Disciple:
Pranam, Gurudev.
Guru Shyama Khyapa:
Pranam, son. Speak.
Disciple:
Greetings, friends. Today, in this episode of the mystic seeker Shyama Khapa, we are approaching Gurudev with a subject that is quite difficult to describe as a mere "topic." Actually, when we are born, we don't start with the thought that everything is "mine." Gradually, as we grow up within society, perhaps by observing our family, relatives, and friends, we begin to think in terms of "mine, mine, and mine." But today, our question to Gurudev is: is there actually anything that we can truly call "ours"?
Guru Shyama Khyapa:
Listen, what do you really have? The first question is, what is yours? Your father and your mother came together and created your physical form. They did not give you your life force (Prana). Who gave you that life force? It came from the Lord of the Universe (Vishweshwar). So, you have no personal credit there. If your mother had given you her life force, she would have died. If your father had given it, he would have died. So, where does the life force come from? That too is a gift from someone else. And your body? That is also a gift from others. So, nothing belongs to you.
Guru Shyama Khyapa:
Even when you are named, during your naming ceremony or first-rice ceremony, it is others who give you a name. You cannot name yourself. That is also provided by others. As you grow up and go to school, you are educated by others—your teachers. The knowledge being instilled in you comes from someone else. There is nothing of your own. They gave, and you received. So, education is also from others.
Guru Shyama Khyapa:
After education, you go to work. There, you earn money from others. You might expend your labor, but the money comes from someone else; it isn't yours. Even if you do business, you have to sell goods to someone else. That is also someone else's money, not yours. You may have created the product, but you must sell it to others for it to have value.
Guru Shyama Khyapa:
So, what is truly yours? Even when you die, four people will have to carry you. You cannot walk to your own cremation. What can you call your own? We have nothing. we are driven by others. We are like specific instruments. All the stages we pass through, one after another, are facilitated by others. I have nothing of my own.
Guru Shyama Khyapa:
Some people say they have talent, but even that talent must be sold to someone else. Only then will they give you money. If you sit at home with your talent, no money will come. So, talent must be given to others; that too involves someone else. Everything we enjoy belongs to others. Do you know what "others" means? It refers to that Supreme Soul (Paramatma) who sent you here with a perfect calculation. There will be no error in His calculation. He has pre-calculated everything, and you cannot do anything more than what is intended. If no one helps you, you can do nothing. We enjoy this help throughout our lives, yet we never acknowledge it.
Guru Shyama Khyapa:
I keep thinking, "I have studied, I have intelligence, I am doing this," but all of it must be sold to others. You may have created it, it may be within you, but there is no benefit if it stays with you. If you don't sell it, you won't get money. That is why I say people should think a little. If they reflect, things will become clear. If this is the situation, then what am I living for? Tell me, why am I alive?
Disciple:
Gurudev, what you said—that everything is pre-determined—is interesting. Humans are the only creatures who refuse to accept this pre-determination. This leads to constant dissatisfaction, discontent, and a desire for more. To achieve "more," they enter into an unequal competition.
Guru Shyama Khyapa:
Yes, that is exactly what is happening. You can see it everywhere.
Disciple:
The situation you are describing reminds me of a concept in Western philosophy. The famous philosopher Leibniz had a theory called the "Doctrine of Pre-established Harmony." He said the world is a pre-established harmony—a pre-set order. Your statement seems very similar to that.
Guru Shyama Khyapa:
Exactly. That is absolutely correct.
Disciple:
But we are not prepared to accept it. As a result, there is all this unrest.
Guru Shyama Khyapa:
Shakespeare said it too. He said we have come to a "stage" (the world). Everything is set. Our roles are fixed. Everything is there. We are just acting out the play. We are performing our parts. This is all pre-destined. Shakespeare said, "All the world's a stage." We come here with our roles, given by God, we play our parts, and then we leave.
Disciple:
There is another point, Gurudev. Regarding our wanting and getting, can we say: "What I want, I want by mistake; what I get, I did not want"?
Guru Shyama Khyapa:
Certainly. But man does not have the capacity to calculate that. When a person starts receiving, they no longer look back. They don't feel the need to. They just want more and more.
Disciple:
As you said, they don't acknowledge it.
Guru Shyama Khyapa:
They won't acknowledge it. If they sat down and analyzed it—if they sat in silence and accounted for what they did all day—they would understand what they gained and what they lost. They would see that they didn't get what they wanted, or perhaps they got more than they asked for. So, wanting and getting is also determined from above. That too is pre-set. You won't get a lot just because you want it, and you might receive it even without asking. It is all fixed.
Guru Shyama Khyapa:
People must understand this. If they don't, they will live and die like animals. Realization is needed—God-realization. One must accept that there is someone who is controlling all of this.
Disciple:
Nothing is truly mine.
Guru Shyama Khyapa:
What is yours? Tell me. Even the body is not yours. Education is not yours. Your name is not yours. Everything is given by others. If I keep saying "mine, mine," it won't work. The day a person reaches the state where they see "drain water" and "Ganga water" as the same, that is when the true realization of God begins.
Guru Shyama Khyapa:
If I am thirsty and I need water to survive, and there is no "pure" water, I will drink from the drain if I have to. At that moment of survival, I won't care about Ganga water or tap water. I will take whatever water I find. This is the same. People aren't realizing this, and that is why they suffer so much. The root of human suffering is this lack of realization. They think, "I am doing everything," but as I said at the beginning, they are nothing.
Disciple:
Consequently, there is the lamentation of losing things—holding onto things as "mine" and then grieving when they are gone.
Guru Shyama Khyapa:
Many great people have spoken about this. One said: "When money is lost, nothing is lost. When health is lost, something is lost. But when character is lost, everything is lost." Money comes and goes. When health fails, we feel we have lost something. But when character is lost, one loses the right to live in this world. That is why I say people should reflect on these things. They should take half an hour of quiet time to realize what they did all day. If they can settle that account, they will find their way out.
Disciple:
Friends, you heard a completely different perspective, yet one that is urgently needed for every person in today's world. In our busy lives, by constantly thinking "mine, mine," we lead ourselves into unrest and dissatisfaction. Gurudev's guidance is to reflect on the fact that none of this is actually ours. If we think about what we received, what we lost, and what our duty is, only then can we find the search for our true path.
Guru Shyama Khyapa:
Certainly. You will find it.
Spiritual Insight
Guru Shyama Khyapa's profound teaching on the illusion of possession reminds us that the root of human suffering lies in the constant claim of "mine." From our bodies to our talents, from our education to our wealth—nothing truly belongs to us. We are merely instruments through which the Divine performs His play. The path to liberation begins when we recognize this pre-established harmony and cease our futile struggle against it. True freedom comes not from accumulating, but from realizing that we are nothing—and in that nothingness, finding everything.