andhaṁ tamaḥ praviśanti ye’avidyām upāsate |

tato bhūya iva te tamo yau vidyāyāṁ ratāḥ || 9 ||

Those who worship avidyā, the ignorance that veils the true knowledge of Truth, Consciousness, enter into blinding darkness characterized by the absence of perception; but into greater darkness of ignorance than that, enter they who, considering themselves as scholarly and learned, are engaged in vidyā, the incomplete knowledge acquired for vested interests characterized by the impure perception of Truth, Consciousness.

Listen. These two concepts you need to understand. One, those who worship ignorance, the initial level seekers get into a kind of a tiredness, boredom, unable to move further, don’t care attitude about ignorance. This is one group.

There is another group, little advanced level seekers, but, after certain amount of time, listen, please listen, when you spent time with certain concepts and don’t align your life to those concepts, you will feel acquaintance with that concepts. Intellectually, but not experientially. Familiarity always breeds contempt, even with the idea you are the consciousness, if you are acquainted, means if you are having exposure to that idea, you are thinking about it quite a long time, but you never made that as your cognition, you never transformed your Life, you never aligned your life to the truth, then slowly, slowly, slowly, you think what you living what you are doing is much better than common men, normal people who don’t even know they are Consciousness.

So with this justification, the worship of imperfect knowledge, the incomplete knowledge, starts, the danger is by now, you know how to manipulate others, how to be a half-guru, all your neighborhood gurus are formed like this only; each neighborhood will have one guru, in India, each street will have one Jagat guru. You can ask him “why are you calling yourself as Jagat Guru?”, “No, I have one disciple I have named as Jagat, so I am Guru of Jagat  so I am Jagat Guru.”

Listen, all your neighborhood Gurus are in this space, in this mood. Please understand, the impure perception of Truth, Consciousness, incomplete knowledge, which is the problem of advanced seekers, is more dangerous than the initial level problem of initial level seekers, which is the ‘don’t care attitude towards ignorance, or, tiredness and boredom. See, these advanced level seekers who worship knowledge but which is incomplete, they won’t have tiredness or boredom, they will be very active, but in the wrong direction. Enjoy knowledge for the sake of knowledge, celebrate knowledge for the sake of knowledge, celebrate power and energy for the sake of power and energy; don’t use power to manipulate others, don’t use knowledge to make money, please understand. I am not saying don’t accept salary for your contribution, I am not saying don’t earn for your livelihood, all I am saying, mentally don’t have the disease of equating your knowledge to wealth, it’s a mental disorder. Please understand, actually I was planning to write a book, as per the cosmic law what all is a mental disorder and physical disorder. Most of your physical disorders are not at all disorder  in cosmic law; most of your mental disorders are not at all disorders in cosmic law. Actual disorders still your psychiatric field, your mental disorder field doctors, researchers  are not able to smell. Your researchers, scientists, are still not able to smell what is the real mental disorders. Psychological disorders.

One of the biggest mental disorder is unable to sit with yourself. Understand, just learning the concept, not making it as part of your cognition, is the most dangerous. I’ll tell you a story from one of the great master, architect of Hinduism, today whatever you know as Hinduism is there the way it is, available, only because of one person who is born today: Adi Shankaracharya. Today, His 1227th birth anniversary of Adi Shankaracharya.

There was a beautiful incident in His life, one day he was walking with his disciples, his sthalayatra (sacred travel to energy-centers), suddenly he felt thirsty, and no water was found in that area, only one guy was having a village arak, you call it thodi (village liquor).

Shankaracharya went straight to that village and said, “can you give me a little, I am feeling thirsty”

The villager readily agreed and He drank. The disciples could not understand, “what is this?  Acharya?” Then they decided, “when you can drink, why not us?” They also drank, after that Shankaracharya was walking very steadily, stably, but not these disciples.

Now Acharya thought this is the time that we need to educate these fellows, and we also need to show the difference between the people who made, I am the Consciousness as a cognition and I am the Consciousness as acquired acquaintance, not cognition.

So after some time, maybe a few days later, again He felt very thirsty, looked around, no water source, not even a village arak, only one guy was melting iron and pouring into the mould, the metal workshop. He walked straight into the workshop and asked that guy can you give me a little, that fellow was shocked and asked why; no, you don’t bother about that.

He asked to pour the whole metal into his hand, and drank, like how you will drink the cold water from the well or a lake.

And then he just looked back, the disciples eyes have already come out, and he just told them, “please drink.” That is all, they were all shaken. Shankara just made only one statement, “Why you guys can follow when I was drinking arak, not now.” Of course, neither disciples drank nor Acharya forced them to drink.

Understand the truth, the moral of the story, acquaintance, just hearing these words, not making it as part of your cognition, will make you feel, will give you pseudo satisfaction as if you know it is truth; that is the most dangerous, please listen.

That is why I tell you, before initiation the disciple need to be prepared, the moment you are initiated, you should just follow the truth.

Pain is such self destructive mechanism, will not allow you to reinvent yourself with any new concepts and strategies. Please understand. All the spiritual truths expressed in these Upanishads, like you are the Consciousness, you are untouched, never come and go, you are the source of action result, all these are highest possible strategies for your life. Knowing them but not living them, knowing them but not living them, listen, knowing them but not living them makes you feel that as if you are already living them, that is what is incomplete knowledge. Listen. That is what is incomplete knowledge.

How much ever you may know about yoga, unless you DO, you won’t have the result. How much ever you may know about swimming, unless you start swimming you will not have the result. How much ever you may know about surgery, unless you do it, you don’t know what it is. Please listen, knowing but not doing, the non-practice, non-practice, that’s the most difficult mental setup, once you acquire that, your whole life is gone. Please understand, listening to the concept but not living them, listening to the truths but not living them, is the most dangerous. That is the most dangerous.

Because once that mental setup comes to you, anything you know how to brush it aside, like if you watch an advertisement on the TV, “Call now, call now, call now,” how you don’t even care and change the channel, you will develop same attitude even towards Upanishads; when Upanishads say, “You are Consciousness, You are Consciousness, You are Consciousness,” start living, actually by ninth verse, they are raising their pitch and saying, “call now, call now, call now, don’t get doomed!”