Two Indian demons illustrate how distorted perceptions trap us: Andhakaasura is blind to God, Dhumralochan creates fog. A guru's mirror-versus-window teaching shows how internal judgment blackens our perception. The answer is acceptance of others' autonomy, unconditional action without seeking approval, and inner joy that transforms how we see the world.
There are very many interesting villains in Indian theology, and a lot of those villains have something to do with sight. There is this demon called Andhakaasura, and it literally means somebody who's blind, and not physically blind. Blind, as in Andhaka Sur could not see God when God was in front of him. He could not understand the value of what he had, so much so that he went to war with God himself. Such a person we will call a moron. Why a moron? Because logically it doesn't make sense. How can you fight with God? God is God and you are you. But that is why the moronic attitude that I am blind. I cannot even see my own fallacy. I cannot even see my own ego, and my ego becomes my reality. Another very interesting demon is Dhumralochan. Dhumralochan literally means fog in front of eyes. Now this demon was another demon, and when he would come and he would attack, he would use the fog of war, meaning you couldn't understand what is happening because you are blinded. And each time you look at these stories, you look at Dhoomralochan, you look at Andhakasura, and many such demons— I won't do such a big data dump on you right now of Indian theology, but each time it is about not understanding the true nature of reality. Each time the demon is somebody who has taken his own perception and make it his own personal reality, which is separate from what is tangibly real. And why I'm sharing this with you? Because a lot of young people who are learning meditation sometimes ask me how can they validate themselves with somebody else's love. And their question is always, why can't they see me for who I really am? Why can't they love me for what I really am? And I really want them to see my nature. I've done so many things for them and they don't see it. They don't value it. And it is to those young people I want to say that nobody can ever validate you. In fact, nobody will actually ever see you for who you really are. My Guru, my great teacher, Dr. Avadhoota Shivananth, once showed me a mirror and he said to me, son, a mirror is made up of glass and a window is made up of glass. And what is the difference between a mirror and a window is, even though they both are glass, He said, you take glass and you paint one side black, then that glass becomes a mirror. No matter how much you try to see through it, you can't see through it. When you look at a mirror, what will you see? You will look at your own face. For the glass to become a window from a mirror, you have to clean both the sides. Only then you can see through the glass to the real beauty that the world holds. And my guru taught me this because he was trying to tell me that all of us, all human beings, we are like that glass, but the internal side of our mind is painted black. Painted black by our own judgments, painted black by our own insecurities, painted black by our own traumatic experiences. And because a side of ourself is painted black, then even when we are seeing at the world, we are not looking through the window, we are looking at a mirror, and what we see is a version of our own selves. A negative person will only see negativity. A pessimist will find reasons to be a pessimist. An angry person will find reasons to be angry. It is like the social media AI. Whatever videos you click, the same videos will be recommended to you again and again. And an angry person will find reasons to be angry. And if you go to a world that is filled with mirrors and say, why don't you see me? How How can they see you? They are so busy with their own selves, and it is not your falling, it is not your shortcoming. You don't have to burn yourself at both hands and then feel bad that I did so much, they didn't see me. It is not your fault. For a person to see you, first they have to work on themselves, which most of the population is not willing to do. They have to go in, they have to meditate, they have to resolve their own issues, they have to clean their own glass, they have to make their mirror into a window. And a lot of work goes to do this. And you think in today's world people have so much time to do so much of internal work? Sometimes they do, sometimes, most of the times, in fact, generally, usually, they don't have that time to do that work. So at that time, what do you have to understand? You have to understand that you will learn a few things in life, and if you can learn them, you will feel so much better. The first thing that you will have to learn is acceptance. Acceptance that every single person is their own self. Acceptance that you are unique and everybody else is unique, and everybody has the right to have their own thoughts, their own awareness, and it is not your job to convince them of the empirical truth. The second thing you have to learn is to be unconditional, meaning you do what you are supposed to do not because you want to convince somebody to love you, not because it is a transaction. You do it because it makes you happy. Do good not because it is a transaction. Do good because that's who you are. And if people see you, if they acknowledge you, fine. If they don't, fine. Look at the sun. The sun doesn't need validation or acknowledgement. The flower doesn't need acknowledgement and validation. The flowing river, the falling rain doesn't need acknowledgement and validation. So the first thing, acceptance. Accept that the world is filled with mirrors and windows and glass, and it is what it is. Second, unconditional. And then the third, joy. But the joy that I'm talking about is not the external joy. The joy I'm talking about is the internal joy that we like to call Samadhi. Samadhi means the power to go inside and awaken the bliss through meditation. Samadhi means you have become a mirror. So you work on yourself, purify, and become a window. And when you are that window, you look inside and you see cosmos, and you find joy in that. What the ancients like to call Aham Brahmasmi. And Aham Brahmasmi means I am the whole universe. I am the microcosm of the universe. And if I look inside me, I have all the answers. I have all the power, I have all the potential, and all I need to do is look inside myself for the strength, the power, the courage that I need. So the first thing that we try to learn is acceptance. The second thing, unconditional, doing the right thing, not because It is a currency to get favor from someone, but it is the right thing to do. And the third thing, Samadhi, bliss. Going inside through meditation and finding that joy. And if you can do that, your relationships will be much better. For then you can be an inspiration that will change the mirrors around you into windows, and maybe one day they can see you as you can see them. And I hope through you, you can inspire many people's journey. So thank you, bless you, namaste.
