FAITH
There is something else that is very important for you to understand in order to become self-realized, and that is faith.
You have to have faith in something that you yet do not understand. Faith is a powerful tool you use to climb the ladder to self-realization.
You have to have faith in yourself,
faith in the teaching,
faith in the teacher,
faith that something wonderful is about to happen to you.
Yet I meet so many people that are so dogmatic, opinionated in their views. They have doubts, suspicions, all kinds of negative symptoms going through them, and they want to become self-realized. It is true you can go a long way with all of your bad habits. But I say to you, you can never awaken fully until you give them up, and faith helps you to give them up.
There's a story about Makunda, one of the rishis, sages, of old. For some reason he decided to get married. He wanted to have a child. But no matter how he tried, his wife couldn't conceive. Two years passed, and he said “I'm going to pray to Shiva," one of the Gods.
He prayed to Shiva and he said
“Lord, your will is my will.
I don't really know what's good for me, or what I really want. But you know what I want in my heart, and if it's right for me it will happen. If it isn't, it won't. But I have total faith in you that whatever happens is your will and it's good."
He prayed like this for many years.
Finally Shiva appeared to him and said “My son, never have I seen such faith. You forgot all about yourself, about your family, and you just wanted me. So I have appeared to you. Your desire will come to pass. You will have a child, but you must make a choice. You may have a child who is a half idiot and will live a long life, or a child with a fine intellect who will live a short life. You have to choose."
Makunda said "I will choose the latter, the one with the sharp intellect.” And Shiva said “He will live to be sixteen years old. Then he will drop his body.” Makunda accepted and the time came to have the baby, they did.
And at a very young age the intellect of the child was astounding. He was able to memorize all the Vedas when he was five years old. He was able to speak five languages. He was an astounding poet, writer. As he grew older his father became sadder and sadder. Finally he asked his father “Father, what's wrong? Why do you become so sad every time I have a birthday?" And Makunda explained to him the deal he made with Shiva.
"You've only to live to be sixteen, and then you must go.
The youth said “Shiva listened to you. Perhaps he'll listen to me," and he started to pray to Shiva every day. "Lord, I am yours, and do with me what you want. I have no desire. I know only that you brought me here, and when you're ready you will take me back. Do with me as you will. Your will, not mine, be done. I am yours." And again he said that prayer every day for a year.
Finally Shiva appeared to him also and said “My son, you have the faith of your father. When someone prays to me thus, I have no option but to help him. So because of your faith, when you reach the age of sixteen, you will stay at that age forever."
Now the moral of that story is the faith. Remember, Makunda was very advanced spiritually, and yet he had faith in a power, a presence, that he didn't see or feel. He surrendered to that power and that presence. That's what it takes for us to awaken.
This is why people like Ramana Maharshi always said that devotion, faith and self-inquiry are the same thing. You can't just have dry self-inquiry. You have to feel love. You have to feel devotion. You have to put God first. Unless you put God first you're going to just have dry words, and the words will give you a sharp intellect. You will be able to recite all sorts of things, memorize books, hear lectures and remember them, yet you will never really awaken.
This is why sometimes Advaita Vedanta can be dangerous to some people. Yet if they really read the books on Advaita Vedanta, they'll understand that they have to develop a tremendous faith.
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 he 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.
— The Collected Works of Robert Adams Volume 1
There is something else that is very important for you to understand in order to become self-realized, and that is faith.
You have to have faith in something that you yet do not understand. Faith is a powerful tool you use to climb the ladder to self-realization.
You have to have faith in yourself,
faith in the teaching,
faith in the teacher,
faith that something wonderful is about to happen to you.
Yet I meet so many people that are so dogmatic, opinionated in their views. They have doubts, suspicions, all kinds of negative symptoms going through them, and they want to become self-realized. It is true you can go a long way with all of your bad habits. But I say to you, you can never awaken fully until you give them up, and faith helps you to give them up.
There's a story about Makunda, one of the rishis, sages, of old. For some reason he decided to get married. He wanted to have a child. But no matter how he tried, his wife couldn't conceive. Two years passed, and he said “I'm going to pray to Shiva," one of the Gods.
He prayed to Shiva and he said
“Lord, your will is my will.
I don't really know what's good for me, or what I really want. But you know what I want in my heart, and if it's right for me it will happen. If it isn't, it won't. But I have total faith in you that whatever happens is your will and it's good."
He prayed like this for many years.
Finally Shiva appeared to him and said “My son, never have I seen such faith. You forgot all about yourself, about your family, and you just wanted me. So I have appeared to you. Your desire will come to pass. You will have a child, but you must make a choice. You may have a child who is a half idiot and will live a long life, or a child with a fine intellect who will live a short life. You have to choose."
Makunda said "I will choose the latter, the one with the sharp intellect.” And Shiva said “He will live to be sixteen years old. Then he will drop his body.” Makunda accepted and the time came to have the baby, they did.
And at a very young age the intellect of the child was astounding. He was able to memorize all the Vedas when he was five years old. He was able to speak five languages. He was an astounding poet, writer. As he grew older his father became sadder and sadder. Finally he asked his father “Father, what's wrong? Why do you become so sad every time I have a birthday?" And Makunda explained to him the deal he made with Shiva.
"You've only to live to be sixteen, and then you must go.
The youth said “Shiva listened to you. Perhaps he'll listen to me," and he started to pray to Shiva every day. "Lord, I am yours, and do with me what you want. I have no desire. I know only that you brought me here, and when you're ready you will take me back. Do with me as you will. Your will, not mine, be done. I am yours." And again he said that prayer every day for a year.
Finally Shiva appeared to him also and said “My son, you have the faith of your father. When someone prays to me thus, I have no option but to help him. So because of your faith, when you reach the age of sixteen, you will stay at that age forever."
Now the moral of that story is the faith. Remember, Makunda was very advanced spiritually, and yet he had faith in a power, a presence, that he didn't see or feel. He surrendered to that power and that presence. That's what it takes for us to awaken.
This is why people like Ramana Maharshi always said that devotion, faith and self-inquiry are the same thing. You can't just have dry self-inquiry. You have to feel love. You have to feel devotion. You have to put God first. Unless you put God first you're going to just have dry words, and the words will give you a sharp intellect. You will be able to recite all sorts of things, memorize books, hear lectures and remember them, yet you will never really awaken.
This is why sometimes Advaita Vedanta can be dangerous to some people. Yet if they really read the books on Advaita Vedanta, they'll understand that they have to develop a tremendous faith.
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 he 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.
— The Collected Works of Robert Adams Volume 1
It is only in the silence that the ultimate truth comes to you. It is only when your mind becomes quiescent, calm, like a motionless lake. A motionless lake reflects the stars, the moon, the sun. But a lake that’s noisy, vibrating, reflects absolutely nothing. In the same instance, a being whose mind has become motionless, whose mind has become calm, relaxed, peaceful, begins to reflect their own divinity, begins to reflect pure awareness, nirvana, emptiness. That always comes by itself. The ultimate reality is already there. You do not have to search for it. No one can give it to you.
&
(silence)
Om shanti, shanti, peace, peace.
When I sit like this at home in a chair for hours, people ask me if I'm meditating? And the answer is no. For to meditate you have to have a subject and an object and that implies duality. But if there is nobody home there is no subject and there is no object. So you're not meditating. Some people ask whether I go into samadhi? Who is left to go into samadhi? There has to be somebody left over to go into samadhi. That also implies an object and a subject. Wipe out the object and the subject and you will become nobody. So what do you do you just stay in the silence and do nothing. There's nothing to do. People always believe they have got to do something. When there is nothing to do it sounds too easy. But when you are doing something, meditating, going into samadhi, there has to be a doer. You are not the doer. You are no-body and you are absolute reality, pure consciousness, ultimate oneness, sat-chit-ananda, I am that I am. And this is your true nature, awaken to it.
Robert Adams, T43: I AM & T32: Remember The Reasons Why You Came Here
&
(silence)
Om shanti, shanti, peace, peace.
When I sit like this at home in a chair for hours, people ask me if I'm meditating? And the answer is no. For to meditate you have to have a subject and an object and that implies duality. But if there is nobody home there is no subject and there is no object. So you're not meditating. Some people ask whether I go into samadhi? Who is left to go into samadhi? There has to be somebody left over to go into samadhi. That also implies an object and a subject. Wipe out the object and the subject and you will become nobody. So what do you do you just stay in the silence and do nothing. There's nothing to do. People always believe they have got to do something. When there is nothing to do it sounds too easy. But when you are doing something, meditating, going into samadhi, there has to be a doer. You are not the doer. You are no-body and you are absolute reality, pure consciousness, ultimate oneness, sat-chit-ananda, I am that I am. And this is your true nature, awaken to it.
Robert Adams, T43: I AM & T32: Remember The Reasons Why You Came Here
This is the point I'm trying to make. Everything is unfolding as it should. This planet is unfolding the way it's supposed to. It's not your business to run this planet. Your business is to try to get the hell off this planet, by awakening. But as long as you believe you're part of the crowd you have to realize that you are on a third grade planet and go along with this until you get old and die. And according to your karma you go to another planet perhaps, which is a little more peaceful. You may go to a second grade planet. If you think this is bad, you ain't seen nothing yet, or a first grade planet where things are really terrible or a fourth grade planet where things are improving. It's like school. Maya is a university to educate the soul so-tospeak. There are different grades, different classes. But who needs to go through all this, the ego, the mind? Why do you allow this to be? Stop it now while you hear these things. You are fortunate that in your life that you're able to hear these things. To understand that you're not the body nor the mind nor the world. Do something about it, free yourself. Do not accept this any longer. Forget about this world. Don't pay too much attention to your body. Do not think too much about having a good time or a bad time. You have to loose it and let it go. Let go of all the stuff that has been hounding you for years and years. Become free, happy. By knowing who you are. It's only by knowing who you are that you become free and have unalloyed happiness. If you're looking for happiness in this world you'll be fooled all of the time. The world will show you happiness for a while and then it will pull it right out from under you and you'll start crying and screaming again until more happiness comes your way. The same thing happens, again and again and again. And maya is laughing its head off because you are taking it all so seriously. You're taking the world so seriously, you're taking the world so seriously, why? Stop it, stop it right now. Quit while you're ahead.
Get rid of your arrogance.
Develop humility. Become humble.
By that I do not mean become a doormat for people to step on.
In humility there is strength. You understand the truth, therefore you do not get involved in pettiness, in nonsense. The truth shall always prevail regardless of appearences.
Develop humility. Become humble.
By that I do not mean become a doormat for people to step on.
In humility there is strength. You understand the truth, therefore you do not get involved in pettiness, in nonsense. The truth shall always prevail regardless of appearences.
WHY SAGES ARE NEEDED FOR FINAL LIBERATION (SEE END)
Everything is preordained, as long as you believe you are the body. Everything is karmic, as long as you identify with the world and believe you are the doer.
But 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 practicing self-inquiry, your life begins to change drastically. You become happy. You no longer search for happiness, for you are beginning to realize you cannot find it externally.
You may appear to find it. In other words, you may get married and you believe “This is great, I found what I’ve always wanted." Then you may get divorced and you say “This is great, I finally got rid of that person." You won the lottery and you say “This is great, I'm rich." The IRS comes down on you, and you wind up in San Quentin, and you say “This is no good."
All of these different things take place in your life. The world is not your friend. The world is a phenomena that belongs to a dream. You've got to be mature enough to ask the question “To whom does this world belong? Who lives in the world? Where did the world come from?"
and your answer to all the questions begins with I. "I live in the world. I partake in the world. I see the world." And we're back to I again. You finally get the idea that the whole world is hanging on I. The I has to be transcended.
You begin early in the morning, when you first wake up. Before you become aware of I, you notice that you are in a state of peace, of joy, even if for only a few seconds. I was not present. You are not aware of the world. Catch yourself tomorrow morning. It only happens in a flash, in a few seconds. Yet all of a sudden the world becomes real for you. I has awakened. Where did the I come from?
If you investigate you will see that your spiritual heart center is on the right side of your chest, and the I has come out of your chest, out of your spiritual heart, out of the source, becoming more powerful as it emerges and goes into your brain. Then you become aware of your body and you say “I am alive." Once you become aware of your body and your mind, you become aware of the world, and then the universe.
Therefore the wise person catches the I before it goes any further. In other words as the I emerges from your chest, you abide in the I. To the extent that you can abide in the I, or focus on the I, something phenomenal will begin to happen. The I will reverse its course and begin to return to its source.
I will repeat this again. To the average person the I begins to become stronger and stronger when you wake up in the
morning. It emerges from your spiritual center and heads up your spine to your brain, where you become cognizant of the world. But for the spiritual aspirant who practices self-inquiry, you begin to watch the I doing this.
You abide in the I [stay with the "i"]
As you begin to abide in the I, it will reverse its course and head back to the center. When it heads back to the center, it will rest on the circumference of the center. That is as far as you can go by yourself. You will be in an effortless thought-free state. You will be in the void, as it tells you in Buddhism.
Yet most Buddhists think the void is self-realization. That’s a mistake. The void is when your I is resting on the circumference of your heart center. When that happens you've come a long way. You are a mature disciple. Yet the self has to pull the I inside the heart. Then you become liberated. This is very rarely done by the self or by yourself.
I'm speaking of the small self. Only in a very few, will the I go directly into the heart center and be extinguished.
That is why sages are necessary. That is why satsang is necessary. For the sage, who may be a 1000 miles away from you, as long as you have a direct line to the sage mentally, the sage is omnipresent, all-pervading. Therefore the sage, and the self, and the guru and God are one. So that even if you are away from the proximity of the sage, if you have a close association with that particular sage, or that sage is your guru, the self, which is really the sage, will pull the I into the heart, and you will be liberated.
That's how it appears to work. The rest is up to you.
~ The Collected Works of Robert Adams Volume 1
# Consciousness is the Only Power
Everything is preordained, as long as you believe you are the body. Everything is karmic, as long as you identify with the world and believe you are the doer.
But 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 practicing self-inquiry, your life begins to change drastically. You become happy. You no longer search for happiness, for you are beginning to realize you cannot find it externally.
You may appear to find it. In other words, you may get married and you believe “This is great, I found what I’ve always wanted." Then you may get divorced and you say “This is great, I finally got rid of that person." You won the lottery and you say “This is great, I'm rich." The IRS comes down on you, and you wind up in San Quentin, and you say “This is no good."
All of these different things take place in your life. The world is not your friend. The world is a phenomena that belongs to a dream. You've got to be mature enough to ask the question “To whom does this world belong? Who lives in the world? Where did the world come from?"
and your answer to all the questions begins with I. "I live in the world. I partake in the world. I see the world." And we're back to I again. You finally get the idea that the whole world is hanging on I. The I has to be transcended.
You begin early in the morning, when you first wake up. Before you become aware of I, you notice that you are in a state of peace, of joy, even if for only a few seconds. I was not present. You are not aware of the world. Catch yourself tomorrow morning. It only happens in a flash, in a few seconds. Yet all of a sudden the world becomes real for you. I has awakened. Where did the I come from?
If you investigate you will see that your spiritual heart center is on the right side of your chest, and the I has come out of your chest, out of your spiritual heart, out of the source, becoming more powerful as it emerges and goes into your brain. Then you become aware of your body and you say “I am alive." Once you become aware of your body and your mind, you become aware of the world, and then the universe.
Therefore the wise person catches the I before it goes any further. In other words as the I emerges from your chest, you abide in the I. To the extent that you can abide in the I, or focus on the I, something phenomenal will begin to happen. The I will reverse its course and begin to return to its source.
I will repeat this again. To the average person the I begins to become stronger and stronger when you wake up in the
morning. It emerges from your spiritual center and heads up your spine to your brain, where you become cognizant of the world. But for the spiritual aspirant who practices self-inquiry, you begin to watch the I doing this.
You abide in the I [stay with the "i"]
As you begin to abide in the I, it will reverse its course and head back to the center. When it heads back to the center, it will rest on the circumference of the center. That is as far as you can go by yourself. You will be in an effortless thought-free state. You will be in the void, as it tells you in Buddhism.
Yet most Buddhists think the void is self-realization. That’s a mistake. The void is when your I is resting on the circumference of your heart center. When that happens you've come a long way. You are a mature disciple. Yet the self has to pull the I inside the heart. Then you become liberated. This is very rarely done by the self or by yourself.
I'm speaking of the small self. Only in a very few, will the I go directly into the heart center and be extinguished.
That is why sages are necessary. That is why satsang is necessary. For the sage, who may be a 1000 miles away from you, as long as you have a direct line to the sage mentally, the sage is omnipresent, all-pervading. Therefore the sage, and the self, and the guru and God are one. So that even if you are away from the proximity of the sage, if you have a close association with that particular sage, or that sage is your guru, the self, which is really the sage, will pull the I into the heart, and you will be liberated.
That's how it appears to work. The rest is up to you.
~ The Collected Works of Robert Adams Volume 1
# Consciousness is the Only Power
Life is very short in this body and all of the things
you're going through will soon come to an end.
If you have not made any spiritual headway
you will be under the delusion of karma.
And you will return again and again in a delusory body form
going through many experiences that appear real to you.
The only way for it to come to an end is to give it all up now.
Make up your mind that this is going to become the year for you
to totally become realized. To awaken totally.
And by following the three precepts as outlined,
this will happen to you faster than you can breath,
if you allow it to.
Do not allow the world to run your life.
Do not let the world fool you.
All this is an illusion.
Be yourself. Know yourself.
Realize that you are Brahman, the pure awareness.
Your nature is pure consciousness
and one day you will have to awaken.
So why not begin now. Why wait?
T.117: Three Precepts For Self Realization
you're going through will soon come to an end.
If you have not made any spiritual headway
you will be under the delusion of karma.
And you will return again and again in a delusory body form
going through many experiences that appear real to you.
The only way for it to come to an end is to give it all up now.
Make up your mind that this is going to become the year for you
to totally become realized. To awaken totally.
And by following the three precepts as outlined,
this will happen to you faster than you can breath,
if you allow it to.
Do not allow the world to run your life.
Do not let the world fool you.
All this is an illusion.
Be yourself. Know yourself.
Realize that you are Brahman, the pure awareness.
Your nature is pure consciousness
and one day you will have to awaken.
So why not begin now. Why wait?
T.117: Three Precepts For Self Realization
There is nothing to do. There is no place to go. There is nothing to become. You are That, just the way you are. Awaken to your true Self which is what you are right now
Do not concern yourself whether you’re going to do anything wrong or right. You are just one of the many actors on the stage of life. Everybody has come here to play a role, so-to-speak. Some people have to be the good guys, some people have to be the bad guys. This is the reason we never judge anybody. This is the reason you should never call anybody evil or bad. It is really a role that they’re playing. And a person on the path of Jnana does not judge anybody or anything. They leave everything alone. They observe it, they watch it. Come to no conclusions. Good and bad is out of their vocabulary. Right and wrong has been transcended. This happens before you become fully enlightened.
There is absolutely nothing wrong in this whole universe least of all yourself. You no longer worry about yourself. For even though you still feel you are a piece of the body you understand that there is a grand bliss, a joy, an absolute reality that you can call God that takes care of you completely and totally when you surrender completely and totally to the source.
So you see you do not have to look after your life. You do not have to watch what you eat or watch where you go or watch what you do. For whatever you eat, wherever you go, whatever you do is the right thing for you at the moment. It is where you’re supposed to be. You are where you’re supposed to reap. Everything is in its right place. If you learn to have faith like this you will grow. But if you keep believing I am the doer and I have to make things happen, otherwise nothing will happen and I will fall apart, then you will be making things happen all of your life. There will always be something to make happen. It will never end. Yet this is also your role that you have to play here on this earth. This is the destiny that’s yours. To do what you’re doing right now.
So, the person who understands what I’m saying does not consider the question any more, “Is the world real or false?” Remember if you have to ask that question, then the world is real and you have to act accordingly.
In the same instance that person does not ask the question, “Is everything preordained?” For remember for whom are things preordained? Only for the ajnani, for the ignorant one.
The only freedom you’ve got is to turn within and not react to anything. This is your freedom, your total and complete freedom. And that is really a lot of freedom if you think about it. You can really see that you’re free, to that extent.
In other words whatever befalls you, you do not become upset, hurtable, angry, you merely observe it and watch it and you realize that is your stuff that you’ve got to get rid of. That is your stuff you have to go through. It makes no difference how deeply you’re suffering, if you’re suffering or how happy you are, if you’re happy. If you’re sick or healthy or you’re poor or rich. If you are married or single. If you are living in a hut or a mansion.
These things are irrelevant. For what is relevant is your reaction to these things.
The person who does not react grows spiritually and becomes Master of the world, so-to-speak.
There is absolutely nothing wrong in this whole universe least of all yourself. You no longer worry about yourself. For even though you still feel you are a piece of the body you understand that there is a grand bliss, a joy, an absolute reality that you can call God that takes care of you completely and totally when you surrender completely and totally to the source.
So you see you do not have to look after your life. You do not have to watch what you eat or watch where you go or watch what you do. For whatever you eat, wherever you go, whatever you do is the right thing for you at the moment. It is where you’re supposed to be. You are where you’re supposed to reap. Everything is in its right place. If you learn to have faith like this you will grow. But if you keep believing I am the doer and I have to make things happen, otherwise nothing will happen and I will fall apart, then you will be making things happen all of your life. There will always be something to make happen. It will never end. Yet this is also your role that you have to play here on this earth. This is the destiny that’s yours. To do what you’re doing right now.
So, the person who understands what I’m saying does not consider the question any more, “Is the world real or false?” Remember if you have to ask that question, then the world is real and you have to act accordingly.
In the same instance that person does not ask the question, “Is everything preordained?” For remember for whom are things preordained? Only for the ajnani, for the ignorant one.
The only freedom you’ve got is to turn within and not react to anything. This is your freedom, your total and complete freedom. And that is really a lot of freedom if you think about it. You can really see that you’re free, to that extent.
In other words whatever befalls you, you do not become upset, hurtable, angry, you merely observe it and watch it and you realize that is your stuff that you’ve got to get rid of. That is your stuff you have to go through. It makes no difference how deeply you’re suffering, if you’re suffering or how happy you are, if you’re happy. If you’re sick or healthy or you’re poor or rich. If you are married or single. If you are living in a hut or a mansion.
These things are irrelevant. For what is relevant is your reaction to these things.
The person who does not react grows spiritually and becomes Master of the world, so-to-speak.
You've been hypnotized, mesmerized, to the grand illusion, the maya. Awaken to yourself. Awaken to the truth that you are free and you are nothing but freedom. Total absolute freedom from every conceivable thing you can imagine. Like boundless space you are totally free. Free of all so-called karmas, samskaras, samsaras, past mistakes, everything. You no longer have to suffer. You no longer have to be afraid of anything.
All is well. All is well. Drop all the pretending. Drop all your hurts. Drop the self pity. Drop everything, let go. Awaken, be free. Freedom is your real nature. You have always been that, yet you are allowing the thoughts to cover up that freedom so-it-appears. You are allowing your thoughts to tell you something else. And you're caught up in the dreamworld believing it's the real world.
When you have enough love inside, there are truly no problems. Problems arise when you are lacking love.
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.
The nothing I'm referring to is, you don't lose your individuality, your individuality expands and you become as omnipresence.
Now you may ask the question, "How can everybody's individuality expand the same way? Then there'll be trillions of individualities?" No! There's only one individuality and that one is the Self. And that one is you. You are the ultimate Reality.
But right now with your finite mind, it's difficult to comprehend that. This is why you have to understand that you are not your body-mind phenomena. As soon as you get rid of the body-mind concept, you become free.
Therefore you work on yourself. The spiritual sadhana that you do, is simply to awaken. To awaken to your Self, to the one Reality. In the one Reality, you can have a body or not have a body, it makes no difference. But even if you have a body, you really don't have a body. The body only appears to the Ajnani, the person who has not realized Truth. It appears as if the Jnani has a body. It appears as if the Jnani is doing something. But the Jnani does nothing. The Jnani is immersed in consciousness and has become the Self, the total Reality, pure intelligence, absolute awareness, sat-chit-ananda.
- Robert Adams Satsangs: The Collected Works, Ts 22
Now you may ask the question, "How can everybody's individuality expand the same way? Then there'll be trillions of individualities?" No! There's only one individuality and that one is the Self. And that one is you. You are the ultimate Reality.
But right now with your finite mind, it's difficult to comprehend that. This is why you have to understand that you are not your body-mind phenomena. As soon as you get rid of the body-mind concept, you become free.
Therefore you work on yourself. The spiritual sadhana that you do, is simply to awaken. To awaken to your Self, to the one Reality. In the one Reality, you can have a body or not have a body, it makes no difference. But even if you have a body, you really don't have a body. The body only appears to the Ajnani, the person who has not realized Truth. It appears as if the Jnani has a body. It appears as if the Jnani is doing something. But the Jnani does nothing. The Jnani is immersed in consciousness and has become the Self, the total Reality, pure intelligence, absolute awareness, sat-chit-ananda.
- Robert Adams Satsangs: The Collected Works, Ts 22
After the death of this body, as in life, the Jnani remains where and what he eternally is, the first principle of all beings and things: formless nameless, unsoiled, timeless, dimensionless and utterly free. Death cannot touch him, cravings cannot torture him, sins do not stain him; he is free from all desire and suffering.
He sees the infinite Self in all, and all in the infinite Self, which is his being.
The Jnani confesses his experience thus:
I am infinite, imperishable, Self-luminous, Self-existent, I am without beginning or end, I am birthless, deathless, without change or decay. I permeate and interpenetrate all things.
In the myriad universes of thought and creation, I Alone Am.
~ Silence of the Heart
He sees the infinite Self in all, and all in the infinite Self, which is his being.
The Jnani confesses his experience thus:
I am infinite, imperishable, Self-luminous, Self-existent, I am without beginning or end, I am birthless, deathless, without change or decay. I permeate and interpenetrate all things.
In the myriad universes of thought and creation, I Alone Am.
~ Silence of the Heart
I received a call from a lady in Santa Cruse the other day and she started to tell me about her marital problems, so I stopped her. I told her I didn't want to hear anything about any marital problems.
Does she know who she is? That's all I care about. If she knows who she is, then she goes beyond marital problems. She goes beyond concepts, longings, wants, desires. She'll be safe.
For once you lift yourself up nothing can touch you again. The world no longer has any power over you. The world only has power over you when you identify yourself as a body. If you identify yourself as a body, then the world becomes real, objects become real, situations become real, the universe becomes real, God becomes real, everything becomes real and you live in duality. So one day you're suffering, the next day you're happy. Happiness leads to suffering, suffering leads to happiness.
Of course, that's human happiness I'm talking about, human suffering. But as soon as you learn to go beyond that, and again that happens by living spontaneously, all suffering ceases. After all, for who is the suffering? For the one who identifies with the thoughts.
~ Collected Works, Transcript 20
Does she know who she is? That's all I care about. If she knows who she is, then she goes beyond marital problems. She goes beyond concepts, longings, wants, desires. She'll be safe.
For once you lift yourself up nothing can touch you again. The world no longer has any power over you. The world only has power over you when you identify yourself as a body. If you identify yourself as a body, then the world becomes real, objects become real, situations become real, the universe becomes real, God becomes real, everything becomes real and you live in duality. So one day you're suffering, the next day you're happy. Happiness leads to suffering, suffering leads to happiness.
Of course, that's human happiness I'm talking about, human suffering. But as soon as you learn to go beyond that, and again that happens by living spontaneously, all suffering ceases. After all, for who is the suffering? For the one who identifies with the thoughts.
~ Collected Works, Transcript 20
The Sage does not care where he or she is.
It's all the same.
A true Sage does not have to travel everywhere,
trying to pick up devotees, or disciples.
Couldn't care less if anybody heard of him or her.
Never looking for name or fame.
Not really interested in publishing books,
putting out tapes, making him or herself
well known all over the world, so people can come.
A true Sage just doesn't care about these things,
because there's no self left to care about these things.
The ego has been totally transcended.
There is no ego that needs to do anything.
That is why people like Ramana Maharshi
never left Tiruvannamalai, Arunachala.
There is nowhere to go. It's all the same.
It's all the same.
A true Sage does not have to travel everywhere,
trying to pick up devotees, or disciples.
Couldn't care less if anybody heard of him or her.
Never looking for name or fame.
Not really interested in publishing books,
putting out tapes, making him or herself
well known all over the world, so people can come.
A true Sage just doesn't care about these things,
because there's no self left to care about these things.
The ego has been totally transcended.
There is no ego that needs to do anything.
That is why people like Ramana Maharshi
never left Tiruvannamalai, Arunachala.
There is nowhere to go. It's all the same.
Reading is only for motivation. Be careful what you read. There are too many books. If you speak to those people who have really become enlightened, you will find that they hardly ever read at all. May be a couple of books but what they did, was the sadhana, the spiritual practices required. They worked on themselves consistently, constantly, 24 hours a day.
This is something you must remember. When you are perfectly calm, time stops. When there is no time, karma stops, samskaras stop. Everything becomes null and void. For when you are calm you are one with the entire energy of the universe and everything will go well with you.
CONVERSATION ABOUT RAMANA
SE: You were with Ramana for two years.
R: Yes.
SE: And how long was it after, before you really got what he was teaching you?
R: Well I didn't go there to be taught, I actually went there just to see him. I had everything before that, whatever it is. I was there two years before he died.
SD: Did you stay there for the whole two years?
R: No. I went back and forth because he was very sick, he could hardly walk. SD: And you couldn't stand to see that?
R: No. I was able to have an audience with him twice.
SD: How was it being in his presence.
R: Great!
SD: I mean, did you feel elevated, did you feel like you'd known him all your life, did you identify with him or were you in awe of him?
R: Well if you recall the story, I used to see him when I was a baby in my crib and then I saw his picture in a book and then I went to India.
SD: So you'd known him all your life?
R: Just about.
SK: Does he ever come to you taking on that same visible form? In dreaming or...
R: Lots of times.
SG: How old were you when you went to India?
R: Eighteen.
SG: A young age to be traveling in India.
R: I know. (
SL: Bet you were wild.) (laughter)
SK: And that was a wild time about nineteen forty what?
R: 1947
- Robert Adams, Collected Works, Ts 12
SE: You were with Ramana for two years.
R: Yes.
SE: And how long was it after, before you really got what he was teaching you?
R: Well I didn't go there to be taught, I actually went there just to see him. I had everything before that, whatever it is. I was there two years before he died.
SD: Did you stay there for the whole two years?
R: No. I went back and forth because he was very sick, he could hardly walk. SD: And you couldn't stand to see that?
R: No. I was able to have an audience with him twice.
SD: How was it being in his presence.
R: Great!
SD: I mean, did you feel elevated, did you feel like you'd known him all your life, did you identify with him or were you in awe of him?
R: Well if you recall the story, I used to see him when I was a baby in my crib and then I saw his picture in a book and then I went to India.
SD: So you'd known him all your life?
R: Just about.
SK: Does he ever come to you taking on that same visible form? In dreaming or...
R: Lots of times.
SG: How old were you when you went to India?
R: Eighteen.
SG: A young age to be traveling in India.
R: I know. (
SL: Bet you were wild.) (laughter)
SK: And that was a wild time about nineteen forty what?
R: 1947
- Robert Adams, Collected Works, Ts 12
Robert Adams :
Even as I talk to you, look at all these thoughts that are going through your mind. Why do you allow them to control you? Why? It only hurts you, nobody else. Only the thinker suffers.
Of course, it's difficult to stop thinking, but by asking the question, "To whom do these thoughts come?" your mind begins to slow down and finally merges in your heart, and then you are no longer controlled by the mind. You are no longer controlled by anything. Your individuality will merge into the infinite, and you will become free.
Student: Robert, how is it that these little subtle thoughts have the power to obstruct?
Robert: They don't, because your thoughts do not exist. How can they have power? Only the real has power, and what is real is consciousness, absolute reality, total awareness. Thoughts have no power. They appear to have power. You have given them the power.
You yourself have given your thoughts power by believing in them, by worshiping them, by doing what they command.
Your thoughts tell you to go kill, you go kill. They say, “Go scream,” you go scream, “Go be belligerent,” you go and become belligerent. You are controlled by your thoughts.
But the wise person will stop, and think, and look within and ask, "To whom do these thoughts come? Where do they come from?" Find out and you will realize they never existed to begin with. It's all an optical illusion.
Just like the rope and the snake you've all heard about. You think a rope is a snake because it’s dark and you can’t see, but once you find out the truth, that it's only a rope, you will never be fooled again. You will never be afraid again. So the thought's like the rope and the snake. They have no power, but you fear your thoughts, therefore you give them power. Once you realize they are non-entities, they are nothing, then you become yourself, and you’re free.
~ The Collected Works of Robert Adams Volume 1
Even as I talk to you, look at all these thoughts that are going through your mind. Why do you allow them to control you? Why? It only hurts you, nobody else. Only the thinker suffers.
Of course, it's difficult to stop thinking, but by asking the question, "To whom do these thoughts come?" your mind begins to slow down and finally merges in your heart, and then you are no longer controlled by the mind. You are no longer controlled by anything. Your individuality will merge into the infinite, and you will become free.
Student: Robert, how is it that these little subtle thoughts have the power to obstruct?
Robert: They don't, because your thoughts do not exist. How can they have power? Only the real has power, and what is real is consciousness, absolute reality, total awareness. Thoughts have no power. They appear to have power. You have given them the power.
You yourself have given your thoughts power by believing in them, by worshiping them, by doing what they command.
Your thoughts tell you to go kill, you go kill. They say, “Go scream,” you go scream, “Go be belligerent,” you go and become belligerent. You are controlled by your thoughts.
But the wise person will stop, and think, and look within and ask, "To whom do these thoughts come? Where do they come from?" Find out and you will realize they never existed to begin with. It's all an optical illusion.
Just like the rope and the snake you've all heard about. You think a rope is a snake because it’s dark and you can’t see, but once you find out the truth, that it's only a rope, you will never be fooled again. You will never be afraid again. So the thought's like the rope and the snake. They have no power, but you fear your thoughts, therefore you give them power. Once you realize they are non-entities, they are nothing, then you become yourself, and you’re free.
~ The Collected Works of Robert Adams Volume 1
There's something within you that knows what to do.
There is a power greater than you that knows how to take care of you without your help.
All you've got to do is to surrender to it.
Surrender your thoughts, your mind, your ego, to the current that knows the way.
It will take care of you.
It will take better care of you than you can ever imagine.
There is a power greater than you that knows how to take care of you without your help.
All you've got to do is to surrender to it.
Surrender your thoughts, your mind, your ego, to the current that knows the way.
It will take care of you.
It will take better care of you than you can ever imagine.
The Center of the Hurricane is Peace
People ask me, when I see peace, what do I mean? I don’t have to see peace where it’s peaceful. I feel and see peace in every situation. Whatever there appears to be going on, there is peace. Just as in the center of a hurricane, there is a peaceful circle, total stillness at the center of a hurricane. The same is true in the center of a tornado, in the cyclone.
There is a Center of Peace. We are all that Center.
The true peace is YOU.
~ Silence of the Heart
People ask me, when I see peace, what do I mean? I don’t have to see peace where it’s peaceful. I feel and see peace in every situation. Whatever there appears to be going on, there is peace. Just as in the center of a hurricane, there is a peaceful circle, total stillness at the center of a hurricane. The same is true in the center of a tornado, in the cyclone.
There is a Center of Peace. We are all that Center.
The true peace is YOU.
~ Silence of the Heart
YOU ARE THE SILENCE. THE SILENCE OF THE HEART.
Always ask yourself, ‘Why am I here?’ It is always good to ask yourself this. I don’t mean, why are you in the universe? Why are you here in this room, in this class, at ‘satsang’?
What do you want? What are you looking for?
You Are Spirit
Remember, if you are looking for any-thing, you are here for the wrong reason. For there is nothing that I can give you really, that you haven’t already got. There is absolutely I can do for you for I am not the doer. Neither are you.
You are already fulfilled. Everything I have is yours. There is absolutely nothing lacking in you. You are Spirit. You are not the body that appears to be a body. You are Spirit. Something absolutely different than what you can ever imagine. Everything that you can ever imagine, that you want to be, YOU ALREADY ARE.
You are the Imperishable SELF that has always been, that you always will be. Beyond birth, beyond death, beyond experiences, beyond doubts, beyond opinions. Beyond whatever it is your body is going through, whatever thoughts your mind thinks. YOU are beyond that.
You are the Silence. The Silence of the Heart. Know your SELF. Whenever you think of yourself, think of your-self as the SELF. Not the I Thought. Not the personal self, but as the Supreme Energy. Sat Chit Ananda. Nirvana. You are That. If you really believed you are That, you would be in total peace. There would be no- thing in this world that can ever disturb you. You would have no doubts. You would have Unalloyed Happiness, total joy. It would make no difference what your body is going through, or what thoughts come into your mind. Or what people are doing, or are not doing, who is right, who is wrong, who is enlightened, who is not. You would never think of things like this.
When you think you are human, you have duality to contend with. Right and wrong, healthy or sick, rich or poor, happy or sad, and the rest of it. But, when you have transcended this, you see yourself in a completely different light.
YOU Are the Light That Shineth in the Darkness
You see your SELF as the light. The Light that Shineth in the darkness. The Eternal Glow that can never diminish. Omnipresence, All Pervading. YOU are that One. YOU have always been that One. You are not what you think you are when you are sad. When you are angry. When you are upset. This is a lie. There is something within you that knows the Truth. That is the Truth. You are That.
Source: 'Silence of the Heart'
Always ask yourself, ‘Why am I here?’ It is always good to ask yourself this. I don’t mean, why are you in the universe? Why are you here in this room, in this class, at ‘satsang’?
What do you want? What are you looking for?
You Are Spirit
Remember, if you are looking for any-thing, you are here for the wrong reason. For there is nothing that I can give you really, that you haven’t already got. There is absolutely I can do for you for I am not the doer. Neither are you.
You are already fulfilled. Everything I have is yours. There is absolutely nothing lacking in you. You are Spirit. You are not the body that appears to be a body. You are Spirit. Something absolutely different than what you can ever imagine. Everything that you can ever imagine, that you want to be, YOU ALREADY ARE.
You are the Imperishable SELF that has always been, that you always will be. Beyond birth, beyond death, beyond experiences, beyond doubts, beyond opinions. Beyond whatever it is your body is going through, whatever thoughts your mind thinks. YOU are beyond that.
You are the Silence. The Silence of the Heart. Know your SELF. Whenever you think of yourself, think of your-self as the SELF. Not the I Thought. Not the personal self, but as the Supreme Energy. Sat Chit Ananda. Nirvana. You are That. If you really believed you are That, you would be in total peace. There would be no- thing in this world that can ever disturb you. You would have no doubts. You would have Unalloyed Happiness, total joy. It would make no difference what your body is going through, or what thoughts come into your mind. Or what people are doing, or are not doing, who is right, who is wrong, who is enlightened, who is not. You would never think of things like this.
When you think you are human, you have duality to contend with. Right and wrong, healthy or sick, rich or poor, happy or sad, and the rest of it. But, when you have transcended this, you see yourself in a completely different light.
YOU Are the Light That Shineth in the Darkness
You see your SELF as the light. The Light that Shineth in the darkness. The Eternal Glow that can never diminish. Omnipresence, All Pervading. YOU are that One. YOU have always been that One. You are not what you think you are when you are sad. When you are angry. When you are upset. This is a lie. There is something within you that knows the Truth. That is the Truth. You are That.
Source: 'Silence of the Heart'
I have been to many teachers, many Saints, many Sages. I was with Nisargadatta, Ananda Mai Ma, Papa Ram Dass, Neem Karoli Baba and many others, but never did I meet anyone who exuded such compassion, such love, such bliss, as Ramana Maharshi.
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.
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.
KARMA
=======
Student:
When something good happens to a person, good or bad,
we say it's his or her karma.
But the fact of the matter is they're not individuals.
So it can be said it's karma,
but not it's his karma or her karma.
Is that correct?
Robert:
As long as you believe in karma,
then karma will always grab you,
and turn you in all directions.
But when you ask
“For whom is there karma?"
and realize it's only for the personal I,
then there is no longer any karma.
As long as you believe you are the body then karma exists for you also,
for karma only exists for the body.
Karma does not exist for the self.
Karma only exists for the body and the mind. And when the body and the mind has been totally transmuted,
where is there karma?
It's gone.
It never was.
~ The Collected Works of Robert Adams
=======
Student:
When something good happens to a person, good or bad,
we say it's his or her karma.
But the fact of the matter is they're not individuals.
So it can be said it's karma,
but not it's his karma or her karma.
Is that correct?
Robert:
As long as you believe in karma,
then karma will always grab you,
and turn you in all directions.
But when you ask
“For whom is there karma?"
and realize it's only for the personal I,
then there is no longer any karma.
As long as you believe you are the body then karma exists for you also,
for karma only exists for the body.
Karma does not exist for the self.
Karma only exists for the body and the mind. And when the body and the mind has been totally transmuted,
where is there karma?
It's gone.
It never was.
~ The Collected Works of Robert Adams
Beings
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