The experiencer has to go.
The one who experiences samadhi, the one who experiences higher states of consciousness, has to go, has to be transcended, eliminated.
Therefore, as you practice "Who am I?"
whatever comes to you, you merely observe.
You realize back in your heart, that the observer has to go.
As long as there's somebody there to experience anything, you have not arrived anywhere.
So you continue to practice,
"Who am I?"
and you keep still.
The one who experiences samadhi, the one who experiences higher states of consciousness, has to go, has to be transcended, eliminated.
Therefore, as you practice "Who am I?"
whatever comes to you, you merely observe.
You realize back in your heart, that the observer has to go.
As long as there's somebody there to experience anything, you have not arrived anywhere.
So you continue to practice,
"Who am I?"
and you keep still.
To be calm is the greatest asset in the world.
It's the greatest siddhi, the greatest power you can have.
If you can only learn to be calm you will solve every problem.
This is something you must remember.
When you are perfectly calm, time stops.
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.
To be calm means you are in control.
You're not worried about the situation, the outcome.
What is going to happen tomorrow.
It's the greatest siddhi, the greatest power you can have.
If you can only learn to be calm you will solve every problem.
This is something you must remember.
When you are perfectly calm, time stops.
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.
To be calm means you are in control.
You're not worried about the situation, the outcome.
What is going to happen tomorrow.
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 will always be.
Beyond birth, beyond death, beyond experiences,
beyond doubt, 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.
that you want to be,
you already are.
You are the Imperishable Self
that has always been,
that you will always be.
Beyond birth, beyond death, beyond experiences,
beyond doubt, 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.
Whenever some conditions arises, catch yourself, by asking yourself,
"To whom does it come?"
Even if you have to do this a thousand times a day.
"To whom does it come?"
Even if you have to do this a thousand times a day.
That which is beyond all phenomena is you, your Self.
You are that witness, the observer.
It is you, no-one else but you.
You must become fearless.
You must observe things, without observing.
How do you observe things without observing?
You look, you see, you touch, you feel, you smell, but there is no reaction.
Like watching a movie.
You observe the movie, you watch the movie, but something inside tells you are not the movie.
But you're still watching the movie, enjoying the movie, crying with the movie, laughing with the movie, but you're not the movie.
So it is with life.
You are that witness, the observer.
It is you, no-one else but you.
You must become fearless.
You must observe things, without observing.
How do you observe things without observing?
You look, you see, you touch, you feel, you smell, but there is no reaction.
Like watching a movie.
You observe the movie, you watch the movie, but something inside tells you are not the movie.
But you're still watching the movie, enjoying the movie, crying with the movie, laughing with the movie, but you're not the movie.
So it is with life.
There is no difference between you and a tree or a mountain, a sky or the ocean.
The whole universe is composed of hydrogen atoms.
So you're nothing but a hydrogen atom.
How does it feel to be a hydrogen atom?
See how your mind begins to think?
It's difficult for most of you to stay silent.
You are not required to understand a thing I say.
I speak utter nonsense.
The whole universe is composed of hydrogen atoms.
So you're nothing but a hydrogen atom.
How does it feel to be a hydrogen atom?
See how your mind begins to think?
It's difficult for most of you to stay silent.
You are not required to understand a thing I say.
I speak utter nonsense.
Now remember, you are dreaming the dream, everything is going on in the dream. In your dream there is a sky, there are flowers, there is a moon, there are people, just like the world. And the dream seems to be external from you, but if you investigate, you see the dream is all taking place in your mind. While you are dreaming you still exist as the dreamer.
And in the dream somebody comes to you and tells you, “Look, there is going to be a recession. There is going to be a failure of the banks.” And you’ve got money tied up in stocks and bonds, IRA accounts and everything else. Everything is going down. You ask, “What should I do?”
You both decide, “Lets go see Robert.” So you come to see me, and I say, “Well, you can do two things. You can take your money and we’ll build a large ashram and help others see the truth that it’s only a dream. Or give everything away to the poor, to the homeless, and you won’t have any problems.” So they both say, “What? Are you crazy?”
And in the dream somebody comes to you and tells you, “Look, there is going to be a recession. There is going to be a failure of the banks.” And you’ve got money tied up in stocks and bonds, IRA accounts and everything else. Everything is going down. You ask, “What should I do?”
You both decide, “Lets go see Robert.” So you come to see me, and I say, “Well, you can do two things. You can take your money and we’ll build a large ashram and help others see the truth that it’s only a dream. Or give everything away to the poor, to the homeless, and you won’t have any problems.” So they both say, “What? Are you crazy?”
God has no problems.
Neither do you.
For you are That.
Neither do you.
For you are That.
Only when you can understand yourself as All Pervading Consciousness can you possibly understand that all the universe is an emanation of your mind. Everything that you see comes out of you.
When you awaken something happens that is unexplainable. There are no human words to explain. When you awaken you just understand, not even understand, you know, you feel, and those words are inadequate, you become… divine harmony. You are no longer fooled by person, place or thing. You no longer react. As an example, someone tells you, “Oh, you won the lotto, you won fifty billion dollars.” It’s OK. You do not become a slave to that. Someone tells you, “You lost fifty billion dollars.” Same thing, same reaction. You do not become a slave to that.”
---------- Leave the world alone, go within your Self ----------
What is the Self?
The Self is your real nature, that's what you are.
The Self is consciousness.
What is consciousness?
Consciousness is the power that is conscious of itself.
It is self-contained, it is omnipresent.
When you speak of love, of peace, of God, of joy, of happiness, of bliss, you're speaking of consciousness.
These words are just other words for consciousness.
Consciousness is you.
The Self, consciousness, they're all synonymous.
They all pertain to you.
Now what have you been seeing? What have you been reacting to?
The mind goes out and causes problems and you try to resolve them. You cannot. For when you resolve one problem another one pops up somewhere else and there's no end to it. It's like trying to figure out, what came first the seed or the tree? You never get anywhere, there's no solution. People have been trying to resolve problems, since the beginning of time and the world is getting worse. There's no adequate solution in trying to resolve anything in the outside. The great secret of course is to;
Leave the world alone, go within your Self and there you will find happiness, joy and peace.
But how do you go within yourself
How do you dive deep within yourself?
By asking the question, "Who am I?"
I have found this to be the fastest method there is, to awakening.
There are other methods, but personally I found this the fastest.
All you have to do is question, "Who am I?"
You do not have to answer, you do not have to analyze anything, you do not have to come up with any solution.
You simply ask the question, "From whence did 'I' come?
Where did the 'I' come from?
What is the source of 'I'?"
Many people have been practicing Jnana Marga have made the mistake of concentrating on the 'I' and this is why you do not get anywhere.
You concentrate on the source, not on the 'I'.
The 'I' is only an illusion.
It is only is something that appears to be like your body.
It has no momentum, it has no substance.
But yet you have to watch the 'I'.
You have to abide in the 'I'.
For it leads you to the source of existence.
The source of everything.
You do this by again questioning, "Where does the 'I' come from?"
You do not answer.
And you ask again, "Who am I?" You never answer.
If you answer, it is your mind playing games with you.
Your ego is very powerful, it does not wish to be destroyed.
It will play games with you.
You simply pose the question yet you never answer.
The answer will come in due time.
It will reveal itself to you as you.
You need patience, take your time.
Do not think it is going to happen overnight.
It may, it may not.
Yet do not think of those things.
If you're really busy working on your 'I', you will not have time to find fault in the world.
For the 'I' will take all of your attention.
What do you give your attention to now? What hurts you? What bothers you?
This continues simply because you are placing all of your attention, all of your focus on the thing that you think is wrong with your life or something that's disturbing you.
Let me remind you, you will never resolve anything that way. It may appear that you resolve it that way, but something else will pop up.
As an example: A lady is having problems with her co-workers. She can't get along with them. She says, "They're doing this to me, they're doing that to me, it's not my fault", so she quits her job and she moves to San Francisco. Gets a new job. Everything is okay for the first couple of months.
But then she finds the same problem with her new co-workers. Because she has taken herself with her. Yet she does not realize this. She thinks it's the people. She thinks it's the environment. She thinks it's the economy. But she never goes to search herself, to ask herself, "Why do I have this problem? Why do I perceive these things? Who is the perceiver? I am. Who am I? Who is the 'I' that perceives these problems? Where did that I come from? What is its source?"
You abide in the 'I', yet you do not concentrate on the 'I'.
You abide in the 'I', you follow the 'I' to the source.
One day you will awaken and you will become free.
But again, do not look for a timetable.
Do not try to make it happen this year, or tomorrow or yesterday.
It may, leave it alone.
Do the work that is necessary and everything will work out.
Time passes very fast.
Before you know it, it's time to leave your body.
More on Satsang - December 9, 1990
What is the Self?
The Self is your real nature, that's what you are.
The Self is consciousness.
What is consciousness?
Consciousness is the power that is conscious of itself.
It is self-contained, it is omnipresent.
When you speak of love, of peace, of God, of joy, of happiness, of bliss, you're speaking of consciousness.
These words are just other words for consciousness.
Consciousness is you.
The Self, consciousness, they're all synonymous.
They all pertain to you.
Now what have you been seeing? What have you been reacting to?
The mind goes out and causes problems and you try to resolve them. You cannot. For when you resolve one problem another one pops up somewhere else and there's no end to it. It's like trying to figure out, what came first the seed or the tree? You never get anywhere, there's no solution. People have been trying to resolve problems, since the beginning of time and the world is getting worse. There's no adequate solution in trying to resolve anything in the outside. The great secret of course is to;
Leave the world alone, go within your Self and there you will find happiness, joy and peace.
But how do you go within yourself
How do you dive deep within yourself?
By asking the question, "Who am I?"
I have found this to be the fastest method there is, to awakening.
There are other methods, but personally I found this the fastest.
All you have to do is question, "Who am I?"
You do not have to answer, you do not have to analyze anything, you do not have to come up with any solution.
You simply ask the question, "From whence did 'I' come?
Where did the 'I' come from?
What is the source of 'I'?"
Many people have been practicing Jnana Marga have made the mistake of concentrating on the 'I' and this is why you do not get anywhere.
You concentrate on the source, not on the 'I'.
The 'I' is only an illusion.
It is only is something that appears to be like your body.
It has no momentum, it has no substance.
But yet you have to watch the 'I'.
You have to abide in the 'I'.
For it leads you to the source of existence.
The source of everything.
You do this by again questioning, "Where does the 'I' come from?"
You do not answer.
And you ask again, "Who am I?" You never answer.
If you answer, it is your mind playing games with you.
Your ego is very powerful, it does not wish to be destroyed.
It will play games with you.
You simply pose the question yet you never answer.
The answer will come in due time.
It will reveal itself to you as you.
You need patience, take your time.
Do not think it is going to happen overnight.
It may, it may not.
Yet do not think of those things.
If you're really busy working on your 'I', you will not have time to find fault in the world.
For the 'I' will take all of your attention.
What do you give your attention to now? What hurts you? What bothers you?
This continues simply because you are placing all of your attention, all of your focus on the thing that you think is wrong with your life or something that's disturbing you.
Let me remind you, you will never resolve anything that way. It may appear that you resolve it that way, but something else will pop up.
As an example: A lady is having problems with her co-workers. She can't get along with them. She says, "They're doing this to me, they're doing that to me, it's not my fault", so she quits her job and she moves to San Francisco. Gets a new job. Everything is okay for the first couple of months.
But then she finds the same problem with her new co-workers. Because she has taken herself with her. Yet she does not realize this. She thinks it's the people. She thinks it's the environment. She thinks it's the economy. But she never goes to search herself, to ask herself, "Why do I have this problem? Why do I perceive these things? Who is the perceiver? I am. Who am I? Who is the 'I' that perceives these problems? Where did that I come from? What is its source?"
You abide in the 'I', yet you do not concentrate on the 'I'.
You abide in the 'I', you follow the 'I' to the source.
One day you will awaken and you will become free.
But again, do not look for a timetable.
Do not try to make it happen this year, or tomorrow or yesterday.
It may, leave it alone.
Do the work that is necessary and everything will work out.
Time passes very fast.
Before you know it, it's time to leave your body.
More on Satsang - December 9, 1990
The egolessness of all things. You have to have a deep realization, and a deep feeling, that no thing has an ego. No thing has a cause, again. There’s no reason for anything to be. No thing really exists. You are not a sinner. You are not an evil person. Your past is dead, forget it. You’re born again, now, and all is glory and joy. This is what it means to be born again, to realize that you exist now, in this moment. Not a moment ago, and never mind what’s going to happen a moment from now, but you exist in this moment as pure intelligence, unqualified love, absolute reality, unconditioned oneness. That’s you. You live in that reality. And again, that sets you free.
Once you know there is no mind, there is no longer the experience you’ve got to go through. All experiences cease. But be aware that all experiences have come from the mind. In reality there are no experiences. The life you’re living now is an experience.
As you look at the world without interpretation,
as you look at the world without attachment,
what the world is will be revealed to you.
as you look at the world without attachment,
what the world is will be revealed to you.
How do you create a dream? Does it start with a beginning? As soon as you start dreaming, there’s no creation. The dream just starts. Everything is already there. The trees, the sky, the earth, the flowers, the grass, people, insects, birds, flowers, everything just appears. Does it die in the end? You just wake up, and it’s all gone.
--------------- Divine Ignorance ---------------
The first step in spiritual awakening is to realize you're divinely ignorant, and that's not an insult. I have had people walk out when I've said this. That's why I say, “divinely ignorant.” With all humility you must realize this first of all that you are divinely ignorant.
Which means that you don't really understand anything. All your conceptual ideas. All your preconceived ideas. Everything you've learnt as a boy or as a girl. All the ideas and feelings and emotions that you grew up with, are basically wrong. They're all erroneous and they must be transcended.
The only way to begin to transcend this is to admit to yourself, "I am divinely ignorant and I really do no know what anything is. I really know nothing. I don't know what anything is". <
As an example: We don't know what a human being is. We have no idea what it is. It just appears at birth and we take it for granted. We don't know what a dog is. Where did it come from? How did it arrive? We know that it has four legs and it's a dog, so we give it a name, dog. Like someone gave you the name Mark, Ed or Mary. But what are these things for real? We don't know what a tree is. We gave it a name tree, but what is it really? It has leaves. Some trees produce oranges, some trees produce grapefruits. Why? What's its purpose? Where did it come from originally? And what came first, the tree or the seed? We don't know, we have no idea. We don't know what the sun is, or the moon, or the stars. Oh we can figure out is what they do, to keep us warm, the sun does. But we have no idea what it really is, why it exists? Why does anything exist? Why do we exist? We have no idea.
But we're brought up in a world of effects and we begin to respond to the effects of the world at an early age. We develop traits of jealousy, anger, mistrust, envy, fear, all these feelings are developed at an early age. And we don't know why? We act accordingly, we cause problems for ourselves. We try to solve them and we spend all of our lives solving problems. Before you know it we turn around, we're eighty, ninety years old, it's time to go, where are we? We have no idea.
And those of us who think we've accomplished something materialistically. We think we're doing good deeds. We've become successful in business, in world affairs and politics. Yet we have to leave it all behind, everything we worked so hard for. Nothing remains. When it's time to leave the body, everything goes, and we're alone. Therefore doesn't it make sense that we should search for the answers of life. What is life all about? Doesn't that make sense to go after that, for if we find that we will become free. But if we keep involving ourselves in our affairs, gain, loss, happy, sad, sick, healthy and so forth, we're wasting our precious time.
Divine Ignorance - October 21, 1990
The first step in spiritual awakening is to realize you're divinely ignorant, and that's not an insult. I have had people walk out when I've said this. That's why I say, “divinely ignorant.” With all humility you must realize this first of all that you are divinely ignorant.
Which means that you don't really understand anything. All your conceptual ideas. All your preconceived ideas. Everything you've learnt as a boy or as a girl. All the ideas and feelings and emotions that you grew up with, are basically wrong. They're all erroneous and they must be transcended.
The only way to begin to transcend this is to admit to yourself, "I am divinely ignorant and I really do no know what anything is. I really know nothing. I don't know what anything is". <
As an example: We don't know what a human being is. We have no idea what it is. It just appears at birth and we take it for granted. We don't know what a dog is. Where did it come from? How did it arrive? We know that it has four legs and it's a dog, so we give it a name, dog. Like someone gave you the name Mark, Ed or Mary. But what are these things for real? We don't know what a tree is. We gave it a name tree, but what is it really? It has leaves. Some trees produce oranges, some trees produce grapefruits. Why? What's its purpose? Where did it come from originally? And what came first, the tree or the seed? We don't know, we have no idea. We don't know what the sun is, or the moon, or the stars. Oh we can figure out is what they do, to keep us warm, the sun does. But we have no idea what it really is, why it exists? Why does anything exist? Why do we exist? We have no idea.
But we're brought up in a world of effects and we begin to respond to the effects of the world at an early age. We develop traits of jealousy, anger, mistrust, envy, fear, all these feelings are developed at an early age. And we don't know why? We act accordingly, we cause problems for ourselves. We try to solve them and we spend all of our lives solving problems. Before you know it we turn around, we're eighty, ninety years old, it's time to go, where are we? We have no idea.
And those of us who think we've accomplished something materialistically. We think we're doing good deeds. We've become successful in business, in world affairs and politics. Yet we have to leave it all behind, everything we worked so hard for. Nothing remains. When it's time to leave the body, everything goes, and we're alone. Therefore doesn't it make sense that we should search for the answers of life. What is life all about? Doesn't that make sense to go after that, for if we find that we will become free. But if we keep involving ourselves in our affairs, gain, loss, happy, sad, sick, healthy and so forth, we're wasting our precious time.
Divine Ignorance - October 21, 1990
Get rid of all questions, all doubts, all fears, all apprehensions about spiritual life and live in the moment unafraid, full of total joy and happiness and peace. And you will see you have always been enlightened you already are enlightened everything is okay. But if you keep worrying about when it's going to happen aren't you really saying: "I don't have it yet, there is something really wrong? I am not that and I have to become that?" For in truth you are already that. For in reality you're already enlightened there is nothing you have to do and nowhere you have to go. Be yourself. Be the way you are, totally, completely. The way you are is not the body nor the mind nor the experience. The way you are is not the doer.
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.
Always remember, the highest teaching in the world is silence.
We learn to shut up, to keep still, to stop talking.
Remember when you talk, you spoil the truth from your heart that wants to express itself.
We learn to shut up, to keep still, to stop talking.
Remember when you talk, you spoil the truth from your heart that wants to express itself.
---------- What Is A Jnani? ----------
We're going to talk about something I don't usually talk about which is what is a Jnani?
The reason I'm talking about it this evening is because many people ask me this question and I usually do not answer.
If they call me on the phone and they ask me, "Robert are you a Jnani?" I usually keep silent when such a question is asked.
But I've been keeping silent for a long time and people keep asking the question.
So I'll try to explain what this is all about.
What I usually do now when people ask me the question, "Are you a Jnani?" I say, "First tell me, what do you mean by you and what do you mean by a Jnani?" and they usually say, "You Robert, I mean is Robert enlightened?" And I have to laugh at that because Robert cannot be enlightened.
There is no such thing as Robert being enlightened.
Robert is an idiot (students laugh).
Robert has absolutely nothing to do with enlightenment.
So if I say, "I am a Jnani".
I'm referring to Robert and that is erroneous.
Therefore be careful when people tell you that.
When they tell you, "I'm enlightened.
I'm a Jnani".
Be very careful of people like that.
Because I refers to the I-thought.
The I-thought is an illusion, it's part of maya it's all a mirage.
The 'I' can never be enlightened.
'I' can never be enlightened it's impossible.
'I' can never be self-realized.
But the Self which is your self, my self the one Self, which exists all by itself.
Self contained absolute reality is enlightenment itself.
Now the question you may say...you may ask, "Is "I-am" enlightened?" "I-am" is enlightened when you speak of "I-am".
Not a you enlightened.
Not a you self-realized.
"I-am", enlightened, those words are all synonymous.
"I-am" enlightened is the same thing, but that is not a person place or thing.
In other words we're all the same.
We're all one.
There is really no difference between me and you.
I guess that the only difference is when you look at me you see a person.
You see a simple human being.
When I look at you I see the Self.
I see pure awareness.
Why do I see this?
I don't know?
For when you look at me you see yourself what you think you are.
Consequently when you think you're a human being and have human attributes you're going to see the same in me.
And you will ask me a silly question, "Am I enlightened?" If you want to know anything about enlightenment you have to become enlightened yourself.
If you want to know anything about self-realization you have to become self-realized yourself.
That is the only time you'll ever know this.
Other wise words are a waste of time.
Think of all the words we speak continuously they're really all a waste of time, they get us nowhere.
Think of all the words you've spoken since you were born, a lot of words.
You had a lot to say.
Where did it get you?
And here you are sitting here looking for enlightenment, looking for something.
Trying to become something and you believe words will do it.
Words are really totally meaningless even when we speak words of spirituality.
Such as absolute reality, Brahman, nirvana, ultimate reality those are just words.
What do these words really do for you, nothing.
What you want to do is contemplate the truth.
You have to ponder the truth in order to awaken.
You have to ponder the truth for instance, that Brahman is and because Brahman is, "I-am".
When you can ponder this, think about this what this really means to you.
What you're really saying when you say this you will see that something is happening inside of your heart.
Your heart is opening up and when your heart opens up you will find out that you are the Self, consciousness which has always been.
There never was a time when consciousness was not.
Consciousness accommodates you, accommodates the universe, accommodates the galaxies, accommodates God.
In other words everything that you physically see rests in consciousness.
But consciousness does not rest in anything.
It so beyond words and thoughts that trying to explain it is like trying to explain fire.
So we get to the stage where we stop looking for answers, we stop looking for anything and we just remain the way we are.
If you can only remain the way you are you will be the Self, for the Self knows no past, no future.
The Self doesn't know anything because it's everything.
It's self contained absolute reality.
So there is nothing for it to know since it is all the things already.
You can only know something when you are not that at all.
To know something means you don't know so you have to know.
But what we call consciousness is all-pervading.
It is everything.
So it's nothing.
You can only be nothing when you're everything.
When you think something is missing you have to search for something.
As an example most of us here are looking or self-realization looking for Buddhahood, we're looking to become one with the force.
The looking will keep you back.
For you are looking for something that already is.
It always has been.
Yet when you're looking for it you're saying it is not here.
So you have to search, you have to look.
It is the mind that causes all this nonsense.
It is the mind that makes you search for yourself when you're already the Self.
It is the mind that tells you all these stories that something is wrong someplace, that you're not happy, or that you're too happy.
When you hear that the mind does all this it is therefore your duty to transcend the mind, to stop the mind from doing these things, to stop the mind from leading you around from pillar to post, causing you happiness sometimes and causing you misery sometimes.
It is the mind that has created this whole universe.
Everything that you behold with your eyes, with your senses, you hear, you taste, you touch, you feel, it is really the mind.
Nothing else but the mind and yet there is no mind.
So what's going on around here.
We thought the mind caused our problems then we hear there is no mind, well both are correct.
As long as you believe you're a human being you've got a mind to contend with.
As long as you believe you are a person, place or thing you'll have a mind to contend with.
When you begin to sit still and you look upon the mind, the thoughts, you witness the thoughts, you watch the thoughts the mind slows down.
As you continue witnessing the thoughts, watching the thoughts the mind becomes weaker and weaker and weaker and you become happier and happier and happier.
Bliss comes when the mind is at rest.
Unalloyed happiness comes when the mind is inactive.
We're going to talk about something I don't usually talk about which is what is a Jnani?
The reason I'm talking about it this evening is because many people ask me this question and I usually do not answer.
If they call me on the phone and they ask me, "Robert are you a Jnani?" I usually keep silent when such a question is asked.
But I've been keeping silent for a long time and people keep asking the question.
So I'll try to explain what this is all about.
What I usually do now when people ask me the question, "Are you a Jnani?" I say, "First tell me, what do you mean by you and what do you mean by a Jnani?" and they usually say, "You Robert, I mean is Robert enlightened?" And I have to laugh at that because Robert cannot be enlightened.
There is no such thing as Robert being enlightened.
Robert is an idiot (students laugh).
Robert has absolutely nothing to do with enlightenment.
So if I say, "I am a Jnani".
I'm referring to Robert and that is erroneous.
Therefore be careful when people tell you that.
When they tell you, "I'm enlightened.
I'm a Jnani".
Be very careful of people like that.
Because I refers to the I-thought.
The I-thought is an illusion, it's part of maya it's all a mirage.
The 'I' can never be enlightened.
'I' can never be enlightened it's impossible.
'I' can never be self-realized.
But the Self which is your self, my self the one Self, which exists all by itself.
Self contained absolute reality is enlightenment itself.
Now the question you may say...you may ask, "Is "I-am" enlightened?" "I-am" is enlightened when you speak of "I-am".
Not a you enlightened.
Not a you self-realized.
"I-am", enlightened, those words are all synonymous.
"I-am" enlightened is the same thing, but that is not a person place or thing.
In other words we're all the same.
We're all one.
There is really no difference between me and you.
I guess that the only difference is when you look at me you see a person.
You see a simple human being.
When I look at you I see the Self.
I see pure awareness.
Why do I see this?
I don't know?
For when you look at me you see yourself what you think you are.
Consequently when you think you're a human being and have human attributes you're going to see the same in me.
And you will ask me a silly question, "Am I enlightened?" If you want to know anything about enlightenment you have to become enlightened yourself.
If you want to know anything about self-realization you have to become self-realized yourself.
That is the only time you'll ever know this.
Other wise words are a waste of time.
Think of all the words we speak continuously they're really all a waste of time, they get us nowhere.
Think of all the words you've spoken since you were born, a lot of words.
You had a lot to say.
Where did it get you?
And here you are sitting here looking for enlightenment, looking for something.
Trying to become something and you believe words will do it.
Words are really totally meaningless even when we speak words of spirituality.
Such as absolute reality, Brahman, nirvana, ultimate reality those are just words.
What do these words really do for you, nothing.
What you want to do is contemplate the truth.
You have to ponder the truth in order to awaken.
You have to ponder the truth for instance, that Brahman is and because Brahman is, "I-am".
When you can ponder this, think about this what this really means to you.
What you're really saying when you say this you will see that something is happening inside of your heart.
Your heart is opening up and when your heart opens up you will find out that you are the Self, consciousness which has always been.
There never was a time when consciousness was not.
Consciousness accommodates you, accommodates the universe, accommodates the galaxies, accommodates God.
In other words everything that you physically see rests in consciousness.
But consciousness does not rest in anything.
It so beyond words and thoughts that trying to explain it is like trying to explain fire.
So we get to the stage where we stop looking for answers, we stop looking for anything and we just remain the way we are.
If you can only remain the way you are you will be the Self, for the Self knows no past, no future.
The Self doesn't know anything because it's everything.
It's self contained absolute reality.
So there is nothing for it to know since it is all the things already.
You can only know something when you are not that at all.
To know something means you don't know so you have to know.
But what we call consciousness is all-pervading.
It is everything.
So it's nothing.
You can only be nothing when you're everything.
When you think something is missing you have to search for something.
As an example most of us here are looking or self-realization looking for Buddhahood, we're looking to become one with the force.
The looking will keep you back.
For you are looking for something that already is.
It always has been.
Yet when you're looking for it you're saying it is not here.
So you have to search, you have to look.
It is the mind that causes all this nonsense.
It is the mind that makes you search for yourself when you're already the Self.
It is the mind that tells you all these stories that something is wrong someplace, that you're not happy, or that you're too happy.
When you hear that the mind does all this it is therefore your duty to transcend the mind, to stop the mind from doing these things, to stop the mind from leading you around from pillar to post, causing you happiness sometimes and causing you misery sometimes.
It is the mind that has created this whole universe.
Everything that you behold with your eyes, with your senses, you hear, you taste, you touch, you feel, it is really the mind.
Nothing else but the mind and yet there is no mind.
So what's going on around here.
We thought the mind caused our problems then we hear there is no mind, well both are correct.
As long as you believe you're a human being you've got a mind to contend with.
As long as you believe you are a person, place or thing you'll have a mind to contend with.
When you begin to sit still and you look upon the mind, the thoughts, you witness the thoughts, you watch the thoughts the mind slows down.
As you continue witnessing the thoughts, watching the thoughts the mind becomes weaker and weaker and weaker and you become happier and happier and happier.
Bliss comes when the mind is at rest.
Unalloyed happiness comes when the mind is inactive.
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.
While you’re practicing your sadhana, keep in back of your mind someplace, there’s really no one who practices. After all who does the practice? It’s your body and your mind. If you can only remember there’s no body or mind that exists, then there’s no one to practice.
See what it's doing to you.
Watch how it controls you. It makes you emotional. It makes you believe something is wrong. It makes you angry.
All these things come from the mind.
The idea is to be aware of this.
The awareness alone leads you to the light, just being aware of that alone.
You don't have to know any book knowledge. Just be aware of what your mind really is. That's how you conquer your mind. By being aware of it, and no longer responding to it, no longer to react to the mind.
Something that usually makes you angry, before you'd respond, and you'd want to win the argument, but now your reaction is no reaction.
You simply smile and you watch.
When your mind sees there's no response it will become weaker and weaker, until it disappears.
It's just like arguing with a person. What happens if you stop arguing? The person goes away. They don't know what to think. They just won't have anything to do with you. They just leave.
So when you stop responding to your thoughts your mind will go away, and become weaker, and weaker, and weaker, until there is no mind.
Watch how it controls you. It makes you emotional. It makes you believe something is wrong. It makes you angry.
All these things come from the mind.
The idea is to be aware of this.
The awareness alone leads you to the light, just being aware of that alone.
You don't have to know any book knowledge. Just be aware of what your mind really is. That's how you conquer your mind. By being aware of it, and no longer responding to it, no longer to react to the mind.
Something that usually makes you angry, before you'd respond, and you'd want to win the argument, but now your reaction is no reaction.
You simply smile and you watch.
When your mind sees there's no response it will become weaker and weaker, until it disappears.
It's just like arguing with a person. What happens if you stop arguing? The person goes away. They don't know what to think. They just won't have anything to do with you. They just leave.
So when you stop responding to your thoughts your mind will go away, and become weaker, and weaker, and weaker, until there is no mind.
Your so-called enemy is really your best friend. The person you don't get along with is doing you a favor, for he or she is teaching you not to react.
Remember this.
You are not using self-inquiry to awaken.
If you do you will never awaken.
For you are using a method to become something you already are.
Have no attitude when you practice self-inquiry.
Have no desire, no need.
You are not using self-inquiry to awaken.
If you do you will never awaken.
For you are using a method to become something you already are.
Have no attitude when you practice self-inquiry.
Have no desire, no need.
Beings
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