There are many spiritual people you know who think they have a mission. They have come to save the world. They can't even save themselves, and they're looking to save the world. The world will go on the way it's going on without your help, for or against. Leave the world alone.
There is a power and there is a presence which I like to call THE CURRENT THAT KNOWS THE WAY, that takes care of everything. It is all part of the grand illusion. And even in this illusion which appears in front of your eyes, there is a presence and a power that lifts you up. It will lift you up as high as you can allow it to. Until it lifts you up completely out of your body, out of your thoughts, out of the universe, to a completely new dimension.
There is a power and there is a presence which I like to call THE CURRENT THAT KNOWS THE WAY, that takes care of everything. It is all part of the grand illusion. And even in this illusion which appears in front of your eyes, there is a presence and a power that lifts you up. It will lift you up as high as you can allow it to. Until it lifts you up completely out of your body, out of your thoughts, out of the universe, to a completely new dimension.
You're either
doing something or
you're doing nothing.
You're either working on your freedom or you're accepting your bondage.
This is the freedom you've got.
This is the free choice you've got,
to accept your freedom,
or to accept your bondage.
This is where karma and predestination does not interfere with you.
You have the freedom to make a choice,
to go deep within,
as most of you are doing,
or just be part of this world,
which is always changing,
changing,
changing.
~ The Collected Works of Robert Adams Volume 1
doing something or
you're doing nothing.
You're either working on your freedom or you're accepting your bondage.
This is the freedom you've got.
This is the free choice you've got,
to accept your freedom,
or to accept your bondage.
This is where karma and predestination does not interfere with you.
You have the freedom to make a choice,
to go deep within,
as most of you are doing,
or just be part of this world,
which is always changing,
changing,
changing.
~ The Collected Works of Robert Adams Volume 1
Should I Take the World Seriously?
===========================
October 6, 1991
You always believe you have to look about your interests, take care of your problems, your world. And you imagine all kinds of things will happen. There's some of you have been employed for so many years, and you are always worried about being unemployed.
You believe that's the worst thing in the world that can happen to you, and it's probably the best thing that could have happen to you, for it makes you move into a new venture, into new experiences.
The truth is you can never suffer. There is nothing in this universe that can make you suffer. If you're suffering it's your mind that is telling you things about someone, or about something, or about some place, or about some condition and this is why you suffer.
You have allowed yourself to think. You're believing your thoughts. Your thoughts control you thoroughly, completely, absolutely. Your thoughts are your worst enemy.
You learn therefore to grab a hold of your thoughts, by practicing self-inquiry, or by observing your thoughts, becoming the witness to your thoughts, watching yourself think.
As you continue practicing sadhana, you’re headed towards illumination. Yet the funny thing about this is that you are already there, and there’s nothing you have to do. You always believe you have to do something. You were brought up to believe that if you do nothing you’re a lazy bum. Yet you are nothing.
Nothingness is your true nature.
You are what you’re supposed to be. Everything is predetermined as far as your body is concerned, and you're going
through those experiences that are necessary for your fulfillment and your unfoldment.
As you become wise, and you begin to understand, you no longer react to your conditioning. Fear begins to melt.
There’s no longer anything to fight. You do not have to win any points. There’s really no one you have to overcome.
There’s no situation you have to heal.
You merely have to be yourself.
Be yourself.
How do you become yourself?
By understanding that there’s one self and you are that. There is only the one self. People call it by all kinds of names, nirvana, sat-chit-ananda, absolute reality.
It's called by all kinds of names, God. It makes no difference what you call it. You have to be it. You have to be that self that has always been and will always be. You have to lift yourself up to that place where there is no world, no universe, no body, no
mind.
It really makes no difference what sadhana you practice, whether you practice Zen, or Taoism, or mystical Christianity, or Cabala. What you practice makes no difference. But what are you doing with the practice? Are you really diving deep within yourself and finding your own reality? Or are you still reading many books, going to many
lectures, becoming totally confused?
Leave the world alone. Do not try to correct the world. When I say correct the
world, I mean correct people, places or things. Everything has a tendency to balance itself. There are certain laws in
this universe that take care of itself. There’s a power and a presence that knows the way, and you are told to surrender to this power, to this presence.
Complete surrender.
Not my will, but thine.
This is the highest teaching of any system.
When you give up your ego, totally surrender, and allow the powers that be to direct you, and guide you, and take care of you and unfold as you,
everything will work out.
~ The Collected Works of Robert Adams Volume 1
===========================
October 6, 1991
You always believe you have to look about your interests, take care of your problems, your world. And you imagine all kinds of things will happen. There's some of you have been employed for so many years, and you are always worried about being unemployed.
You believe that's the worst thing in the world that can happen to you, and it's probably the best thing that could have happen to you, for it makes you move into a new venture, into new experiences.
The truth is you can never suffer. There is nothing in this universe that can make you suffer. If you're suffering it's your mind that is telling you things about someone, or about something, or about some place, or about some condition and this is why you suffer.
You have allowed yourself to think. You're believing your thoughts. Your thoughts control you thoroughly, completely, absolutely. Your thoughts are your worst enemy.
You learn therefore to grab a hold of your thoughts, by practicing self-inquiry, or by observing your thoughts, becoming the witness to your thoughts, watching yourself think.
As you continue practicing sadhana, you’re headed towards illumination. Yet the funny thing about this is that you are already there, and there’s nothing you have to do. You always believe you have to do something. You were brought up to believe that if you do nothing you’re a lazy bum. Yet you are nothing.
Nothingness is your true nature.
You are what you’re supposed to be. Everything is predetermined as far as your body is concerned, and you're going
through those experiences that are necessary for your fulfillment and your unfoldment.
As you become wise, and you begin to understand, you no longer react to your conditioning. Fear begins to melt.
There’s no longer anything to fight. You do not have to win any points. There’s really no one you have to overcome.
There’s no situation you have to heal.
You merely have to be yourself.
Be yourself.
How do you become yourself?
By understanding that there’s one self and you are that. There is only the one self. People call it by all kinds of names, nirvana, sat-chit-ananda, absolute reality.
It's called by all kinds of names, God. It makes no difference what you call it. You have to be it. You have to be that self that has always been and will always be. You have to lift yourself up to that place where there is no world, no universe, no body, no
mind.
It really makes no difference what sadhana you practice, whether you practice Zen, or Taoism, or mystical Christianity, or Cabala. What you practice makes no difference. But what are you doing with the practice? Are you really diving deep within yourself and finding your own reality? Or are you still reading many books, going to many
lectures, becoming totally confused?
Leave the world alone. Do not try to correct the world. When I say correct the
world, I mean correct people, places or things. Everything has a tendency to balance itself. There are certain laws in
this universe that take care of itself. There’s a power and a presence that knows the way, and you are told to surrender to this power, to this presence.
Complete surrender.
Not my will, but thine.
This is the highest teaching of any system.
When you give up your ego, totally surrender, and allow the powers that be to direct you, and guide you, and take care of you and unfold as you,
everything will work out.
~ The Collected Works of Robert Adams Volume 1
There is no one on this earth who does anything. The whole universe is a puppet show. We're dancing the dance of Shiva. We think we're something important. But we're really nothing as we appear. Your job is to observe, to watch, to see what's going on and not to react to anything that is happening but to stay separate from the happenings. To separate yourself from what is happening. What's happening is happening to the 'I', to the ego, not to you. Nothing can ever happen to you. For your true nature is Brahman, absolute reality, pure awareness.
There was once a holy man who died and went up to heaven. He came to the pearly gates and banged on the gate. And God came out and said, "What do you want?" And the holy man said, "I am your servant. I have come." And God came said, "Sorry, there's no room for you here. Goodbye," and left. The holy man was perplexed. He sat down in front of the gate and started to ponder. "Why didn't God let me in?" And he sat for two years thinking, "Why couldn't I get into heaven?" And finally it came to him. So he banged on the gate again and God came and said, "Who are you? What do you want?" The holy man said, "I am your servant. I have converted thousands of people on your behalf. I have preached the bible to millions. I have done good deeds. Let me in." And God said, "Sorry, I don't care what you've done, there's no room in here for you," and went away.
This time the holy man was really disturbed. He couldn't understand this. "Why won't God let me in?" he said. So he sat down in front of the gate again. Centuries passed. Remember he was dead anyway so it didn't matter. He was pondering why God didn't let him in. Then it came to him. So again he got up and he banged on the door, on the pearly gates. God came out and said, "Who are you? What do you want?" And he said, "Lord, I am your humble servant, but I must confess my sins. I have had sexual affairs with my female devotees. I have eaten meat and told people I was a vegetarian. But I confess everything to you. Can I come in now?" So God looked at him and said, "I don't care what you do, there's no room for you here." And went away.
Again the holy man said, "What is this? I've done everything I can. I'm going to sit at this gate if I have to sit here for all eternity, until I find out what the problem is." So he sat for years and century after century, pondering. "I confessed my sins to God. I confessed my good deeds to God. I want to get into heaven. Wait a minute, who is this I? Who is the I that committed sins? Who is the I that committed good deeds? Who is the I that wants to get into heaven? Who am I?" And all of a sudden he started laughing. It came to him. He rolled over in laughter and he got up and banged on the gate. And God came and said, "Who are you?" And he said, "I am yourself." And God opened the gate and said, "Come in. There never was a room here for me and you."
Source: https://lifeherenow.com/robert-adams-on-divinity/
This time the holy man was really disturbed. He couldn't understand this. "Why won't God let me in?" he said. So he sat down in front of the gate again. Centuries passed. Remember he was dead anyway so it didn't matter. He was pondering why God didn't let him in. Then it came to him. So again he got up and he banged on the door, on the pearly gates. God came out and said, "Who are you? What do you want?" And he said, "Lord, I am your humble servant, but I must confess my sins. I have had sexual affairs with my female devotees. I have eaten meat and told people I was a vegetarian. But I confess everything to you. Can I come in now?" So God looked at him and said, "I don't care what you do, there's no room for you here." And went away.
Again the holy man said, "What is this? I've done everything I can. I'm going to sit at this gate if I have to sit here for all eternity, until I find out what the problem is." So he sat for years and century after century, pondering. "I confessed my sins to God. I confessed my good deeds to God. I want to get into heaven. Wait a minute, who is this I? Who is the I that committed sins? Who is the I that committed good deeds? Who is the I that wants to get into heaven? Who am I?" And all of a sudden he started laughing. It came to him. He rolled over in laughter and he got up and banged on the gate. And God came and said, "Who are you?" And he said, "I am yourself." And God opened the gate and said, "Come in. There never was a room here for me and you."
Source: https://lifeherenow.com/robert-adams-on-divinity/
There was once a young girl who was brought up in a house of prostitution. This was her destiny, at the time. She couldn't get away from it. But she used to pray to Ramana Maharshi, "Oh Lord, if I must go this route, be with me. I'm not praying to change my life, if this is my destiny. But I'm praying that your strength and your love will always be with me."
Now across the street, there was a so called jnani, and he used to stand in front of the market place, telling everybody they're consciousness and absolute reality, preaching and screaming. This went on for years.
Finally the time came when they both died and they went before God. And God told the girl, "You have to go back to the earth, and you have to be a jnani." And he told the so called aspiring jnani," You have to go back to the earth as a snake." And the man said, "How come Lord? I extolled your virtues to everyone. I told all the people they were consciousness and they were absolute reality, and you send me back as a snake. What did I do?" And God said, "You have no heart. You come from the talking school. All you did with your life was to talk, talk, talk, talk, talk. But this girl gave me her heart. She surrendered to me. She didn't bemoan her fate. She just wanted me to be with her during her trials and tribulations. And I gave her the strength to carry on, so now she is free. But you still have a lot to learn. So you have to go back as a snake."
This makes us think. What are we really doing with our lives? We read lots of books, see lots of teachers, have a lot of head knowledge, but how many of us have given our hearts to God? And God is not far away. God is really the self. But in order to contact that self you have to have a lot of humility. To feel God’s grace means you have to surrender completely, have a lot of humility. You have to have the attitude, "I know nothing, you are everything." This kind of an attitude will set you free.
And yet, how many of us have an attitude like this? Many of us think to become a jnani, to become self-realized, we become proud, and you actually become more egotistical than you ever were before. We have a holier than thou attitude. This will never do it.
There is really no difference between a bhakta and a jnani. One surrenders to God, and they have no other life. They realize that whatever they do, it is God doing it. Therefore it’s good. They never complain. They never think of their problems. They think of others and their problems, rather than their own.
Now across the street, there was a so called jnani, and he used to stand in front of the market place, telling everybody they're consciousness and absolute reality, preaching and screaming. This went on for years.
Finally the time came when they both died and they went before God. And God told the girl, "You have to go back to the earth, and you have to be a jnani." And he told the so called aspiring jnani," You have to go back to the earth as a snake." And the man said, "How come Lord? I extolled your virtues to everyone. I told all the people they were consciousness and they were absolute reality, and you send me back as a snake. What did I do?" And God said, "You have no heart. You come from the talking school. All you did with your life was to talk, talk, talk, talk, talk. But this girl gave me her heart. She surrendered to me. She didn't bemoan her fate. She just wanted me to be with her during her trials and tribulations. And I gave her the strength to carry on, so now she is free. But you still have a lot to learn. So you have to go back as a snake."
This makes us think. What are we really doing with our lives? We read lots of books, see lots of teachers, have a lot of head knowledge, but how many of us have given our hearts to God? And God is not far away. God is really the self. But in order to contact that self you have to have a lot of humility. To feel God’s grace means you have to surrender completely, have a lot of humility. You have to have the attitude, "I know nothing, you are everything." This kind of an attitude will set you free.
And yet, how many of us have an attitude like this? Many of us think to become a jnani, to become self-realized, we become proud, and you actually become more egotistical than you ever were before. We have a holier than thou attitude. This will never do it.
There is really no difference between a bhakta and a jnani. One surrenders to God, and they have no other life. They realize that whatever they do, it is God doing it. Therefore it’s good. They never complain. They never think of their problems. They think of others and their problems, rather than their own.
There have been those few people in the world who have gone beyond birth and death. There have been those people, very few, who know the secrets, the answers to life, to the mysteries of life. Yet they can do nothing for you until you can find out yourself who you really are, what you really are, what you're all about.
For if you believe you were born you begin to accumulate knowledge, as soon as you're born. You become aware of your environment, then you become aware of other people. Your parents feed you all kinds of knowledge and all this does is expand your ego. Your ego begins to live. It's fattened up by thoughts, knowledge. Just like the body is fattened up by food. When you're about four or five years old you go play out in the street with your friends, you acquire further knowledge. You go to your particular church or school, you acquire further knowledge. And the more you grow up the more knowledge you receive. And the ego expands and expands until you believe you know something. When you believe you know something the ego has taken over completely and you become an ego. So when some of us believe there must be an answer, or this is not the answer, there must be an answer to the riddle of life, we start to give ourselves further knowledge by reading books, searching out teachers, listening to lecturers and we receive further knowledge. It appears to help but it's fooling you. The appearance is a lie.
You become intellectual, you're able to debate, you acquire more knowledge at university, you study philosophy and soon you become a walking encyclopaedia. You're now filled with knowledge, filled with relative knowledge, worldly knowledge. Has this done the world any good? Look at the precarious condition the world is in. Has all the knowledge of lawyers, politicians, doctors, indian chiefs done this world any good? Knowledge seems to be destroying this world not making it a better place in which to live. The great secret is we have to unlearn everything we've learnt if we wish to become free and liberated. No matter how many times I say this to you, you're still acquiring more knowledge, some of you. Think of the books you read recently. The news you've watched on TV. The newspapers you read. Aren't you acquiring more and more knowledge? What is this knowledge doing for you? Expanding your ego and your ego grows and grows and encompasses the whole world, the whole universe. You have complete knowledge of the universe, of the world in which you live and you think this is going to free you. Freedom comes when you're empty, when you know nothing.
For if you believe you were born you begin to accumulate knowledge, as soon as you're born. You become aware of your environment, then you become aware of other people. Your parents feed you all kinds of knowledge and all this does is expand your ego. Your ego begins to live. It's fattened up by thoughts, knowledge. Just like the body is fattened up by food. When you're about four or five years old you go play out in the street with your friends, you acquire further knowledge. You go to your particular church or school, you acquire further knowledge. And the more you grow up the more knowledge you receive. And the ego expands and expands until you believe you know something. When you believe you know something the ego has taken over completely and you become an ego. So when some of us believe there must be an answer, or this is not the answer, there must be an answer to the riddle of life, we start to give ourselves further knowledge by reading books, searching out teachers, listening to lecturers and we receive further knowledge. It appears to help but it's fooling you. The appearance is a lie.
You become intellectual, you're able to debate, you acquire more knowledge at university, you study philosophy and soon you become a walking encyclopaedia. You're now filled with knowledge, filled with relative knowledge, worldly knowledge. Has this done the world any good? Look at the precarious condition the world is in. Has all the knowledge of lawyers, politicians, doctors, indian chiefs done this world any good? Knowledge seems to be destroying this world not making it a better place in which to live. The great secret is we have to unlearn everything we've learnt if we wish to become free and liberated. No matter how many times I say this to you, you're still acquiring more knowledge, some of you. Think of the books you read recently. The news you've watched on TV. The newspapers you read. Aren't you acquiring more and more knowledge? What is this knowledge doing for you? Expanding your ego and your ego grows and grows and encompasses the whole world, the whole universe. You have complete knowledge of the universe, of the world in which you live and you think this is going to free you. Freedom comes when you're empty, when you know nothing.
When you know that you have
a short time in this existence,
you do not stop here
to play games of life,
you try to find yourself
and become free as fast as you can.
a short time in this existence,
you do not stop here
to play games of life,
you try to find yourself
and become free as fast as you can.
Sadhana simply makes you strong, mentally, physically, to be able to let go. That's all sadhana does. Sadhana never enlightens you. It makes you one-pointed, in your quest for realization. It makes you compassionate. It develops humility, power. It transcends all fear. And when you finally get to that point, the inner Guru grabs a hold of your mind, yanks it into the Heart, and you become liberated.
Q : Were you a student of Nisargadatta Maharaj?
Robert Adams : I wasn't a student of his but I was with him for a while.
Q : Are you also familiar with Jean Kline?
Robert Adams: No, I don't know her.
Q : You knew Nisargadatta frankly?
Robert Adams : I knew Nisargadatta, yes.
Q : Did you spend much time with him?
Robert Adams : Six months.
Q : Six months?
Robert Adams : Um-hm.
Q : Continuously?
Robert Adams : Yes.
Q : Was that before you went to Ramana Maharshi?
Robert Adams : No, that was after.
Q : After? What kept you there for six months?
Robert Adams : I was interested.
Q : In what?
Robert Adams : In watching his actions. I was there when Balsekar was his interpreter.
Q : Moira Patan wasn't his interpreter then? What was your conclusion after watching him in action?
Robert Adams : My conclusion is “All is well, and everything is unfolding as it should.”
* * * * * * * * * * * *
Q : Could you say something about the difference between understanding something and being that understanding? Nisargadatta would keep saying if you say you've understood,
you haven't understood.
Robert Adams: True.
Understanding something is when I am talking or you read a book and intellectually it makes a lot of sense to you.
But even if it makes sense intellectually to you,
you have not experienced that.
If you have not experienced that,
it makes no difference how long you've been reading books or
how long you've been discussing truth, or
how many classes you've gone to or
how many teachers you've had.
You have to be able to do something yourself to
have an experience of the reality.
Therefore there comes a time in our lives
when we stop reading books.
We stop running around to teacher to teacher to teacher.
We stop going and identifying with certain places in the world and running all over the world.
We become still, we go within ourselves a lot.
We have a lot of time to ourselves.
We question ourselves, we observe ourselves,
we look at ourselves and
then the Guru within you will tell you what to do,
how to do it and where to go and everything will go well with you.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Think of some of the teachers that you know or heard about.
Nisargadatta, he always prayed.
He realized that he was consciousness.
He was self-realized, but at the same time he chanted, he prayed, he had devotion.
It sounds like a contradiction.
For you may say,
"If someone is self-realized and knows himself or herself to be all there is, to whom do they pray?"
Try to remember that all spiritual life is a contradiction.
It's a contradiction because words cannot explain it.
Even when you are the Self,
you can pray to the Self, which is you.
Ramana Maharshi always had chanting at the ashram,
prayers, devotional hymns.
These things are very important.
Many westerners, who profess to be atheists, come to listen to lectures on Advaita Vedanta,
and yet nothing ever happens in their lives.
As long as you do not have devotion, faith, love, discrimination, dispassion, it will be very difficult to awaken.
Therefore those of you who become bored with practicing self-inquiry may become very devotional.
Surrender everything.
Give up your body, your thoughts, all the things that bind you,
whatever problems you may believe you have.
Surrender them to your favorite deity.
You are emptying yourself out as you do this.
Do a lot of it.
Become humble.
Have a tremendous humility.
If you can just do that you will become a favorite of God
and you'll not have to search any longer.
But of course the choice is always yours.
What are you chasing in life?
What are you going after?
What are the things that interest you?
Whatever you put first in your life, that's where your heart is.
All of the things that have transpired in your life up to now,
forget them.
Be aware all of the time that there are no mistakes.
There is nothing from the past that can interfere with your life if
you become devotional and have faith in God.
You'll be automatically protected from anything.
And if you have enough faith, you can totally remove all karmic aspects of your life.
You can transcend all of karma.
You can make life easier for yourself, if you have faith.
There are many people who practice Advaita Vedanta,
and some people are here tonight
who really do not like to hear these things.
They just want to hear me say that you are consciousness.
All is well.
You are absolute reality.
You are really not your body or your mind-phenomena.
Yet once they leave this room they turn back into their rotten selves, with all the negatives and all the anger, and all the hurts, and all the suspicions,
and all the things that they've had inside of them for years.
Robert Adams : I wasn't a student of his but I was with him for a while.
Q : Are you also familiar with Jean Kline?
Robert Adams: No, I don't know her.
Q : You knew Nisargadatta frankly?
Robert Adams : I knew Nisargadatta, yes.
Q : Did you spend much time with him?
Robert Adams : Six months.
Q : Six months?
Robert Adams : Um-hm.
Q : Continuously?
Robert Adams : Yes.
Q : Was that before you went to Ramana Maharshi?
Robert Adams : No, that was after.
Q : After? What kept you there for six months?
Robert Adams : I was interested.
Q : In what?
Robert Adams : In watching his actions. I was there when Balsekar was his interpreter.
Q : Moira Patan wasn't his interpreter then? What was your conclusion after watching him in action?
Robert Adams : My conclusion is “All is well, and everything is unfolding as it should.”
* * * * * * * * * * * *
Q : Could you say something about the difference between understanding something and being that understanding? Nisargadatta would keep saying if you say you've understood,
you haven't understood.
Robert Adams: True.
Understanding something is when I am talking or you read a book and intellectually it makes a lot of sense to you.
But even if it makes sense intellectually to you,
you have not experienced that.
If you have not experienced that,
it makes no difference how long you've been reading books or
how long you've been discussing truth, or
how many classes you've gone to or
how many teachers you've had.
You have to be able to do something yourself to
have an experience of the reality.
Therefore there comes a time in our lives
when we stop reading books.
We stop running around to teacher to teacher to teacher.
We stop going and identifying with certain places in the world and running all over the world.
We become still, we go within ourselves a lot.
We have a lot of time to ourselves.
We question ourselves, we observe ourselves,
we look at ourselves and
then the Guru within you will tell you what to do,
how to do it and where to go and everything will go well with you.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Think of some of the teachers that you know or heard about.
Nisargadatta, he always prayed.
He realized that he was consciousness.
He was self-realized, but at the same time he chanted, he prayed, he had devotion.
It sounds like a contradiction.
For you may say,
"If someone is self-realized and knows himself or herself to be all there is, to whom do they pray?"
Try to remember that all spiritual life is a contradiction.
It's a contradiction because words cannot explain it.
Even when you are the Self,
you can pray to the Self, which is you.
Ramana Maharshi always had chanting at the ashram,
prayers, devotional hymns.
These things are very important.
Many westerners, who profess to be atheists, come to listen to lectures on Advaita Vedanta,
and yet nothing ever happens in their lives.
As long as you do not have devotion, faith, love, discrimination, dispassion, it will be very difficult to awaken.
Therefore those of you who become bored with practicing self-inquiry may become very devotional.
Surrender everything.
Give up your body, your thoughts, all the things that bind you,
whatever problems you may believe you have.
Surrender them to your favorite deity.
You are emptying yourself out as you do this.
Do a lot of it.
Become humble.
Have a tremendous humility.
If you can just do that you will become a favorite of God
and you'll not have to search any longer.
But of course the choice is always yours.
What are you chasing in life?
What are you going after?
What are the things that interest you?
Whatever you put first in your life, that's where your heart is.
All of the things that have transpired in your life up to now,
forget them.
Be aware all of the time that there are no mistakes.
There is nothing from the past that can interfere with your life if
you become devotional and have faith in God.
You'll be automatically protected from anything.
And if you have enough faith, you can totally remove all karmic aspects of your life.
You can transcend all of karma.
You can make life easier for yourself, if you have faith.
There are many people who practice Advaita Vedanta,
and some people are here tonight
who really do not like to hear these things.
They just want to hear me say that you are consciousness.
All is well.
You are absolute reality.
You are really not your body or your mind-phenomena.
Yet once they leave this room they turn back into their rotten selves, with all the negatives and all the anger, and all the hurts, and all the suspicions,
and all the things that they've had inside of them for years.
Do not think you're so important that
you have to overcome a problem.
That is all you're doing
when you think you have a problem to overcome.
It makes you feel important.
I've got to solve this problem, I've got to overcome this situation.
As if 'I' is somebody important.
'I' doesn't exist.
If 'I' doesn't exist neither does your problem.
You know by now that your problem exists
because you believe in your 'I'.
When you realize 'I' does not exist everything disappears.
This is what I mean when I tell you sometimes, there are no problems, there never were any problems and
there never will be any problems.
But as soon as you begin to think there are problems.
Even while you're sitting here listening to me,
if you allow your mind to think doesn't a problem come up in your life that you're thinking about,
that you think is so important at the present time?
But if you were spontaneous and live in the eternal present,
the eternal now, forget about the past,
don't worry about the future but live in this particular second,
in this second there are no problems.
If you can only stay in this split second, no-one is hungry,
no-one is ill, no-one is in need, no-one is suffering.
As you begin to stay in that split second, this split second expands into a minute, into two minutes,
into ten minutes and as you abide in it, it turns into eternity.
You are always in that split second where nothing is happening.
Where no thing is taking place.
That split second is bliss, pure intelligence,
absolute reality and you are that.
So again, it begins when you get up in the morning.
You observe the 'I'.
You watch yourself thinking I got up, I just woke up.
But now here's the catch, do not allow the 'I' to go any further.
As soon as you watch yourself saying, "I just woke up".
Try to catch yourself and ask yourself the question,
"Who is the 'I' that just woke up?"
For in that split second prior to awakening you were in bliss,
no thoughts.
But as soon as you begin to think of the 'I',
the world comes into play.
In that split second before I came along you were awake.
Yet there was no world, there were no people,
there was no universe, there were no problems.
In that split second.
But as soon as you began to think of 'I' your troubles began.
Because you're thinking about the day, I'm hungry,
I have to take a shower.
I have to get dressed and I begins to do its mischief.
That is why it's very important to observe the 'I' coming out.
If you can really observe it you will see that the 'I' is coming out of your spiritual heart on the right side of your chest.
But a funny thing will happen.
As you observe it, it will go back, isn't that interesting?
As you observe the 'I' or as you question it,
"Where did the 'I' come from?"
It will stop.
It will stop its procedure, it will stop its journey to the brain where you become body conscious.
All these things happen in a split second.
So you have to be aware, you have to be alert, you have to watch for it.
I admit it takes some effort in the beginning but it's well worth it.
Think about this again.
Just before you awaken to the 'I',
you are already awake in that split second.
In that split second there is no world but you are awake,
you are conscious, you're totally happy, you're totally self-realized in that split second.
But then the 'I' begins its journey from the heart to the brain.
Now if you can observe the 'I' and question its authority, it will lose its momentum and slow down.
And begin to return to the heart.
If you can get it to return to the heart,
you will be conscious but you will be liberated.
You will go about your business like you always do.
You will take your shower, you will eat your breakfast,
it will all happen spontaneously.
There will be no thoughts.
The only experience you will have is total bliss.
Total happiness,
total joy and yet your body will go about it's business.
It can happen all at once or it can take time.
But it's worth the effort isn't it? Even if it takes you a lifetime,
at least you will be free at that time.
What is more important than this?
Can anything be more important than this?
This guarantees that you do not return to this earth.
It guarantees that while you are alive in your body, so-to-speak, you will be a jivan-mukta, self-realized in the body.
This is your only salvation.
But you've got to do it.
These teachings used to be handed out by the Rishis from mouth to mouth to explain it.
It is most difficult to comprehend the books.
Even though some of them are very clear...
(tape break then Robert continues)
...something within that knows what to do to make it happen.
But if you try to understand with your brain, with your head,
you will forget.
And when tomorrow morning comes you will get up
and your 'I' will take over immediately.
You will say I'm late for work, I'm in a hurry, I'm this and I'm that and you will forget everything we're talking about this evening.
But if you are listening with your heart, when tomorrow morning comes you will spontaneously be able to catch yourself.
I will repeat again how to do this.
When you first open your eyes,
in that split second you are conscious.
The 'I' has not risen yet,
but remember it's all happening in a second.
So you've got to be aware, you've got to be awake, intelligent.
Watch and you will notice that the 'I' begins very faintly and becomes stronger.
You can shout out, "Who are you?"
That's the same as saying, "Who am I?"
Who gave you permission to awaken?
Observe, watch.
The 'I' will begin to lose momentum.
The 'I' will become weaker and weaker.
The way it usually happens with people, with most people, is they're able to catch it for maybe a few seconds and then the 'I' will take over completely.
Do not be disappointed, that is the worst thing you can do.
It has taken most people years,
centuries perhaps to go all the way.
Be happy with what you've got.
But as you begin to do this practice diligently,
everyday, that split second where you observe the 'I',
will expand into a full second,
into two-seconds,
into three-seconds.
In other words for those three-seconds
you will be self-realized to an extent.
You will be conscious, period.
You will not be conscious of this or that, you will be conscious.
And you will feel something you never felt before, a joy.
You will know you're on the right track.
Then when the 'I' takes over completely you can get up and go about your business and ask yourself, "Who am I?
What is the source of the 'I'?"
During the day as the thoughts come to you, be receptive, be alert, question, "To whom do these thoughts come?"
They come to me, "Who's me?
Who am I?
What is the source of the 'I'?"
Practice that all day.
The next morning you do the same thing.
If you do this my friends I can assure you, things will begin to happen to you that you never dreamed possible.
May you all experience bliss and your true Self.
From "How Bad Do You Want To Awaken"
you have to overcome a problem.
That is all you're doing
when you think you have a problem to overcome.
It makes you feel important.
I've got to solve this problem, I've got to overcome this situation.
As if 'I' is somebody important.
'I' doesn't exist.
If 'I' doesn't exist neither does your problem.
You know by now that your problem exists
because you believe in your 'I'.
When you realize 'I' does not exist everything disappears.
This is what I mean when I tell you sometimes, there are no problems, there never were any problems and
there never will be any problems.
But as soon as you begin to think there are problems.
Even while you're sitting here listening to me,
if you allow your mind to think doesn't a problem come up in your life that you're thinking about,
that you think is so important at the present time?
But if you were spontaneous and live in the eternal present,
the eternal now, forget about the past,
don't worry about the future but live in this particular second,
in this second there are no problems.
If you can only stay in this split second, no-one is hungry,
no-one is ill, no-one is in need, no-one is suffering.
As you begin to stay in that split second, this split second expands into a minute, into two minutes,
into ten minutes and as you abide in it, it turns into eternity.
You are always in that split second where nothing is happening.
Where no thing is taking place.
That split second is bliss, pure intelligence,
absolute reality and you are that.
So again, it begins when you get up in the morning.
You observe the 'I'.
You watch yourself thinking I got up, I just woke up.
But now here's the catch, do not allow the 'I' to go any further.
As soon as you watch yourself saying, "I just woke up".
Try to catch yourself and ask yourself the question,
"Who is the 'I' that just woke up?"
For in that split second prior to awakening you were in bliss,
no thoughts.
But as soon as you begin to think of the 'I',
the world comes into play.
In that split second before I came along you were awake.
Yet there was no world, there were no people,
there was no universe, there were no problems.
In that split second.
But as soon as you began to think of 'I' your troubles began.
Because you're thinking about the day, I'm hungry,
I have to take a shower.
I have to get dressed and I begins to do its mischief.
That is why it's very important to observe the 'I' coming out.
If you can really observe it you will see that the 'I' is coming out of your spiritual heart on the right side of your chest.
But a funny thing will happen.
As you observe it, it will go back, isn't that interesting?
As you observe the 'I' or as you question it,
"Where did the 'I' come from?"
It will stop.
It will stop its procedure, it will stop its journey to the brain where you become body conscious.
All these things happen in a split second.
So you have to be aware, you have to be alert, you have to watch for it.
I admit it takes some effort in the beginning but it's well worth it.
Think about this again.
Just before you awaken to the 'I',
you are already awake in that split second.
In that split second there is no world but you are awake,
you are conscious, you're totally happy, you're totally self-realized in that split second.
But then the 'I' begins its journey from the heart to the brain.
Now if you can observe the 'I' and question its authority, it will lose its momentum and slow down.
And begin to return to the heart.
If you can get it to return to the heart,
you will be conscious but you will be liberated.
You will go about your business like you always do.
You will take your shower, you will eat your breakfast,
it will all happen spontaneously.
There will be no thoughts.
The only experience you will have is total bliss.
Total happiness,
total joy and yet your body will go about it's business.
It can happen all at once or it can take time.
But it's worth the effort isn't it? Even if it takes you a lifetime,
at least you will be free at that time.
What is more important than this?
Can anything be more important than this?
This guarantees that you do not return to this earth.
It guarantees that while you are alive in your body, so-to-speak, you will be a jivan-mukta, self-realized in the body.
This is your only salvation.
But you've got to do it.
These teachings used to be handed out by the Rishis from mouth to mouth to explain it.
It is most difficult to comprehend the books.
Even though some of them are very clear...
(tape break then Robert continues)
...something within that knows what to do to make it happen.
But if you try to understand with your brain, with your head,
you will forget.
And when tomorrow morning comes you will get up
and your 'I' will take over immediately.
You will say I'm late for work, I'm in a hurry, I'm this and I'm that and you will forget everything we're talking about this evening.
But if you are listening with your heart, when tomorrow morning comes you will spontaneously be able to catch yourself.
I will repeat again how to do this.
When you first open your eyes,
in that split second you are conscious.
The 'I' has not risen yet,
but remember it's all happening in a second.
So you've got to be aware, you've got to be awake, intelligent.
Watch and you will notice that the 'I' begins very faintly and becomes stronger.
You can shout out, "Who are you?"
That's the same as saying, "Who am I?"
Who gave you permission to awaken?
Observe, watch.
The 'I' will begin to lose momentum.
The 'I' will become weaker and weaker.
The way it usually happens with people, with most people, is they're able to catch it for maybe a few seconds and then the 'I' will take over completely.
Do not be disappointed, that is the worst thing you can do.
It has taken most people years,
centuries perhaps to go all the way.
Be happy with what you've got.
But as you begin to do this practice diligently,
everyday, that split second where you observe the 'I',
will expand into a full second,
into two-seconds,
into three-seconds.
In other words for those three-seconds
you will be self-realized to an extent.
You will be conscious, period.
You will not be conscious of this or that, you will be conscious.
And you will feel something you never felt before, a joy.
You will know you're on the right track.
Then when the 'I' takes over completely you can get up and go about your business and ask yourself, "Who am I?
What is the source of the 'I'?"
During the day as the thoughts come to you, be receptive, be alert, question, "To whom do these thoughts come?"
They come to me, "Who's me?
Who am I?
What is the source of the 'I'?"
Practice that all day.
The next morning you do the same thing.
If you do this my friends I can assure you, things will begin to happen to you that you never dreamed possible.
May you all experience bliss and your true Self.
From "How Bad Do You Want To Awaken"
At one of my experiences in India,
I was with a yogi called Neem Karoli Baba.
And one day a bunch of us,
and one of the people there was Ram Dass,
you remember Ram Dass he was there too.
We were sitting in front of him,
when an old lady came up to him and spoke in Hindi,
whatever language they were talking I forgot.
And what she said was that her husband was dying,
"Would you please come and save him,
because only you can come and save him.”
And Neem Karoli Baba looked at me
and said, "Should I go?" and
I said, "yes go, let's all go."
So we walked about two miles to a little shack and
the husband was lying on the cot dying of some kind of disease.
And he looked at him and
all of a sudden the candles began to flicker.
So he turned around and ran out the house and
started to run back to the ashram and we all followed him.
And we said when we finally stopped we said,
"Baba what happened?
Why did you leave?" and
he said, "Ah, God wants him to die," and he died.
The point is this:
your life, your health or your sickness,
your riches or your poverty
has all been preordained by the law of Karma.
And whatever you're going to go through,
you're going to go through.
If you're supposed to become a health fanatic and
watch your health and eat the right things all the time,
you will do that and if you're not supposed to, you won't.
If you're supposed to take the middle path you will do that.
Everything is ordained, planned before time.
The only freedom we've got is to not identify with the process,
even though your body's going through it.
Do not attach yourself to what your body's going through.
Keep your mind above it,
keep your head in heaven and your feet on the ground.
So we have no choice in the matter.
Whatever is going to happen will happen.
So if we have to do all kinds of things and
we find ourselves running from one doctor to another doctor
and so forth, do not attach yourself to that
but do it anyway because you can't help it.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Question : Can you try to clarify this a little more,
you've just been speaking of karma, and
yet I know that you believe that karma does not exist will you comment on that,
karma exists and karma does not exist?
Robert : Again the Buddha said,
"Karma is a taskmaster for the foolish and
the servant to the wise,"
meaning, if we in the level mentally of karma,
we will suffer and it'll become our task Master.
But if we lift our minds away from the condition and we keep our minds
on the absolute reality,
we will not suffer no matter what the body is going through.
Who suffers?
The mind, not the body, the body cannot suffer.
The body is merely a lump of flesh and bone and blood,
but it's animated by the mind, so the mind suffers and
allows the body to suffer, but the body can do nothing by itself.
So if the mind is taken away from the body something else will happen,
you'll be free.
(SA: What was the line again? Buddha's line, karma is the taskmaster for the foolish...)
...and the servant for the wise,
it's a servant because you do not pay any heed.
(SA: Control it.)
Exactly, you observe it and you do not respond.
So it becomes your servant when you do not respond to karma,
then you overcome it.
In other words if somebody becomes angry at you and you do not respond,
there is no karma, and you'll be free.
Karma again is like a person, who talks to you
and talks to you and talks to you but you say nothing.
What will that person do?
They'll get up and leave.
So when your karma sees that you're not paying any attention to it,
It dissipates and returns to the nothingness from whence it came.
Let's play some music.
Why don't you put the fan on while we're doing it?
To assure you there is a power that knows how to take care of all things if you
trust it. That power of course is you, but you don't know it.
I've been trying to get a hold of a certain picture of Ramana Maharshi for quite a
while but first I should tell you that, when I was seventeen,
I was led in mysterious ways to Arunachala, where I met Ramana.
I won't elaborate on that right now but
there was mysterious circumstances that caused that.
So going back to now, I tried to get a picture of Ramana Maharshi that I liked,
and sure enough last week George brings me the same picture as a present,
in color, that I had been looking for for a long time.
So I took it home and hung it on the wall.
But in the meanwhile I had a visitor from Hawaii.
He used to be one of my students came to see me,
he was traveling through and he brought a lae and put it around my neck.
So I took off the lei and put it around Ramana's picture,
and he said to me - after being on this path for so-called ten years or more,
he said, "I didn't know you worship gurus."
Now, he should've known better.
So I explained to him the facts. Ramana's not a guru, he is the same as my Self,
I am simply paying homage to my Self.
There is only one Self and we are all that.
So when I honor him with a lei I am doing it to me
because he is none other than my Self,
and you none other than my Self also. So it's not a guru worship,
it's bowing to your Self, praying to your Self, worshiping your Self,
because God dwells in you as you.
But this just goes to show you that there is a power that knows how to take
care of you, that loves you, that is always on your side.
It only requires one thing, surrender.
Surrender to your Self.
God, guru and Self are one,
bow down to your Self, love your Self.
When I speak of your Self I'm not referring to your ego self.
There is something about you that perhaps you're not aware of yet.
The absolute reality that we've been talking about.
It is you, that's what you worship, that is what you bow down to,
that is what you express.
Never defile your Self, by hating yourself.
Never believe there is any mistake you've made
that is going to rise up against you.
Everyone has made mistakes, forget it.
Begin to realize who you are,
begin to love yourself dearly, have mercy on yourself,
lift yourself up and become free,
any questions about that ?
From: You Must Have Your Own Experience
I was with a yogi called Neem Karoli Baba.
And one day a bunch of us,
and one of the people there was Ram Dass,
you remember Ram Dass he was there too.
We were sitting in front of him,
when an old lady came up to him and spoke in Hindi,
whatever language they were talking I forgot.
And what she said was that her husband was dying,
"Would you please come and save him,
because only you can come and save him.”
And Neem Karoli Baba looked at me
and said, "Should I go?" and
I said, "yes go, let's all go."
So we walked about two miles to a little shack and
the husband was lying on the cot dying of some kind of disease.
And he looked at him and
all of a sudden the candles began to flicker.
So he turned around and ran out the house and
started to run back to the ashram and we all followed him.
And we said when we finally stopped we said,
"Baba what happened?
Why did you leave?" and
he said, "Ah, God wants him to die," and he died.
The point is this:
your life, your health or your sickness,
your riches or your poverty
has all been preordained by the law of Karma.
And whatever you're going to go through,
you're going to go through.
If you're supposed to become a health fanatic and
watch your health and eat the right things all the time,
you will do that and if you're not supposed to, you won't.
If you're supposed to take the middle path you will do that.
Everything is ordained, planned before time.
The only freedom we've got is to not identify with the process,
even though your body's going through it.
Do not attach yourself to what your body's going through.
Keep your mind above it,
keep your head in heaven and your feet on the ground.
So we have no choice in the matter.
Whatever is going to happen will happen.
So if we have to do all kinds of things and
we find ourselves running from one doctor to another doctor
and so forth, do not attach yourself to that
but do it anyway because you can't help it.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Question : Can you try to clarify this a little more,
you've just been speaking of karma, and
yet I know that you believe that karma does not exist will you comment on that,
karma exists and karma does not exist?
Robert : Again the Buddha said,
"Karma is a taskmaster for the foolish and
the servant to the wise,"
meaning, if we in the level mentally of karma,
we will suffer and it'll become our task Master.
But if we lift our minds away from the condition and we keep our minds
on the absolute reality,
we will not suffer no matter what the body is going through.
Who suffers?
The mind, not the body, the body cannot suffer.
The body is merely a lump of flesh and bone and blood,
but it's animated by the mind, so the mind suffers and
allows the body to suffer, but the body can do nothing by itself.
So if the mind is taken away from the body something else will happen,
you'll be free.
(SA: What was the line again? Buddha's line, karma is the taskmaster for the foolish...)
...and the servant for the wise,
it's a servant because you do not pay any heed.
(SA: Control it.)
Exactly, you observe it and you do not respond.
So it becomes your servant when you do not respond to karma,
then you overcome it.
In other words if somebody becomes angry at you and you do not respond,
there is no karma, and you'll be free.
Karma again is like a person, who talks to you
and talks to you and talks to you but you say nothing.
What will that person do?
They'll get up and leave.
So when your karma sees that you're not paying any attention to it,
It dissipates and returns to the nothingness from whence it came.
Let's play some music.
Why don't you put the fan on while we're doing it?
To assure you there is a power that knows how to take care of all things if you
trust it. That power of course is you, but you don't know it.
I've been trying to get a hold of a certain picture of Ramana Maharshi for quite a
while but first I should tell you that, when I was seventeen,
I was led in mysterious ways to Arunachala, where I met Ramana.
I won't elaborate on that right now but
there was mysterious circumstances that caused that.
So going back to now, I tried to get a picture of Ramana Maharshi that I liked,
and sure enough last week George brings me the same picture as a present,
in color, that I had been looking for for a long time.
So I took it home and hung it on the wall.
But in the meanwhile I had a visitor from Hawaii.
He used to be one of my students came to see me,
he was traveling through and he brought a lae and put it around my neck.
So I took off the lei and put it around Ramana's picture,
and he said to me - after being on this path for so-called ten years or more,
he said, "I didn't know you worship gurus."
Now, he should've known better.
So I explained to him the facts. Ramana's not a guru, he is the same as my Self,
I am simply paying homage to my Self.
There is only one Self and we are all that.
So when I honor him with a lei I am doing it to me
because he is none other than my Self,
and you none other than my Self also. So it's not a guru worship,
it's bowing to your Self, praying to your Self, worshiping your Self,
because God dwells in you as you.
But this just goes to show you that there is a power that knows how to take
care of you, that loves you, that is always on your side.
It only requires one thing, surrender.
Surrender to your Self.
God, guru and Self are one,
bow down to your Self, love your Self.
When I speak of your Self I'm not referring to your ego self.
There is something about you that perhaps you're not aware of yet.
The absolute reality that we've been talking about.
It is you, that's what you worship, that is what you bow down to,
that is what you express.
Never defile your Self, by hating yourself.
Never believe there is any mistake you've made
that is going to rise up against you.
Everyone has made mistakes, forget it.
Begin to realize who you are,
begin to love yourself dearly, have mercy on yourself,
lift yourself up and become free,
any questions about that ?
From: You Must Have Your Own Experience
All of the great Sages since the beginning of time have taught basically three direct methods for self-realization.
These three methods I'm going to share the highest teachings on earth.
If you only practice these things you would need nothing else and
we will awaken and become free which we already are anyway but
you don't believe it. It behooves us to practice these three methods.
The "first" principle is being in the acquaintance of Sages in satsang.
This is the highest teaching you can get.
The "second" direct method is self-inquiry.
Self-inquiry is very important also.
But Bhagvan Sri Ramana Maharshi and other great Sages, Shankara, many Sages, manySaints, have emphasized the importance of
self-inquiry, atma-vichara. It's very easy to do.
You should practice all day and all night.
Especially if you've found a Sage
The "third" direct method is self surrender.
You can do all three of these things simultaneously you know.
You can be with a Sage, practice self-inquiry and also surrender.
This is what a true devotee does. They do all three.
Without even knowing that they're doing them.
Talk 212: Three Direct Methods - 27th December, 1992
These three methods I'm going to share the highest teachings on earth.
If you only practice these things you would need nothing else and
we will awaken and become free which we already are anyway but
you don't believe it. It behooves us to practice these three methods.
The "first" principle is being in the acquaintance of Sages in satsang.
This is the highest teaching you can get.
The "second" direct method is self-inquiry.
Self-inquiry is very important also.
But Bhagvan Sri Ramana Maharshi and other great Sages, Shankara, many Sages, manySaints, have emphasized the importance of
self-inquiry, atma-vichara. It's very easy to do.
You should practice all day and all night.
Especially if you've found a Sage
The "third" direct method is self surrender.
You can do all three of these things simultaneously you know.
You can be with a Sage, practice self-inquiry and also surrender.
This is what a true devotee does. They do all three.
Without even knowing that they're doing them.
Talk 212: Three Direct Methods - 27th December, 1992
No matter how many times I tell you this, you’re still thinking, thinking, judging, judging, coming to conclusions, trying to work out your life. You have to let go. Totally, absolutely, completely.
As long as you believe you are the body-mind phenomena
you're going to have problems.
You may feel justified in having problems.
You may feel it's not your fault.
You may feel it's karmic.
You may feel all kinds of things,
but as long as you believe or you feel the body-mind,
you will have problems,
because this is the kind of world in which we live -
a world that doesn't exist, seems real to most of us.
And if we believe we are the body-mind
then we believe the world is real and
we believe we have to pray to God for solutions.
We do all these things and we still suffer.
And suffering will only stop,
not when God answers your prayers,
but when you awaken to the truth of your own being.
Then you’re born again, so-to-speak, in a new reality and all is well.
you're going to have problems.
You may feel justified in having problems.
You may feel it's not your fault.
You may feel it's karmic.
You may feel all kinds of things,
but as long as you believe or you feel the body-mind,
you will have problems,
because this is the kind of world in which we live -
a world that doesn't exist, seems real to most of us.
And if we believe we are the body-mind
then we believe the world is real and
we believe we have to pray to God for solutions.
We do all these things and we still suffer.
And suffering will only stop,
not when God answers your prayers,
but when you awaken to the truth of your own being.
Then you’re born again, so-to-speak, in a new reality and all is well.
The only way you will ever awaken is when you are totally empty of all the learnings, of all the teachings, empty of everything.
Then there is freedom.
But as long as you have one iota of knowledge, it will keep you back.
Human knowledge is a death knell for spirituality.
All of the knowledge has to be transcended.
For a complete awakening the words have to go.
There are really no words.
As an example, self-inquiry brings you to the place where you inquire, 'Who am I?'
But it is not the 'Who am I?' that wakes you up.
It is the silence after you say, 'Who am I?' and you keep still.
Then the time comes when the stillness wakes you up and you become free.
Then there is freedom.
But as long as you have one iota of knowledge, it will keep you back.
Human knowledge is a death knell for spirituality.
All of the knowledge has to be transcended.
For a complete awakening the words have to go.
There are really no words.
As an example, self-inquiry brings you to the place where you inquire, 'Who am I?'
But it is not the 'Who am I?' that wakes you up.
It is the silence after you say, 'Who am I?' and you keep still.
Then the time comes when the stillness wakes you up and you become free.
If you refuse to wake up by my telling you to wake up then you have to do all these sadhanas you have to do all these things. Until you come to the conclusion that there is nobody doing anything. But as long as you believe you’re still a body then you have to do those things that you have to do to find out that there is no body. That’s why all is well. That is why everything is in it’s right place and everything is unfolding as it should. You are where you are because of what you are. So there are no mistakes. You simply wake up and become free.
Robert Adams: T-57, "You Have to Have Bhakti" :
S: Robert, I want to ask you a question. Is it possible to realize the Self through a Jnani without a body?
R: Yes.
S: It is?
R: Yes, it is. Because the Jnani is all-pervading. And if you focus your attention on his presence, you'll make contact, if you are sincere enough.
S: So even at a distance one could just focus on your picture for example.
R: It doesn't make any difference.
The only difference is your mind.
Your mind will tell you all sorts of stories.
But if you do not listen to your mind, then the Jnani is everywhere.
People are still getting healings from Ramana Maharshi.
And they claim that he comes into their lives and solves their problems.
For a Jnani there's no time and space.
That's been obliterated.
There is only the Self as omnipresence, so he or she is everywhere.
Of course it's up to you to exude the right energy from yourself, so you make contact.
It's just like grace.
Gods grace is everywhere, but it's up to you to make contact with it.
And of course the easiest way is through devotion, through love.
S: Robert, I want to ask you a question. Is it possible to realize the Self through a Jnani without a body?
R: Yes.
S: It is?
R: Yes, it is. Because the Jnani is all-pervading. And if you focus your attention on his presence, you'll make contact, if you are sincere enough.
S: So even at a distance one could just focus on your picture for example.
R: It doesn't make any difference.
The only difference is your mind.
Your mind will tell you all sorts of stories.
But if you do not listen to your mind, then the Jnani is everywhere.
People are still getting healings from Ramana Maharshi.
And they claim that he comes into their lives and solves their problems.
For a Jnani there's no time and space.
That's been obliterated.
There is only the Self as omnipresence, so he or she is everywhere.
Of course it's up to you to exude the right energy from yourself, so you make contact.
It's just like grace.
Gods grace is everywhere, but it's up to you to make contact with it.
And of course the easiest way is through devotion, through love.
LOVE, not physical attraction.
Not selfish desires.
Unconditional love where you put the other person in front of yourself.
This is a molecule of divine love.
Not selfish desires.
Unconditional love where you put the other person in front of yourself.
This is a molecule of divine love.
When you get on a real spiritual path, everything comes up, at a fast rate of speed.
Things may seem very bad, terrible, to some people.
It doesn't happen to everybody.
It is because you are accelerating your karma. It's all coming out of you. It's all being totally dissolved.
And then if you hold on, become still and quiet and do not react to these things, all of a sudden you will start feeling a profound peace, a profound happiness, a profound joy. You will finally feel freedom.
Things may seem very bad, terrible, to some people.
It doesn't happen to everybody.
It is because you are accelerating your karma. It's all coming out of you. It's all being totally dissolved.
And then if you hold on, become still and quiet and do not react to these things, all of a sudden you will start feeling a profound peace, a profound happiness, a profound joy. You will finally feel freedom.
Self-realization comes when you no longer think about it, when you no longer want it.
When you totally surrender to the Sage saying, not my will but thine be done.
Keeping the Sages form and face before you all the time.
The Sage realizes when you're ready, then grace comes, liberation comes, but do not think of these things.
Your job is to develop a tremendous humility.
When I speak of developing humility, I'm not speaking of you becoming a stepping stone for people.
Real humility is strength, power.
Real humility means nothing bothers you anymore.
Nothing has the power to disturb you, to upset your equilibrium.
You have a tremendous compassion.
You develop loving kindness for everything, for the mineral kingdom, for the vegetable kingdom, for the animal kingdom, for the human kingdom.
You're stepping out of your humanhood, taking a step forward in eternity.
Not comparing yourself with other people.
Not trying to do anything to anybody else.
You simply see the Sage in your heart all of the time and then you finally become the Sage yourself.
When you totally surrender to the Sage saying, not my will but thine be done.
Keeping the Sages form and face before you all the time.
The Sage realizes when you're ready, then grace comes, liberation comes, but do not think of these things.
Your job is to develop a tremendous humility.
When I speak of developing humility, I'm not speaking of you becoming a stepping stone for people.
Real humility is strength, power.
Real humility means nothing bothers you anymore.
Nothing has the power to disturb you, to upset your equilibrium.
You have a tremendous compassion.
You develop loving kindness for everything, for the mineral kingdom, for the vegetable kingdom, for the animal kingdom, for the human kingdom.
You're stepping out of your humanhood, taking a step forward in eternity.
Not comparing yourself with other people.
Not trying to do anything to anybody else.
You simply see the Sage in your heart all of the time and then you finally become the Sage yourself.
You have to kill the ego.
You kill the ego by stopping the thoughts.
You have to stop thinking, stop thinking forever.
If you investigate yourself, you will see that your true Self does not have to think.
Your real Self, which is consciousness, just is.
It is not this or that.
It is pure being.
There's no interpretation for this.
It has nothing to do with you, and your affairs and your life.
It is the substratum of all existence.
It is the background of all of your ideas, your feelings, your emotions, your beliefs.
You kill the ego by stopping the thoughts.
You have to stop thinking, stop thinking forever.
If you investigate yourself, you will see that your true Self does not have to think.
Your real Self, which is consciousness, just is.
It is not this or that.
It is pure being.
There's no interpretation for this.
It has nothing to do with you, and your affairs and your life.
It is the substratum of all existence.
It is the background of all of your ideas, your feelings, your emotions, your beliefs.
As you stop reacting to person, place or thing, as you stop judging, as you stop bothering people, as you stop asking questions, everything will unfold at a fast rate of speed.
You will find that you're already free.
So to be liberated you just have to know that you are already liberated.
And you know that you are already liberated when you have an empty mind.
When there are no thoughts going on in your mind.
When there are no questions going on in your mind.
When you're not looking for answers.
When you stop looking for anything.
You no longer care about looking, searching, seeking.
You become the epitome of compassion, of love.
You will find that you're already free.
So to be liberated you just have to know that you are already liberated.
And you know that you are already liberated when you have an empty mind.
When there are no thoughts going on in your mind.
When there are no questions going on in your mind.
When you're not looking for answers.
When you stop looking for anything.
You no longer care about looking, searching, seeking.
You become the epitome of compassion, of love.
S> Robert, how can I become more loving?
R> By understanding who you are.
By realizing you're not the person who is not loving.
That person does not exist.
By realizing you are God.
Your real nature is God, and God is all love.
The one you are referring to who is not loving does not exist.
Do not feed that person energy.
You are feeding a non-entity energy.
Do not do this.
Love is your real nature.
Love is what you really are.
Get rid of the other by not giving it power by thinking about it, by not responding to it, by not looking at it as a real person.
Lift up your eyes.
Stand up tall.
Know who you really are, and you will see that you are already love.
173 Turn Within Always - July 26, 1992
R> By understanding who you are.
By realizing you're not the person who is not loving.
That person does not exist.
By realizing you are God.
Your real nature is God, and God is all love.
The one you are referring to who is not loving does not exist.
Do not feed that person energy.
You are feeding a non-entity energy.
Do not do this.
Love is your real nature.
Love is what you really are.
Get rid of the other by not giving it power by thinking about it, by not responding to it, by not looking at it as a real person.
Lift up your eyes.
Stand up tall.
Know who you really are, and you will see that you are already love.
173 Turn Within Always - July 26, 1992
Do not try to stop anything.
Simply inquire,
"To whom does this come?"
Always go back to the inquiry.
----------
S> Continuous.
R> Continuous.
"Who thinks these thoughts?
What is their source?
To whom do all these thoughts come?"
Never let a day go by when you do not do that and as you persevere, something will begin to give, ultimately.
----------
S> It is a strange feeling or something that happens?
R> To whom is it strange?
All these things you have to inquire.
"Who has the strange feelings?
Who feels this way?
Who feels that way?
To whom does this come?"
And as you do the thoughts will come less and less.
And the space between the thoughts will expand greater and greater everyday.
70 Jnana, Siddhis and Spiritual Healings - June 16, 1991
Simply inquire,
"To whom does this come?"
Always go back to the inquiry.
----------
S> Continuous.
R> Continuous.
"Who thinks these thoughts?
What is their source?
To whom do all these thoughts come?"
Never let a day go by when you do not do that and as you persevere, something will begin to give, ultimately.
----------
S> It is a strange feeling or something that happens?
R> To whom is it strange?
All these things you have to inquire.
"Who has the strange feelings?
Who feels this way?
Who feels that way?
To whom does this come?"
And as you do the thoughts will come less and less.
And the space between the thoughts will expand greater and greater everyday.
70 Jnana, Siddhis and Spiritual Healings - June 16, 1991
And you make comparisons. You say, “I like. I don't like. It's good. It's bad.” and so forth. You've got to take control of your mind. You've got to realize your mind and your body are not your friend. They feed you the wrong information. They appear right for a while but then it becomes wrong again. Do not listen to your mind. Stop the thoughts before they get to the edge of your nose. That's all I've got to say.
Beings
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