Where are you coming from?
Where are you coming from?
What is going on inside of yourself?
You say,
I want to be enlightened.
I want to be self-realized.
I want to awaken.
I've been with Robert for two days now and I haven't awakened yet.
It's time to find another teacher.
There is no time.
Forget about time.
Have no reason for coming here.
Just be here.
If you have a purpose you will always be disappointed.
If you have no purpose you are already awake.
Where are you coming from?
What is going on inside of yourself?
You say,
I want to be enlightened.
I want to be self-realized.
I want to awaken.
I've been with Robert for two days now and I haven't awakened yet.
It's time to find another teacher.
There is no time.
Forget about time.
Have no reason for coming here.
Just be here.
If you have a purpose you will always be disappointed.
If you have no purpose you are already awake.
Never Judge Yourself
The worst thing you could ever do is to judge yourself.
Never judge yourself.
Don't even look at yourself too much.
Realize your divine nature and do not allow your problems to get to you.
Understand that you are not your problems.
You are not the body.
You're not the thoughts or the mind.
And begin by controlling your thoughts. Do not allow your thoughts to become greater than you.
No matter what your thoughts tell you, don't listen.
Remember your thoughts are not your friend.
Your thoughts try to confound you, confuse you. And they will tell you all kinds of things.
Do not listen to your thoughts, even your good thoughts.
Transcend everything, go beyond your thoughts to your bliss, to your joy and to your happiness.
Your thoughts will take you away from this. It'll make you think all sorts of things.
But if you realize that your mind is a trickster, you will not allow your thoughts to convey any message to you at all.
As soon as the thoughts start to come, you ask yourself the question, "To whom comes these thoughts?" and they'll stop.
"They come to me, well who is this me? Who is me? I am me. Well, who am I?"
And you begin to search for the source of the 'I'.
And as you search, everything in your life begins to improve.
As you search diligently, things improve because you're no longer reacting the same way to situations.
Your reaction has become different, the situations maybe the same.
The worst thing you could ever do is to judge yourself.
Never judge yourself.
Don't even look at yourself too much.
Realize your divine nature and do not allow your problems to get to you.
Understand that you are not your problems.
You are not the body.
You're not the thoughts or the mind.
And begin by controlling your thoughts. Do not allow your thoughts to become greater than you.
No matter what your thoughts tell you, don't listen.
Remember your thoughts are not your friend.
Your thoughts try to confound you, confuse you. And they will tell you all kinds of things.
Do not listen to your thoughts, even your good thoughts.
Transcend everything, go beyond your thoughts to your bliss, to your joy and to your happiness.
Your thoughts will take you away from this. It'll make you think all sorts of things.
But if you realize that your mind is a trickster, you will not allow your thoughts to convey any message to you at all.
As soon as the thoughts start to come, you ask yourself the question, "To whom comes these thoughts?" and they'll stop.
"They come to me, well who is this me? Who is me? I am me. Well, who am I?"
And you begin to search for the source of the 'I'.
And as you search, everything in your life begins to improve.
As you search diligently, things improve because you're no longer reacting the same way to situations.
Your reaction has become different, the situations maybe the same.
As we sat in silence, what thoughts came into mind? Whatever thoughts there were, good or bad, they have got to go. Even if you were thinking, what a wonderful Satsang, that has got to go. All thoughts must go. Your wonderful Satsang will not bring you realization. Emptiness will.
If you realize the reason why you came you'll be interested in one thing, awakening. And that will dominate your life. Nothing else will. You will not be concerned with what somebody else is doing, and you will be at peace with yourself and everybody else. Everything is preordained anyway. Everything is karmic. So what's going to happen will happen, whether you like it or not. So why get insulted. Why get your feelings hurt. Be at peace.
You must go to the root. The root is the ‘I-thought’. Question it by enquiring as to the source of this concept: “To whom does these questions appear?” “To me” “Who am I? Who is this me? Where does this idea come from?” Do not look for an answer. Only ask the question with patience whenever thoughts arise. This serves to quiet the restless mind. As you do this in a relaxed, alert way, you will notice that the space between the thoughts gets larger. Be aware of this space between your thoughts. That is your true nature, spotless, formless, pure Awareness. It shines like the sun; only clouds of thoughts seem to obscure it.
What do you want to be when you grow up? (Robert's childhood)
When I was twelve years old I used to ask my mother, “What am I doing here? I don’t belong here. Why am I here?” And my mother used to say, “You’re here to be like everybody else, to get a job, to have a profession. To go into this world and make something out of yourself”. And she used to retaliate, “Do you know what you want to be when you grow up?” I used to say, “Nothing”. (laughter) I don’t think that I knew what I was talking about at that time.
But anyway after a while she thought that we should go see uncle Louie. (laughter) Uncle Louie was a physician. And she told him what I was saying, what I was doing. So he said, “I’ll take care of this”. He gave me a physical examination, everything was fine. And again he asked me, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” I told him, “I don’t care what I am when I grow up I just want to know what I’m doing here? What am I doing here?” And he asked, “You mean on this earth?” So I said, “No in this body? What am I doing in this body? I feel like I’m in prison. I feel as if I’m confined to something”. So he looked at me and said something to my mother about a psychiatrist. (laughter)
And the next day my mother took me to see a lady psychiatrist. She was a German lady from Austria. Her name was Sonya Leichenstein or Leichenstine. My mum told her the story. What I’ve been doing and she took me into her office. There was a nice couch there I was lying down on. I enjoyed it. She asked me, “So you don’t think you are the body? You think you’re someone else?” And she giggled, “You know Freud used to think the same thing”. So I said, “Who was Freud?” She said, “Never mind”. (laughter) Again she asked me, “What do you want to be when you grow up”, and I asked her, “why is everybody asking me this question? There is really nothing I care to be when I grow up at all. I just feel confined to my body. I feel as if I’m in prison. I don’t belong here”. So she said, “Don’t worry about that I will get the little man out of here out of your body. There is a little man in your body that has to come out and we will work on this”.
So I went to see her every Friday. I loved it due to the fact that my mother gave me some extra money and I would not have to go to school that day or half a day at school. And I was able to ride on the bus. I really enjoyed those times. I went to her for about six months. She finally called my mother and recommended another psychiatrist, a man. These people kept on asking me, “What do I want to be when I grow up?” So I went to see this man. He was a different psychiatrist. I really enjoyed going to him also. Finally I got it. And one day he asked me, “Robert do you know what you want to be when you grow up?” I said, “Yes I want to be a neurotic”. (students laugh) And that was the end of my visits with psychiatrists.
Q: You were cured.
Robert continues: Now what does all of this have to do with our talk today? Absolutely nothing. (laughter) What is the moral of this story? It has no moral whatsoever. Just something I thought I’d throw in.
Robert Adams
What If I Don’t Awaken Before My Death? – October 4, 1992
When I was twelve years old I used to ask my mother, “What am I doing here? I don’t belong here. Why am I here?” And my mother used to say, “You’re here to be like everybody else, to get a job, to have a profession. To go into this world and make something out of yourself”. And she used to retaliate, “Do you know what you want to be when you grow up?” I used to say, “Nothing”. (laughter) I don’t think that I knew what I was talking about at that time.
But anyway after a while she thought that we should go see uncle Louie. (laughter) Uncle Louie was a physician. And she told him what I was saying, what I was doing. So he said, “I’ll take care of this”. He gave me a physical examination, everything was fine. And again he asked me, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” I told him, “I don’t care what I am when I grow up I just want to know what I’m doing here? What am I doing here?” And he asked, “You mean on this earth?” So I said, “No in this body? What am I doing in this body? I feel like I’m in prison. I feel as if I’m confined to something”. So he looked at me and said something to my mother about a psychiatrist. (laughter)
And the next day my mother took me to see a lady psychiatrist. She was a German lady from Austria. Her name was Sonya Leichenstein or Leichenstine. My mum told her the story. What I’ve been doing and she took me into her office. There was a nice couch there I was lying down on. I enjoyed it. She asked me, “So you don’t think you are the body? You think you’re someone else?” And she giggled, “You know Freud used to think the same thing”. So I said, “Who was Freud?” She said, “Never mind”. (laughter) Again she asked me, “What do you want to be when you grow up”, and I asked her, “why is everybody asking me this question? There is really nothing I care to be when I grow up at all. I just feel confined to my body. I feel as if I’m in prison. I don’t belong here”. So she said, “Don’t worry about that I will get the little man out of here out of your body. There is a little man in your body that has to come out and we will work on this”.
So I went to see her every Friday. I loved it due to the fact that my mother gave me some extra money and I would not have to go to school that day or half a day at school. And I was able to ride on the bus. I really enjoyed those times. I went to her for about six months. She finally called my mother and recommended another psychiatrist, a man. These people kept on asking me, “What do I want to be when I grow up?” So I went to see this man. He was a different psychiatrist. I really enjoyed going to him also. Finally I got it. And one day he asked me, “Robert do you know what you want to be when you grow up?” I said, “Yes I want to be a neurotic”. (students laugh) And that was the end of my visits with psychiatrists.
Q: You were cured.
Robert continues: Now what does all of this have to do with our talk today? Absolutely nothing. (laughter) What is the moral of this story? It has no moral whatsoever. Just something I thought I’d throw in.
Robert Adams
What If I Don’t Awaken Before My Death? – October 4, 1992
All of your desires, all of your needs, all of your wants are already within you, waiting to be fulfilled and expressed.
- Ponder this.
All of the Masters, the teachers, the Saints, the Sages that you have worshipped all of your life, whether it's Buddha, Christ, Muhammad, Moses, whomever, have always been within you, waiting to be expressed.
- Ponder this.
The only problem you have, that does not allow these Sages, your desires, your wants to be expressed through you, is your noisy mind.
- Ponder this.
Whatever you see in your life right now, good or bad, is a result of your thoughts and your belief.
It has no other reality.
It is not permanent.
- Ponder this.
- Ponder this.
All of the Masters, the teachers, the Saints, the Sages that you have worshipped all of your life, whether it's Buddha, Christ, Muhammad, Moses, whomever, have always been within you, waiting to be expressed.
- Ponder this.
The only problem you have, that does not allow these Sages, your desires, your wants to be expressed through you, is your noisy mind.
- Ponder this.
Whatever you see in your life right now, good or bad, is a result of your thoughts and your belief.
It has no other reality.
It is not permanent.
- Ponder this.
I am Brahman.
When I make a statement like that, I’m not speaking about Robert.
I am encompasses all of you.
I am, is Brahman.
Therefore when you admit to yourself that you are Brahman, you are saying that you're the whole universe.
And something has to give.
You really don't know what you're saying, you don't understand what you're saying.
Say this to yourself.
See how it feels,
I am Brahman.
I am Brahman".
You are declaring the highest truth in history, the highest truth in the world.
There is nothing that comes after that.
There is absolutely nothing to say after that.
When you make the declaration, "I am Brahman".
Those are mighty words.
The whole universe is Brahman.
Yet what we call Brahman is not a thing, not a place.
It is complete emptiness.
So when you say, "I am Brahman", you're saying you're emptiness.
Feel this in every bone in your body, if you have any bones in your body.
When I make a statement like that, I’m not speaking about Robert.
I am encompasses all of you.
I am, is Brahman.
Therefore when you admit to yourself that you are Brahman, you are saying that you're the whole universe.
And something has to give.
You really don't know what you're saying, you don't understand what you're saying.
Say this to yourself.
See how it feels,
I am Brahman.
I am Brahman".
You are declaring the highest truth in history, the highest truth in the world.
There is nothing that comes after that.
There is absolutely nothing to say after that.
When you make the declaration, "I am Brahman".
Those are mighty words.
The whole universe is Brahman.
Yet what we call Brahman is not a thing, not a place.
It is complete emptiness.
So when you say, "I am Brahman", you're saying you're emptiness.
Feel this in every bone in your body, if you have any bones in your body.
All you really have to do is understand what I am talking about.
Ponder what I say.
And then forget it.
Do not hold on to thoughts, to words, to messages.
Ponder what I say.
And then forget it.
Do not hold on to thoughts, to words, to messages.
Now what happens when you become liberated? When you awaken to your Self? You have unalloyed happiness, total peace, unfathomable joy, infinite love.
These are all attributes to awakening.
Therefore, develop these if you want to awaken.
For you will feel beautiful, wonderful all over and nothing will ever spoil it.
In other words, if you awaken, you will not react any longer to the television, to the newspaper, to the people, what they say or think.
When you awaken, you will know that all is well! All is exceedingly well in every area of your life.
And your life will be the life of the universe.
There will be no difference between you and the universe! Basically this is the reason why people come to Satsang, to awaken!
You have read the books.
You realize there's a world of beauty, a world of joy, a world of love that interpenetrates this world.
That brings you total happiness always, total peace that never changes.
Whereas, now in the world that you're living in, so it appears, certain things make you happy.
Certain things make you sad.
You react to what the world gives you, how the world treats you, you react to that.
So you're never really happy all the time.
You never really have peace all the time.
Your peace and your happiness is determined by what's going on in your life.
Whereas, to an awakened being what's going on in your life doesn't matter at all.
You're deliriously happy all the time! Whether they throw you to the lions, or you win the lotto, or your body is cut to pieces, or you have the healthiest body in the world, it makes no difference, for you're totally peaceful all the time! You're totally happy all the time! This is the reason why you want to be happy for you realize being happy feels wonderful.
Therefore, these are valid reasons to be happy.
But you don't want the happiness to end.
You want it to be forever.
This is what Satsang is all about.
This is why we're here, to experience unalloyed happiness.
To experience total peace, total joy!
Now, the main obstacle that keeps you from experiencing this joy and this happiness that I'm talking about is attachment to person, place and thing.
It is this attachment that makes you earthbound.
It keeps you reincarnating over and over again, so it appears, on this earth plane.
For if you're attached, you believe you are a body and a mind.
When you believe you're a body and a mind you're going to experience all kinds of things in this world.
You'll experience worldly things and become attached to these things.
You will believe that somebody, some place can make you happy.
Somebody, some place can make you miserable.
You will believe that if you attain this, you'll be the happiest person on earth and if you do not attain it, you will be miserable all the time.
You believe if you can only have this person in your life, you'll be the happiest person on earth.
But when this person comes into your life after a while you'll wish he never did.
Because he'll make you miserable! And so it is on this plane.
So learn to be detached!
A good example of detachment is this: Let’s say you have a dream.
In that dream you are a little person and you grow up.
You get married and you buy a brand new home.
You buy a brand new car.
You have three children and they grow up.
And you live a relatively good life.
And then you awaken from the dream.
Let me ask you, how long are you attached to your children of the dream before you forget about them? How long are you attached to your wife or husband of the dream before you forget about them? How long are you attached to your car and house? And anything else that you worked so hard to get in the dream, before you forget about them? A couple of seconds? A minute? An hour? It’s usually minutes, you forget all about the dream.
This is detachment.
If for some reason you did not forget about the dream people and the dream experiences, you wouldn't be able to function.
You'd be living in two worlds! You'd be living in the dream world and this world and you'd think they're both real.
So your nature makes you forget about the dream.
You have enough problems to handle in this world.
Imagine if all your dreams were on your mind all the time as if they were real! And so you become detached from the dream quickly.
Now you're done with this world called the earthly plane.
In this world you believe everything to be real also! And you do the same thing.
You grow up.
You elicit the things that you want to make you happy.
You want to meet the right person to get married to and you become attached to these things.
This is the problem, you become attached to person, place and thing.
This is the only problem that you have.
Now, I'm not saying to be totally detached so that you have no feelings, no love, I’m not saying this at all.
So being detached is totally different from what you think it is.
To be detached means you no longer feel an affinity to hold on to things.
You no longer have the necessity to own things.
To hold on to them.
You're free from this.
The more spiritual you become, the freer you become.
For you no longer have to obtain things, have things to make you happy.
You leave things alone.
You are no longer obsessed with people, places and things.
But you have a great compassion and love for every body and everything.
But you're not attached!
In other words, when you're with another person, you love that person.
But you're not obsessed with them.
You don't own them.
You give them freedom to express themselves, yet you love.
And if the person ever leaves, the love is still there.
It didn't go anywhere, for you are love itself! If you understand what this love means, it can't come or go depending on person, place or thing.
For love is always there because that's what you are.
The attachment is gone.
So, if your mate wants to leave you, or your car is stolen, or your house burns down, this does not affect you one iota.
For something deep within your heart tells you all is well.
There are no mistakes! You're no longer hurt-able.
You can't be hurt by any body, no matter what they do.
This is true detachment.
In other words, you can own things and not own them.
You can have certain people in your life and not have them in your life.
You can live in certain areas of this world and not live in certain areas of this world, it’s all the same.
There is no difference.
Your life will not depend on external things or internal things.
Think of what it means to live this way, how wonderful you will feel all the time.
You'll never depend on people again for anything, yet you love people.
It doesn't mean that you become sarcastic, obnoxious.
It means that you become a loving being, an understanding being, a compassionate being.
You leave things alone and you leave people alone.
You turn within yourself.
And all the answers are within yourself.
All the answers that you've been looking for, everything that you've been looking for is within yourself! You will learn to depend on the Self for everything.
Yet, you cooperate with people.
You cooperate with the world, but you understand in your heart that the world is a passing show, a passing fantasy.
Nothing is ever the same.
These are all attributes to awakening.
Therefore, develop these if you want to awaken.
For you will feel beautiful, wonderful all over and nothing will ever spoil it.
In other words, if you awaken, you will not react any longer to the television, to the newspaper, to the people, what they say or think.
When you awaken, you will know that all is well! All is exceedingly well in every area of your life.
And your life will be the life of the universe.
There will be no difference between you and the universe! Basically this is the reason why people come to Satsang, to awaken!
You have read the books.
You realize there's a world of beauty, a world of joy, a world of love that interpenetrates this world.
That brings you total happiness always, total peace that never changes.
Whereas, now in the world that you're living in, so it appears, certain things make you happy.
Certain things make you sad.
You react to what the world gives you, how the world treats you, you react to that.
So you're never really happy all the time.
You never really have peace all the time.
Your peace and your happiness is determined by what's going on in your life.
Whereas, to an awakened being what's going on in your life doesn't matter at all.
You're deliriously happy all the time! Whether they throw you to the lions, or you win the lotto, or your body is cut to pieces, or you have the healthiest body in the world, it makes no difference, for you're totally peaceful all the time! You're totally happy all the time! This is the reason why you want to be happy for you realize being happy feels wonderful.
Therefore, these are valid reasons to be happy.
But you don't want the happiness to end.
You want it to be forever.
This is what Satsang is all about.
This is why we're here, to experience unalloyed happiness.
To experience total peace, total joy!
Now, the main obstacle that keeps you from experiencing this joy and this happiness that I'm talking about is attachment to person, place and thing.
It is this attachment that makes you earthbound.
It keeps you reincarnating over and over again, so it appears, on this earth plane.
For if you're attached, you believe you are a body and a mind.
When you believe you're a body and a mind you're going to experience all kinds of things in this world.
You'll experience worldly things and become attached to these things.
You will believe that somebody, some place can make you happy.
Somebody, some place can make you miserable.
You will believe that if you attain this, you'll be the happiest person on earth and if you do not attain it, you will be miserable all the time.
You believe if you can only have this person in your life, you'll be the happiest person on earth.
But when this person comes into your life after a while you'll wish he never did.
Because he'll make you miserable! And so it is on this plane.
So learn to be detached!
A good example of detachment is this: Let’s say you have a dream.
In that dream you are a little person and you grow up.
You get married and you buy a brand new home.
You buy a brand new car.
You have three children and they grow up.
And you live a relatively good life.
And then you awaken from the dream.
Let me ask you, how long are you attached to your children of the dream before you forget about them? How long are you attached to your wife or husband of the dream before you forget about them? How long are you attached to your car and house? And anything else that you worked so hard to get in the dream, before you forget about them? A couple of seconds? A minute? An hour? It’s usually minutes, you forget all about the dream.
This is detachment.
If for some reason you did not forget about the dream people and the dream experiences, you wouldn't be able to function.
You'd be living in two worlds! You'd be living in the dream world and this world and you'd think they're both real.
So your nature makes you forget about the dream.
You have enough problems to handle in this world.
Imagine if all your dreams were on your mind all the time as if they were real! And so you become detached from the dream quickly.
Now you're done with this world called the earthly plane.
In this world you believe everything to be real also! And you do the same thing.
You grow up.
You elicit the things that you want to make you happy.
You want to meet the right person to get married to and you become attached to these things.
This is the problem, you become attached to person, place and thing.
This is the only problem that you have.
Now, I'm not saying to be totally detached so that you have no feelings, no love, I’m not saying this at all.
So being detached is totally different from what you think it is.
To be detached means you no longer feel an affinity to hold on to things.
You no longer have the necessity to own things.
To hold on to them.
You're free from this.
The more spiritual you become, the freer you become.
For you no longer have to obtain things, have things to make you happy.
You leave things alone.
You are no longer obsessed with people, places and things.
But you have a great compassion and love for every body and everything.
But you're not attached!
In other words, when you're with another person, you love that person.
But you're not obsessed with them.
You don't own them.
You give them freedom to express themselves, yet you love.
And if the person ever leaves, the love is still there.
It didn't go anywhere, for you are love itself! If you understand what this love means, it can't come or go depending on person, place or thing.
For love is always there because that's what you are.
The attachment is gone.
So, if your mate wants to leave you, or your car is stolen, or your house burns down, this does not affect you one iota.
For something deep within your heart tells you all is well.
There are no mistakes! You're no longer hurt-able.
You can't be hurt by any body, no matter what they do.
This is true detachment.
In other words, you can own things and not own them.
You can have certain people in your life and not have them in your life.
You can live in certain areas of this world and not live in certain areas of this world, it’s all the same.
There is no difference.
Your life will not depend on external things or internal things.
Think of what it means to live this way, how wonderful you will feel all the time.
You'll never depend on people again for anything, yet you love people.
It doesn't mean that you become sarcastic, obnoxious.
It means that you become a loving being, an understanding being, a compassionate being.
You leave things alone and you leave people alone.
You turn within yourself.
And all the answers are within yourself.
All the answers that you've been looking for, everything that you've been looking for is within yourself! You will learn to depend on the Self for everything.
Yet, you cooperate with people.
You cooperate with the world, but you understand in your heart that the world is a passing show, a passing fantasy.
Nothing is ever the same.
As you let go of your opinions toward person, place and things, you find that you're growing, you're evolving.
You're beginning to become something that is ineffable, something that cannot be explained, something that's so wonderful, you never dreamed that something like this existed. Yet it does.
You're beginning to become something that is ineffable, something that cannot be explained, something that's so wonderful, you never dreamed that something like this existed. Yet it does.
You don’t have to set aside a time for meditation. You can do it while you’re driving your car, while you’re at work, while you’re playing music. Just be aware of yourself, of who you really are, and realize the rest is a projection of your mind.
Inquire,
‘To whom does this mind come?’
‘To whom does the body come?’
‘To whom do the thoughts come?’
‘Where did ‘I’ come from?’
‘Who am I?’
This is what you should be doing most of the day.
‘To whom does this mind come?’
‘To whom does the body come?’
‘To whom do the thoughts come?’
‘Where did ‘I’ come from?’
‘Who am I?’
This is what you should be doing most of the day.
When your mind begins to think, stop it, catch it, put an end to it. Many of you are still under the impression that you come to hear lectures, talks. Let me ask you, how many lectures, how many talks have you been to all of your life? And what has it done for you? It simply adds more confusion. Always remember what you are trying to do. You’re not trying to add more knowledge to your ignorance. You’re trying to empty yourself of all your knowledge, all of your ignorance, everything that you have accumulated. You want to become empty. Yet most people seem to go to different teachers, read many books, and they add on. They keep adding, adding, adding, adding, adding. Yet the day must come in your life, when you stand naked before God, so-to-speak, when you have no crutches to hold onto. All the books are gone, there are no more teachers for you, there’s no one to ask for help, there’s no one to ask if you’re on the right path. It is then that your sadhana actually begins. Ponder this very well. Your sadhana, your spiritual practice does not begin when you’ve gone to many teachers, and you’ve read many books. It actually begins when you give up everything. That’s when real sadhana begins, when you have surrendered everything, when you’ve emptied yourself of all knowledge, all desires for liberation. When you have become an empty shell, then your spiritual life begins. Until that time you’re only playing games with yourself.
Who are you? If you have to say, ‘I am absolute reality’, then you are not that at all. For when I ask the question, ‘Who are you?’ there should be total silence in your mind. You are that silence, the silence beyond words, beyond thoughts, beyond being, beyond desire, that perfect silence, the stillness, beyond the void, beyond no mind. You are That. You have always been that.
Silence is another name for God. Quietness is a name for consciousness, peace. Everything is found in the silence and not too much in the words. In quietness, you should try to be quiet for as long as you can, especially when you are at home. Try to sit in the silence and quietness for as long as you can. It’s in the silence where you will receive the message. It’s in the silence where pure awareness reveals itself to you. Never be afraid to sit in the silence. It’s your greatest asset.
When you get up in the morning for instance you question yourself,
“Who is getting up?
Who just awakened?”
When you’re getting dressed you question,
“Who is getting dressed?”
And you examine your feelings you watch your feelings, your thoughts.
“Who has these feelings?” you say to yourself, “Who has these thoughts?”
As you’re eating your breakfast you question,
“Who is eating?”
Whatever you do you question it.
Now as you keep questioning something interesting is happening within yourself. Your mind is becoming weaker and weaker from this questioning.
The mind is nothing but a conglomeration of thoughts of the past and the thoughts of the future. That is all the mind is, a bunch of thoughts. It keeps you earth bound.
You question yourself,
“Who is feeling this?
I am, who am I?”
I’ve explained this to most of you so many times but yet some of you just do not do it. You think it’s for beginners or children but on the contrary, it’s very powerful.
See you have to have a lot of humility to do these things. If you have a big ego you will quit everything and think that you’re great.
You have to have a lot of humility a lot of humbleness.
You have to forget about yourself totally and completely.
“Who is getting up?
Who just awakened?”
When you’re getting dressed you question,
“Who is getting dressed?”
And you examine your feelings you watch your feelings, your thoughts.
“Who has these feelings?” you say to yourself, “Who has these thoughts?”
As you’re eating your breakfast you question,
“Who is eating?”
Whatever you do you question it.
Now as you keep questioning something interesting is happening within yourself. Your mind is becoming weaker and weaker from this questioning.
The mind is nothing but a conglomeration of thoughts of the past and the thoughts of the future. That is all the mind is, a bunch of thoughts. It keeps you earth bound.
You question yourself,
“Who is feeling this?
I am, who am I?”
I’ve explained this to most of you so many times but yet some of you just do not do it. You think it’s for beginners or children but on the contrary, it’s very powerful.
See you have to have a lot of humility to do these things. If you have a big ego you will quit everything and think that you’re great.
You have to have a lot of humility a lot of humbleness.
You have to forget about yourself totally and completely.
You have to be totally honest with yourself. Totally honest. Completely honest with yourself to see the way you've been carrying on.
To see how your thoughts have been ruling you.
Your mind has been telling you: 'This is like this and this is like that. This is good, this is bad. This is right, this is wrong'.
Being judgmental all the time, this is what has to be given up, totally and completely.
To see how your thoughts have been ruling you.
Your mind has been telling you: 'This is like this and this is like that. This is good, this is bad. This is right, this is wrong'.
Being judgmental all the time, this is what has to be given up, totally and completely.
How do you make progress? By practicing the methods I share with you. By practicing Self-Inquiry. By watching as you go through life's experiences and not reacting. Watching yourself become depressed. Watching yourself become angry. Do not deny it, but observe it. And if you observe yourself correctly in that calm way, you can ask yourself, 'Who becomes angry? Who is feeling depressed?' And follow it through. Do this over and over and over again, as many times as you have to. One day, the anger will leave you, the depressions will leave you, your thoughts will leave you. And you'll just be.
The silence is another way of saying to keep your mind stayed on God all the time. God is the silence and you are that. Feel the silence right now. You can feel it. It’s a thing of beauty. You know when you’re getting into the true silence, you begin to become happier, and happier and happier for no reason. It makes no difference what’s going on in the world. The world is in one place and you’re in another place. In the deep silence you are identifying with the substratum of creation. Always remember to go into the silence. A sage is always in the silence. A sage may be talking, listening, partaking of activities, but to the sage there’s only silence.
Every time you say to yourself: “Who am I?” you are moving a step ahead on the spiritual path. That is all you have to do. “Who am I?” and you will soon discover that the ‘I’ is not you. The ‘I’ that you are referring to is not you, it’s not anything. It is merely a thought. It has absolutely nothing to do with you. When you think to yourself: “Who am I?” you keep saying I-I to yourself and the ‘I’ begins to separate from your body. The ‘I’ begins to become a different type of entity whatsoever, the ‘I’ begins to disappear. And you keep thinking about the ‘I’, following the ‘I’. You follow the ‘I’ to the heart. Once the ‘I’ disappears you are totally free and liberated. So it all begins with you. You are the one. You can either free yourself or put yourself in bondage depending on what you’re doing with your life.
As soon as you start to turn within, as soon as you begin to listen to the still small voice within you, as soon as you start to practice self-enquiry, your life begins to change drastically. You become happy. You no longer search for happiness, for you are beginning to realize that you cannot find it externally. You may appear to find it, but it does not last.
Everything that you feel, hear, touch, smell and taste is maya.
Everything is maya, the grand illusion.
Most of us really do not understand what maya really is.
My trying to explain maya is maya.
Everything that your eyes behold,
that you believe is so important, is maya.
Everything that you hear,
Everything that you read,
Everything that you try to do to better yourself,
It’s all maya.
The water in the mirage, that is maya,
something that appears to be real,
but upon your investigation you find it’s not.
The whole world is like that.
The whole universe is like that.
Do not be fooled again.
Do not take anything seriously.
Turn within, do not react.
The turmoil, the chaos that appears to be in this world,
is not the truth. It is not Reality.
It is something that comes and goes.
This too shall pass.
But your center is God, Consciousness,
Absolute Reality, Brahman.
Those are all synonymous.
That is the Peace that exists.
Everything is maya, the grand illusion.
Most of us really do not understand what maya really is.
My trying to explain maya is maya.
Everything that your eyes behold,
that you believe is so important, is maya.
Everything that you hear,
Everything that you read,
Everything that you try to do to better yourself,
It’s all maya.
The water in the mirage, that is maya,
something that appears to be real,
but upon your investigation you find it’s not.
The whole world is like that.
The whole universe is like that.
Do not be fooled again.
Do not take anything seriously.
Turn within, do not react.
The turmoil, the chaos that appears to be in this world,
is not the truth. It is not Reality.
It is something that comes and goes.
This too shall pass.
But your center is God, Consciousness,
Absolute Reality, Brahman.
Those are all synonymous.
That is the Peace that exists.
Allow your mind to say and think the way it will, only don’t identify with it. Allow your body to do what it must, but do not react to it. Everything will happen of its own accord. When you allow your mind to think of its own accord, the thoughts begin to dissipate, and soon you have empty mind. Empty mind is consciousness, realization. That’s all you have to do - have empty mind. But as long as you believe, ‘I am the doer’, and you force yourself to have an empty mind, you never will, because the forcing makes the mind stronger. Rather, observe your thoughts, watch the mind thinking, and leave it alone. Do not identify with your thoughts, or with your body, for in reality there is no body and there are no thoughts, for there is only the Self, and you are that.
I’m trying to take everything away from you as you can see. Everything that you ever believed. Every concept you ever had. Every idea that you had of getting enlightened, becoming free, becoming liberated. Every idea and belief of thinking that you’re not liberated. That you have to get liberated. All of these things I’m trying to remove from your thinking patterns and then you remove your thinking patterns. You have to leave yourself empty, totally empty. To be totally fulfilled you’ve got to be totally empty first.
It's in the silence that your problems just dissolve. Try it. It really works.
Beings
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