Most people tell you they want to get out of kindergarten, but don't believe them. Don't believe them! All they want you to do is to mend their broken toys. "Give me back my wife. Give me back my job. Give me back my money. Give me back my reputation, my success." This is what they want; they want their toys replaced. That's all. Even the best psychologist will tell you that, that people don't really want to be cured. What they want is relief; a cure is painful.
In Me, the limitless ocean,
let the waves of the universe arise,
and then disappear according to their inherent nature.
I experience neither any expansion, nor any contraction.
let the waves of the universe arise,
and then disappear according to their inherent nature.
I experience neither any expansion, nor any contraction.
When you have understood that all existence, in separation and limitation, is painful, and when you are willing and able to live integrally, in oneness with all life, as pure being, you have gone beyond the need of help. You can help another by precept and example and, above all, by your being. You cannot give what you do not have and you don't have what you are not.
For a realised being the Self alone is the Reality, and actions are only phenomenal, not affecting the Self. Even when he acts he has no sense of being an agent. His actions are only involuntary and he remains a witness to them without any attachment.
An awakening experience reveals that all there IS is awake presence - no-thing and every-thing simultaneously. So therefore, the 'personality' is effectively a 'ghost construct' revealed to have no real substance. However, unless the conditioned programming (that effectively makes up this ghost construct) is explored deeply and seen for what it is, the invisible effects of this 'non-existent (!)' construct will continue to contaminate - and therefore 'haunt' all manner of experience.
I have found both freedom
and safety
in my madness;
the freedom of loneliness
and the safety
from being understood,
for those who understand us
enslave something in us.
and safety
in my madness;
the freedom of loneliness
and the safety
from being understood,
for those who understand us
enslave something in us.
The mind of the Sage is dead, it does not mean that His mental faculty is in any way impaired. If he looks at the calendar he can tell the date like any one else. It only means that the mental faculty no longer acts as the ruler of the other faculties, regretting the past, hoping, fearing, exulting.
Trust yourself. At the root, at the core, there is pure sanity, pure openness. Don’t trust what you have been taught, what you think, what you believe, what you hope. Deeper than that, trust the silence of your being.
Abhyasa [spiritual practice] consists in withdrawal within the Self every time you are disturbed by thought. It is not concentration or destruction of the mind but withdrawal into the Self.
Look. This little finger covers the eye and prevents the whole world from being seen. In the same way this small mind covers the whole universe and prevents Reality from being seen.
Thoughts are impediments to seeing your deepest nature. Don't give rise to any thought, and discover who you are. That ocean of eternal peace is you. What is the difficulty that we suffer from? It is that we seek peace elsewhere and do not experience that we are peace incarnate itself.
You say you want to find the Truth, that all you want now is freedom, but that it is so difficult. So I ask you now: Who is speaking here?
Who is speaking in your name? Is this really you?
Can it be the Truth that is saying all this?
The one that tries to get there, this voice nobody questions…
Something is saying, ‘I’m trying and I’m trying and I just can’t find It.’
But there is awareness of this voice, you see? It is seen.
At the final stages of the inquiry, these voices appear as the last bodyguards of this glass house of ego, this crystal palace. But they too, are seen.
The one that says, ‘All I want is to be that consciousness,’
and everybody goes: ‘So do we.’ Isn’t all this seen?
And where is it seen from, and by whom?
Verbal or mental answers cannot do. Answers are seen also.
Questions also are seen.
Actions are seen.
Desire is seen.
Body is seen.
The sense of stuckness is seen.
Blank is seen.
‘I’ is also seen.
I could go on and on like this.
Which means what?
You have to be evolved enough to recognise and confirm that you, the Seer, is nothing tangible, nothing phenomenal. What are you expecting to happen? What are you waiting for? Whatever that is or could be, will it be seen?
Who is speaking in your name? Is this really you?
Can it be the Truth that is saying all this?
The one that tries to get there, this voice nobody questions…
Something is saying, ‘I’m trying and I’m trying and I just can’t find It.’
But there is awareness of this voice, you see? It is seen.
At the final stages of the inquiry, these voices appear as the last bodyguards of this glass house of ego, this crystal palace. But they too, are seen.
The one that says, ‘All I want is to be that consciousness,’
and everybody goes: ‘So do we.’ Isn’t all this seen?
And where is it seen from, and by whom?
Verbal or mental answers cannot do. Answers are seen also.
Questions also are seen.
Actions are seen.
Desire is seen.
Body is seen.
The sense of stuckness is seen.
Blank is seen.
‘I’ is also seen.
I could go on and on like this.
Which means what?
You have to be evolved enough to recognise and confirm that you, the Seer, is nothing tangible, nothing phenomenal. What are you expecting to happen? What are you waiting for? Whatever that is or could be, will it be seen?
WHAT DO WE SEEK?
When I first came to Bhagavan and heard him repeating constantly that everyone must eventually come to the path of self-enquiry, I wondered whether he was being partial to his own teaching, but I soon understood why he insisted that this is so. The final goal is only oneness, and to experience oneness our mind must subside, which will happen entirely only when we attend to nothing other than ourself.
So long as we attend to anything other than ourself, our mind cannot subside, because attention to other things sustains it, since that which experiences otherness is only this mind. When the mind subsides completely, only self-attention remains, and self-attention alone is the state of absolute oneness. Bhagavan used to repeat this teaching every day, maybe ten or twenty times, but still we didn’t change. He didn’t change his teaching either, because to him this truth was so clear.
When I first came to Bhagavan and heard him repeating constantly that everyone must eventually come to the path of self-enquiry, I wondered whether he was being partial to his own teaching, but I soon understood why he insisted that this is so. The final goal is only oneness, and to experience oneness our mind must subside, which will happen entirely only when we attend to nothing other than ourself.
So long as we attend to anything other than ourself, our mind cannot subside, because attention to other things sustains it, since that which experiences otherness is only this mind. When the mind subsides completely, only self-attention remains, and self-attention alone is the state of absolute oneness. Bhagavan used to repeat this teaching every day, maybe ten or twenty times, but still we didn’t change. He didn’t change his teaching either, because to him this truth was so clear.
Human beings have a drive for security and safety, which is often what fuels the spiritual search. This very drive for security and safety is what causes so much misery and confusion. Freedom is a state of complete and absolute insecurity and not knowing. There is no security in freedom, at least not in the sense that we normally think of security. This is, of course, why it is so free: there's nothing there to grab hold of.
When you rest deeply in the Unknown without trying to escape, your experience becomes very vast. The Unknown is more vast, more open, more peaceful, and more freeing than you ever imagined it would be.
When you rest deeply in the Unknown without trying to escape, your experience becomes very vast. The Unknown is more vast, more open, more peaceful, and more freeing than you ever imagined it would be.
Peace of mind produces right values, right values produce right thoughts. Right thoughts produce right actions and right actions produce work which will be a material reflection for others to see of the serenity at the center of it all.
The one who is free is free of any intention,
even the intention of freedom.
even the intention of freedom.
Inside this new love, die.
Your way begins on the other side.
Become the sky.
Take an ax to the prison wall.
Escape. Walk out
like someone suddenly born into color.
Do it now.
You’re covered with thick cloud.
Slide out the side. Die,
and be quiet. Quietness is the surest
sign that you’ve died.
Your old life was a frantic running
from silence.
The speechless full moon comes out now.
Your way begins on the other side.
Become the sky.
Take an ax to the prison wall.
Escape. Walk out
like someone suddenly born into color.
Do it now.
You’re covered with thick cloud.
Slide out the side. Die,
and be quiet. Quietness is the surest
sign that you’ve died.
Your old life was a frantic running
from silence.
The speechless full moon comes out now.
"Help us to find God."
"No one can help you there."
"Why not?"
"For the same reason that
no one can help the fish
to find the ocean."
"No one can help you there."
"Why not?"
"For the same reason that
no one can help the fish
to find the ocean."
When you drop all your ideas, fantasies and projections about who you are and what freedom is and remain completely empty, this is freedom.
It is the hand that lifts, but you say "I lift".
The eyes see but you say, "I see".
The nose smells, but you say, "I smell".
All this is the power of the Self and yet you say, "I did it".
That power belongs to God.
Who is this ego arrogating 'I'?
He has no place in the palace, but once admitted inside, he overrules the king and affirms his own existence.
But after some enquiry, this ego's existence is easily disproved.
Then the king once again affirms, "I am Reality."
There is one thing about this condition – there is bliss.
If there are two, then there is pain.
Where there is One, there is bliss.
The eyes see but you say, "I see".
The nose smells, but you say, "I smell".
All this is the power of the Self and yet you say, "I did it".
That power belongs to God.
Who is this ego arrogating 'I'?
He has no place in the palace, but once admitted inside, he overrules the king and affirms his own existence.
But after some enquiry, this ego's existence is easily disproved.
Then the king once again affirms, "I am Reality."
There is one thing about this condition – there is bliss.
If there are two, then there is pain.
Where there is One, there is bliss.
The Supreme is the easiest to reach for it is your very being.
It is enough to stop thinking and desiring anything but the Supreme.
It is enough to stop thinking and desiring anything but the Supreme.
Everything must be scrutinized and the unnecessary ruthlessly destroyed. Believe me, there cannot be too much destruction.
For in reality nothing is of value.
Be passionately dispassionate – that is all.
For in reality nothing is of value.
Be passionately dispassionate – that is all.
The universe is a cosmic joke. It plays games with you.
It wants you to become attached to things.
You cannot possibly find yourself when you are engrossed in the world.
So you do not have to keep thinking about your affairs
and your body and the world most of the time.
You must begin to understand that you are the only one who can
dissolve the maya and awaken to the truth of your being.
You can tell where you're at by what you do all day long.
Just think about today, since you woke up this morning.
How often did you think about your higher Self.
How often did you practice self-inquiry.
How often did you surrender completely.
Not too much, you identified yourself with the worldly situation.
You identified with maya.
With things, with persons, with places and then you tell me
I want to awaken. I want to become self-realized.
Of course the truth is that you're already self-realized, you know that,
but those are just words.
What are you doing to prove it?
It wants you to become attached to things.
You cannot possibly find yourself when you are engrossed in the world.
So you do not have to keep thinking about your affairs
and your body and the world most of the time.
You must begin to understand that you are the only one who can
dissolve the maya and awaken to the truth of your being.
You can tell where you're at by what you do all day long.
Just think about today, since you woke up this morning.
How often did you think about your higher Self.
How often did you practice self-inquiry.
How often did you surrender completely.
Not too much, you identified yourself with the worldly situation.
You identified with maya.
With things, with persons, with places and then you tell me
I want to awaken. I want to become self-realized.
Of course the truth is that you're already self-realized, you know that,
but those are just words.
What are you doing to prove it?
If you just sit and observe, you will see how restless your mind is. If you try to calm it, it only makes it worse, but over time it does calm, and when it does, there’s room to hear more subtle things - that’s when your intuition starts to blossom and you start to see things more clearly and be in the present more. Your mind just slows down, and you see a tremendous expanse in the moment. You see so much more than you could see before. It’s a discipline; you have to practice it.
TRUST IN THE POWER THAT KNOWS THE WAY
You see, you live in a universe which is self-existent, self-abiding, self-sufficient. This means that all of your needs are met from within. ALL OF YOUR NEEDS ARE MET FROM WITHIN. But this will only happen when you accept it this way. If you think that your needs have to come from a person, place or thing, you’ve always get a fight on your hands because you’re hoping to get a better job or get some money in the bank or that someone will come along and help you with some problem. These are all erroneous thoughts. If you could only learn to rely on the Self, miracles would take place in your life!
If you can only learn to rely on the Self. How do you learn to rely on the Self? By trusting life. Trusting life just the way it is. I’m not saying to trust certain people, or to trust certain conditions, certain situations. I’m saying just to trust life. To trust life you go beyond people, places and things. You trust the substratum of all existence. You trust Consciousness. In other words, you feel and believe in your heart that there is a power that knows the way. You came out of it. So you’re That also. For you are It. You are that power yourself. And you feel good about it. This is what I mean when I say, trust the power that knows the way.
There’s nothing to fix in your life. Nothing to change. Nothing to accomplish. Nothing to do. Except to abide in the power that knows the way. Ifs so simple yet it’s so hard for some of us. And it’s hard because we allow the thoughts to come to us and spoil everything. You have to control your thoughts, control your thinking. When you are free from thinking, you will always abide in Consciousness, which is the power that knows the way.
And soon you’ll find yourself becoming happier and happier every day.
Peaceful. Harmonious.
What can really disturb you and make you sad, make you afraid? Only something that you think may happen to you. But if you’re living in the eternal now, if you exist this moment, and you do, in this moment is there a problem? There’s no problem in this moment. It’s only when you begin to think of tomorrow or the next week or the next week that you think of problems. But if you learn to stay centered in the moment where nothing is happening, this moment will become the next moment. And the next will become the next hour, the next day, the next week, and the next year.
You see, you live in a universe which is self-existent, self-abiding, self-sufficient. This means that all of your needs are met from within. ALL OF YOUR NEEDS ARE MET FROM WITHIN. But this will only happen when you accept it this way. If you think that your needs have to come from a person, place or thing, you’ve always get a fight on your hands because you’re hoping to get a better job or get some money in the bank or that someone will come along and help you with some problem. These are all erroneous thoughts. If you could only learn to rely on the Self, miracles would take place in your life!
If you can only learn to rely on the Self. How do you learn to rely on the Self? By trusting life. Trusting life just the way it is. I’m not saying to trust certain people, or to trust certain conditions, certain situations. I’m saying just to trust life. To trust life you go beyond people, places and things. You trust the substratum of all existence. You trust Consciousness. In other words, you feel and believe in your heart that there is a power that knows the way. You came out of it. So you’re That also. For you are It. You are that power yourself. And you feel good about it. This is what I mean when I say, trust the power that knows the way.
There’s nothing to fix in your life. Nothing to change. Nothing to accomplish. Nothing to do. Except to abide in the power that knows the way. Ifs so simple yet it’s so hard for some of us. And it’s hard because we allow the thoughts to come to us and spoil everything. You have to control your thoughts, control your thinking. When you are free from thinking, you will always abide in Consciousness, which is the power that knows the way.
And soon you’ll find yourself becoming happier and happier every day.
Peaceful. Harmonious.
What can really disturb you and make you sad, make you afraid? Only something that you think may happen to you. But if you’re living in the eternal now, if you exist this moment, and you do, in this moment is there a problem? There’s no problem in this moment. It’s only when you begin to think of tomorrow or the next week or the next week that you think of problems. But if you learn to stay centered in the moment where nothing is happening, this moment will become the next moment. And the next will become the next hour, the next day, the next week, and the next year.
When there is a hurricane, at the centre of it there is a peaceful spot.
The centre is peace.
There is nothing happening in that centre. When there is disharmony going on, anger, frustration, fear. At the centre of the anger there is peace.
At the centre of the fear there is peace.
If you can only dive in there long enough and dive past the external condition and dive into the peace.
Then you will become one with the peace and the anger will dissipate, it will be gone, it will disappear.
Due to the fact in reality the anger never existed. The fear never existed. Only the Self exists, consciousness, pure awareness. And that is at the centre of yourself and the condition.
The centre is peace.
There is nothing happening in that centre. When there is disharmony going on, anger, frustration, fear. At the centre of the anger there is peace.
At the centre of the fear there is peace.
If you can only dive in there long enough and dive past the external condition and dive into the peace.
Then you will become one with the peace and the anger will dissipate, it will be gone, it will disappear.
Due to the fact in reality the anger never existed. The fear never existed. Only the Self exists, consciousness, pure awareness. And that is at the centre of yourself and the condition.