everyone needs to attain this state of blissfulness where one is simply happy without any reason… living without any complaints. At Swarg we do not divide. You live with total inclusion as you are the universe and nothing is outside of you. Normally people go to gurus to get answers, but at Swarg Foundation happiness is the answer.
What is your take on the present scenario? On the one hand there are catastrophes, atrocities and excesses, and on the other there are huge shifts in consciousness.
Which one is more?
When I watch TV, I see problems, and conflicts and pain seem to dominate. In daily life however, everything appears normal and people are calmly going about their daily jobs.
Then that is more. See the problems in the world are a reflection of the conflicts within the human mind. Outer turbulence is the physical expression of inner conflict, the root cause of which is greed. Man wants to have everything his way. Everyone in this universe is living with nature except human beings. The power of higher consciousness is much more than the negativity which you see around. If we look at the world, we see that this conflict is happening only where humans live. All other beings are living in joy and harmony. Positivity is far greater than negativity, and ultimately only positivity shall prevail. The human being is destroying everything while nature is balancing everything. Those who are destroying will also get damaged. They have to go. Man must observe and learn how nature works and be in sync with it. I have great hopes of the coming times and the present generation. Look at the youngsters today, they know what they want. If they are guided well they are ready to win the world.
If the problem is with the human mind, do you think it can so easily be corrected?
If the mind is not correct who is it affecting? You only. Therefore it is up to you to correct it. All of us have choices. If the choices are not correct then we suffer from the consequences. If we do not wish to suffer we have the freedom to change the way we choose. Your thoughts will determine your diseases. Disease is the physical expression of inner conflict. For example, if you blame and curse people, you definitely will have lower back and knee problems. If you are living in stress and unhappiness it will create blood pressure, diabetes and heart problems. There are many revelations we share in our ‘Full Circle Healing’ workshops.
People may age but their thoughts don’t change. Every living cell in your body gets replaced by a new cell in a matter of few seconds. If your thoughts are the same they will affect and sicken the new cell too. Therefore, if I change my thoughts and heal the disease from the place it is coming, the new cell will stay healthy. Every disease corresponds with a particular chakra and the emotions attached to it. As you learn to address negative emotions, to forgive, give up attachment to loss and profit, give up lying, anger, and envy, you clear up your chakras and heal your body. When you don’t forgive you have cramps during periods and suffer bowel-related problem. Attachment to loss and profit affects the heart. Envy, anger and lying give rise to thyroid problems. When you live in awareness, you have none of these issues. If you want to go beyond the body then healing yourself is the first step. Once the body is healed, you can go beyond it.
Is it possible to be deeply spiritual yet highly successful?
Yes, there is nothing wrong in having a desire. Problems arise when you get attached to the desires. If you are not attached to the desires you become a visionary. The wealthiest people in the world are visionaries. They have nothing to lose. Only this attitude will create wonderful entrepreneurs. If they don’t have, they are happy, if they have, then too they are happy, because they know that they have all the power to create.
What is your spiritual mission?
I would like to help communities and people who are lost in their life journey to lead a purposeful life. My dream project is taking shape as ‘Divyalok’ a retreat for senior citizens in Pen (75 kms, from Dadar, Mumbai). I would like to be a parent to all parents, and share my unconditional love.
When God is one why do his messengers speak differently?
Right now if God will come he will speak in a language you will understand so there will be a different scripture. But then every scripture talks about the One… so they are the same. But all beliefs create a system and that system separates people and creates conflict. If I set the system aside and be with myself, do not interfere anywhere, nothing will bother me, and nothing will bother you. The purpose of the human being is to understand himself instead of the idea of God.
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