– Transcript 73
R: It’s good to be with you again.
Many people believe that in order to become liberated you have to take some sort of action. This couldn’t be further from the truth. In truth you are already liberated and all you have to do to find your true nature is to renounce all activities. Not to be active. But to renounce mentally. When you renounce everything what is left over is the substratum of all existence. Which is absolute reality, pure awareness, the true Self.
When I say renounce I do not mean you have to leave your family, go sit in a cave or on a mountain top. I mean renounce mentally. Have nothing to do with your body. Your body will take care of itself. But mentally have no feeling for or against anything. You become neutral.
The less attention you pay to the world, the greater the realization comes upon you. The more attention you give to the world, the more delusion comes upon you.
There is an ancient story about a group of Rishis who lived in the forest. They were performing all kinds of rituals, occult practices in order to develop supernatural powers and become liberated. Now Shiva and Vishnu happened to be walking through the forest. They observed this. Vishnu said to Shiva, “Let’s go down and tell the Rishis the mistake they’re making. And Shiva retorted, “No, those Rishis are too dogmatic in their views. You can’t say anything to them, they think they know what they’re doing, but I have a plan.”
Shiva turned into a handsome lad of about 24, well built, easy to look at and Vishnu turned into a beautiful maiden, vivacious, provocative. And then they walked down into the Rishis’ camp. When the Rishis saw the beautiful maiden they immediately fell in love with her and stopped doing their occult practices. The Rishis had wives and when the wives saw the handsome young man who was really Shiva, they also immediately fell in love with him. There was complete confusion, chaos.
And two of the Rishis said, “Look what these two people have done to us. We’ll fix them.” And they conjured up an elephant and a tiger to attack them. But Shiva’s power was greater and he turned the elephant into a rope that he tied around his waist and he turned the tiger into a tiger skin. Where he sat down. Immediately the Rishis and the wives realized who they were and they paid obeisance to them sitting down for instruction. Shiva said, “You can never attain realization by practicing occult austerities. You can never attain realization by being active. It is only as you renounce everything, then you awaken to your true Self.“Now let’s talk about you. Many of you have been performing yoga practices, meditations, chanting, pranayama and various techniques in order to awaken. But I say to you that this will never cause you to awaken. It will bring you good feelings, it will bring you a semblance of peace, but you will never awaken through the practice of yoga unless the yoga leads to self-inquiry, or it leads to complete surrender of the ego. If you practice anything else it inflates the ego.
Take for example a person who practices Hatha Yoga. They become better and better and their ego inflates. And they say, “See what I can do? I can tie myself into a pretzel. I can put one foot around my neck and stay like that for three years.” Yet what does it do for you as far as your awakening goes? Nothing. All you’re really doing is prolonging the body by a few years. And since everything is preordained it really doesn’t matter.
You shouldn’t conceive of new ways to build up your body or your mind to improve your intelligence. You should rather renounce those things and realize that you are not the body-mind phenomena and renounce everything that tells you are. Do not go after occult practices that is the worst thing you could ever do. For you will be stuck in the occult for thousands of incarnations. Rather become free of the whole thing.
Remember when I say renounce everything, I’m speaking of mentally, not especially physically. For where you are now that’s where you belong physically. Everything is preordained. You are in your right place. If you don’t like where you are the only way to get out of it is to mentally renounce it by turning within, going into your heart on the right side of your chest and becoming liberated. Everything else is a waste of energy.
Take a look at your life, what do you do with your life, with yourself? How do you spend your days? Whatever you do determines what happens to you from there on in.
You should practice to stop your thinking, stop the thinking process, stop thinking right now. Do you feel how good that is? When you stop your thoughts there is no yesterday and there is no tomorrow. There is only this moment and if you keep your thoughts still this moment will turn into tomorrow. Get rid of opinions, judgements.
Even while most of you are sitting here tonight and while I’m talking, you have an opinion. This is what keeps you from awakening. What difference does it make. See the truth within yourself. Know who you are. You are not the frail body that gets older every year and has so many years to live on this earth. That is not you, do not think of that. But rather turn your thoughts within yourself. Turn yourself inside out.
Listen to your mind. Listen how it tells you how things are supposed to be. Watch your thoughts, observe. Notice that you have no control of your mind because your thoughts are telling you how things are and you’re listening. Therefore there has to be a way to stop this. And the way is to ask yourself, “To whom do these thoughts come?
Whose thinking these thoughts?” Of course you will say, “I am. Who am I? What is the source of I?” While you’re doing this if other thoughts come to you, do the same procedure, “To whom do these thoughts come? They come to me, I think them. Who am I? What is the I?” You’re focusing on the I. And as you continue to say, “I-I,” to yourself, you will
notice that the I goes right into the heart. On the right side of your chest. When that happens all of your thoughts will stop.
You will become quiet. The mind will become quiescent, still, like a motionless lake. How good that makes you feel. It’s good to get rid of the anger, the hate, the animosity, the doubt, suspicion. All that will go when you follow the I to the heart. You have to ask yourself, “Who is following the I? Who is it that follows the I? I, I’ve been following the I. Who am I?” You never answer that. You simply ask the question again and again, “To whom comes the I?” If the thoughts start again you ask, “To whom do these thoughts come?” You do the whole procedure over and over again.
Let’s practice that. Close your eyes and as the thoughts come to you, ask yourself, “To who do they come? They come to me. I think them. Then who am I? (pause) Who am I? (pause) Who am I? (pause) Who am I? (pause) Who am I?(pause) Who am I? (pause) Who am I? (pause) Who am I? (pause) Who am I?(pause) Who am I? (pause) Who am I? (pause) Who am I? (long pause) They come to me. I think them. Then who is this I? Where is its source? (pause) Who am I? (pause) Who am I? (pause) Who am I?
(pause) Who am I? (pause) Who am I? (pause) Who am I? (pause) Who am I? (pause) Who am I? (pause) Who am I? (pause) Who am I? (pause) Who am I? (pause) Who am I?
(pause) Who am I?(pause) Who am I? (pause) Who am I? (pause) Who am I? (pause) Who am I?(pause) Who am I? (pause) Who am I? (pause) Who am I? (pause) Who am I?(pause) Who am I? (pause) Who am I? (pause) Who am I? (long pause in silence)”
Would anyone like to share their experiences they had?
Fred (SF): Yes I would Robert. It occurred to me when I was asking myself, “Who am I?” That if I answer that question by saying, “I am a white American male sitting in a living room in Los Angeles,” I thereby cut myself off from all other beings both sentient or otherwise. Whereas the reality of this situation there no separation between any individuals or inanimate objects, that we’re equal parts of the universal consciousness. In other words, I might say I’m a drop in the ocean of consciousness. In as much as consciousness is the only reality. Is that a pretty accurate…
R: Too much rhetoric. (SF: Okay that’s what you told me last time.) Everything should be very simple. (SF: Okay.) When you do the procedure correctly. Your mind becomes quiet, still. There are no words. When you experience absolute reality, there is no one left to experience and there is nothing to say. Therefore all the things you’re telling me are well and good. But they come out of your mind. (SF: And not out of my heart?) Your heart wouldn’t tell you that. (SF: Away from the edge end of the heart, we’re not in this state?) When you come out of your heart you become silent. (SF: Silent?) Silent. (SF: Sir?) Silent. Quiet.
(SF: Yeah.) When you come out of your head all kinds of stories come. Some good, some bad and that’s your ego playing tricks on you. Therefore when you start thinking those thoughts even though they are virtuous thoughts, you must ask yourself, “To whom do they come?” And start all over again. (SF: Thank you.) R: George?SG: Robert, it was fun. Like always we come to a wall and don’t quite go through. A problem came up and instead of thinking of the problem to make a choice that I need to make, I said, “To whom does this thought come?” And so we kept going back into the I and we never faced up to that so-called problem. Never made a choice. My question to you Robert is, from this day forth every-time that problem for which I need to make a choice comes up, can I say, “To whom does this thought come?” And keep going back into the I and never think about it and yet when the time comes that that has to be dealt with, again say, “To whom does this thought come?” And stay in the I and then the choice will be taken for automatically with no thought?
R: Exactly. (SG: Boy does that take guts but we’re going to try to go for this, but I’m driving a car too while I’m doing this, is this dangerous?) Be careful. (laughter) (SG: It’s fun.) There is a power which animates your body. Your body doesn’t exist. But as long as you believe that it exists it will be well taken care of without your help.
Glen (SG): While I’m replying to someone who is telling me to do something or asking me, instead of trying to give him an answer, can I just stay with the I-thought and the correct words will just come out?
R: If you can stay with the I-thought everything will take care of itself. There is really nothing else you have to do, but to stay with the I, abide in the I. (SG: This is the most fantastic challenge I’ve ever faced.) It shouldn’t even be a challenge it should just be an experience. There is no one competing against anyone. There is no one challenging. You simply ask the question, trace the I-thought to the source and awaken.
(silence)
Glen (SG): Slower pace than with thinking?
R: Everything slows down. Time slows down, space slows down. (SG: Would it take 3 hours to do a job that ordinarily takes a half hour?) It has nothing to do with your body.
Your body will go on and do what it’s supposed to and do everything better. But your mind will stop and you will become all pervading, omnipresent. (SG: Will the same amount of time elapse?) As far as your body is concerned.
R: I realize it’s difficult for some of you to imagine how it is to function without a mind. Yet look at the tree, look at the sun, look at the stars, the earth. Everything is happening in the right way in order to sustain and maintain life. Who thinks? There are no thoughts. It’s just a happening. Everything just is. In the same way your so called physical body is part of the Maya, of the illusion. It will be carried along, maintained and sustained without thoughts.
As soon as you begin to think you spoil it. After all what is the mind? Simply thoughts of the past and of the future.
Never identify with your problems. Always identify with pure awareness, your real nature. Consciousness, emptiness.
(silence)
You want to do something. You want me to say something profound, but I tell you there is nothing profound under the sun to say. Everything is simplicity there is nothing to do. There is no place to go. There is no thing to become. You are that, just the way you are.
Awaken to your true Self which is what you are right now.
In other words there are not two of you. There is not your body and Brahman or consciousness. There is only consciousness and that is what you are, just the way you are right now. There is really nothing you have to do, wake up! There is really no practice you have to partake in. Wake up!
(silence)
I know it sounds contradictory sometimes when I tell you there is no practice you have to partake in and in the other breath I tell you you’ve got to practice self-inquiry. But it’s really not a contradiction. For as long as you believe you are not the Self then you have to practice something until you know you’re the Self. If I didn’t give you anything to practice what would you do with yourself. You’d worry, you’d fret, you’d think of all sorts of negative things.
So when you practice, “To whom do these thoughts come? Who am I?” It makes you one pointed. It improves your concentration. When you can finally open your eyes and say, “I am free, just the way I am. I have always been free. There never was a time when I was not and there will never be a time when I will be not.”
Mary do you have the Jnani oath?
Mary (SM): Yes I do Robert. This is “The Jnani.’ (Refer to page 9 of this book) (Mary reads The Jnani)
R: So what else is new?
Glen (SG): Robert when she reads that you don’t think about the words or the meanings, what is your experience?
R: No experience. (SG: You hear the words and instantly do you know the meaning or is there no meaning involved?) No meaning involved. (SG: Then what’s the difference between saying those words and, “Johnny is a little boy and fell down the stairs and broke his nose?”) You mean as far as I’m concerned? (SG: Yeah.) There is no difference.
SH: Far out.
Glen (SG): Life just goes on for you and everything is just okay?
R: If you say so? (laughter) (SG: And there’d be no difference in your reaction to her words compared to someone who came in, walked in with a gun and said, “I’m counting to three and killing you now!”) There is no difference. (SG: No difference.) SM: Excuse me, may I say something? Didn’t you hear the words when it says the Jnani rests in his own Sat-Chit-Ananda svarupa. That’s what it is. So it doesn’t matter what anybody says.
Glen (SG): What’s svarupa? (R: Your nature, your real nature.) SH: Good word. (R: Sounds good.) Umm sounds good.SG: Different people in this room ask you different questions and you give different answers. So I was thinking, you just move your mouth or the mouth moves and the different words come out. Without thought. Is that right?
R: What can I do? Can’t help it. (laughter) (SG: It’s all right, I’m just trying to…) SH: You’re a hopeless case.(laughter) (R: I’m all finished.) All burnt up.
Glen (SG): Something in you must hear a difference in the different questions because different words come out? (R: Sure it does.) But you’re oblivious to that something that hears a difference and knows a different answer — words of a different answer must come out?
R: Take the example of the blackboard and the images of the world are written on the blackboard. But the blackboard receives the image within itself. It is everything else.
Therefore when a certain image is put on a blackboard, the answer is different due to the fact that the image is the blackboard and the blackboard is the image. So when you come to me and ask me something the blackboard gives the answer that you need because you’re already in the blackboard. There is one knower and when Henry asks me something, Henry is also on the blackboard but there is still only the one. But when the answer comes out it is an answer specifically for you because it takes human form. It becomes an image when it goes out. So every word that goes out is an image. So you’re specifically answered for the question that you asked. Therefore five people ask me the same question, I will give five different answers depending where they’re at. (SG: It’s beautiful.) I don’t know if that’s beautiful, but that’s the way it is. (SG: Well I know it’s custom made. (laughter) That’s what’s beautiful.) That’s your opinion.
Fred (SF): When you give the positive assistance, you don’t think what’s appropriate, the answer just comes, is that correct? (R: That’s right.) Thank you.
R: If I had to think there would have to be a thinker. That means that the mind would have to be active. Therefore you can say, consciousness answers not the mind. But again that’s a paradox because consciousness has nothing to say. But as far as you’re concerned the answer comes from consciousness. But in reality only consciousness exists and nothing else. So the question and the answer are one.
SK: I hope this isn’t a stupid question, but if you go into a market. Do you go shopping anymore? (R: Sure.) Okay, if you go to a market and there is three different coffees, right — and ones twelve 12 ounces and ones 13 ounces and ones 14 ounces and ones 109 and ones 29 and ones — do you do the math?
R: No I just grab whatever is convenient. (laughter) (SK: Is that the way it’s done?
Could you conceivably do the math and say look I’ve only got 6 dollars in my pocket here so I’ve got to - I have to get certain things here so maybe I have to get the smaller size coffee. Do you go through…) No, all that takes care of itself. I pick whatever I like and it always sort of works out. (SK: It always comes out right? Do you ever leave a place where you intended to go in and get a stick of butter and six other things but you couldn’t afford the butter?) Nope. (SK: You don’t?) Umm. (SK: Geez that happens to me all the time.) (students laugh) That’s because you’re calculating too much.
Jay (SJ): The other question is do you ever end up having to wash the dishes?
R: No. That’s why I stay where I am, so I don’t have to wash dishes.(laughter) SK: Could one be enlightened and still be a mathematician or a physicist?
R: Definitely. (SK: Well would you be using your mind as a tool and regard it as a…) Nope, you wouldn’t be using your mind at all because there is no mind to use. But automatically the things will be done that have to be done because your body in the world comes under the law of karma and karma takes care of everything. So if you were meant to be a physicist, your body would become a darn good physicist but you would have nothing to do with it.
SH: But you would witness it? (R: Yeah.)
Glen (SG): But when a physicist is reading a book would he be assimilating the knowledge without thinking?
R: He would be reading the book like everyone else does. But it’s consciousness that reads the book and the knowledge is in consciousness. So whatever he needs to do will be done. (SG: Without thinking?) No mind, no thoughts.
SK: Isn’t that true for a physicist whether he’s enlightened or not, he’s doing it without his mind?
R: No because a physicist has to think about the project he’s working on. But an enlightened physicist would do the work but the same thoughts will not be there. The work will just be done in the now. (SK: But isn’t that the same with the unenlightened physicist? When they’re not thinking about themselves they’re just like getting the concepts as learning?) It appears that way but an unenlightened physicist has to remember certain things and has to do certain things at the time they’re working and their mind is always active.
Whereas the enlightened physicist their mind is not active at all but they are still doing certain things in the same way, but it’s quite different. In the last analysis no one is doing anything. It appears as if things are being done, but there is no one doing a thing.
SK: But as a physicist there seems like there is sort of three levels, if nothings happened it’s all a dream. Then there is just the doing of the physicist like the enlightened ones and then the unenlightened seems to be doing that plus doing something with his mind?
R: The unenlightened always appears to be doing something with is mind and can be disturbed and stopped. But the enlightened physicist will not get disturbed over anything. But will continue the project until the end and will not even think about it. I know it’s difficult to see how this can be, how you can do a project without thinking. That is why I say it’s difficult to think about it. If you do not think about it it will come easier.
SK: It seems to me that it’s hard to think of getting a project and thinking about it. It seems like everything gets done without thinking and then afterwards you thought you did it.
R: That’s true. You will do your work it’ll be done and the enlightened person will not even think about who did it. (SK: But it seems like the unenlightened, it’s the same thing but they think they did it.) Yes.ST: Why is it that the body is your Self and the world is the Self and the table and everything around you is the Self, why shouldn’t the thoughts be the Self as well? Why should not thinking be something to be aspired to. Why not just regard thought as being nothing different from what you are?
R: Due to the fact, thoughts come from your mind only. When there is no mind there are no thoughts. But as long as you have a mind the whole world appears the way it is. And you believe you are a body, you believe there is a world, there is a universe, you believe there is a God and everything that you see. It all emanates from your mind. When the mind is killed all that disappears and there are no thoughts. But your body continues it’s work, so it appears.
Jay (SJ): Robert, at the same time a week or two ago you were talking about thoughts still occur but we’re just not attached to them, that you identify with the reality you’re not fooled by them.
R: Well I hear people speaking and I read what’s going on in the papers and I watch TV sometimes, but there are no thoughts that linger. Whatever I watch, whatever I see, whatever I hear, it’s like it goes in one ear and out the other. It’s all spontaneous.
Therefore nothing is ever lingering, nothing is holding on. There is total freedom. Everything is just a happening. (SJ: Thoughts arise continuously and then you just release them?) No thoughts arise at all. (SJ: What is there not to linger mean?) What I see, what I hear, I’m looking at you but the thought of you does not linger. It’s as if I’m looking at myself. (SJ: The thought doesn’t linger but the thought is there in some way?) The thought of Jay does not linger. Again it’s like the image on the blackboard. The blackboard is consciousness. The blackboard knows that there is an image written on the blackboard. But the blackboard does not think about the image. It’s just oblivious to the image but it knows that it’s there.
So I see you as well as I see everything else, but yet I am oblivious to everything. But everything is still happening. But there is nothing to hold onto. There are no thoughts to decipher anything, or to analyze anything, or to react to anything.
SH: Is oblivious the right word? (R: Sure.) Because you are perceiving, there is perception?
R: There is perception to an extent but there is also oblivion. By oblivion I mean emptiness. Everything is the void. Everything is emptiness. But yet I see all the images coming and going and everything appears and disappears. (SH: But you’re not oblivious to the image the moment it occurs? It doesn’t linger but there isn’t obliviousness when it occurs…) Right. (SH: …or there would be no…) In the moment it is not oblivious, that’s true. (SH: That’s why I question the word oblivious.) Oblivious comes immediately after. (SH: Yeah.) SJ: Like the unenlightened physicist, he’s so into his work he’s enlightened for the moment until after the work is done and then reflects on…
R: He still believes he is the doer. (SJ: But during the work if a person is so involved, they even forget that temporarily?) Because they believe they are the doer so they don’t really forget it. They say, “I did this project.” (SJ: After?) “I completed this, I did that, I’m great!”
(SJ: So it always lingers as unconscious…) It’s in the unconscious, the ego, it’s all part of the ego.
SV: Out of the blackboard, out of reality - is there also, is there mental bodies, emotional bodies, physical bodies that come out of the blackboard? (R: No.) Just the physical body comes out of the blackboard?
R: Just the physical. (SV: What about the saying, “What you think you become. That’s where you’ll be.” That also means thoughts are energy? And the body is actually energy itself.
When you break down into its essence. Then all this is the thought of Ishvara?) That is all out of the mind. The mind creates Ishvara. The mind creates all these things. Therefore when there is no mind how can there be anything left? (SV: Right, so that means the mental and the physical are the same, they are nothing, they’re one. Then would they both be gone?) They both are gone, they don’t exist. (SV: As far as the universe, Ishvara’s gone?) Ishvara’s gone. Ishvara never existed to begin with. (laughter) But if you want an Ishvara you can have him.
(laughter)
SK: Robert, do you ever forget your house keys? (laughter) R: No, not really, but I don’t think about them either. (SK: How does this relate to certainty or uncertainty. It seems like the role of thinking is to deal with uncertainty. The greater the uncertainty the greater the thought.) What do you mean?
SK: Well it seems like the reason we think is because there is something important that we’re not sure of or it’s an unknown. So it would seem that if you would stop thinking that there would also be then a sense of certainty or there would no longer be a question of uncertainty?
R: What you are saying is mental. That is a concept of the mind. But when there is no mind there is no question of certainty or uncertainty. Those concepts don’t exist. The mind has concepts. The mind wants to be certain about something or it’s uncertain about something. But when there is no mind there is no one to have those experiences. All experiences are of the mind.
SV: Whenever we start categorizing and we start defining ourselves, it’s all mind.
R: It’s all mind. (SV: Defines with the finite?) All mind.
SH: The mind and the me always go together. If the mind disappears, the me has to disappear too. (R: Yes, yes. Mind and me…) Ego mind.
R: Yours and mine, they all go. Everything disappears.
Do we have any announcements of any kind? About the lessons?
(Student talks about transcripts and the need to have them returned and help needed to copy transcripts for others. Then Robert wraps up satsang.) Remember to love yourself, to worship yourself, to kneel to yourself because God dwells in you as you. God bless you I love you peace. Until we meet again. Arrivederci.
(laughter)
(tape ends)
Absätze ohne Sprecherpräfix gehören dem zuletzt genannten Sprecher — so steht es im Buch, wo der Präfix nur den Anfang einer Rede markiert. Die Zuordnung ist eine Folgerung dieser Ausgabe. Namen in Klammern sind aus dem Text erschlossen: sicher belegt sind SM = Mary, SF = Fred, SJ = Jay, SC = Nate, wahrscheinlich SG = Glen, SR = Jorge. Alle anderen Kürzel bleiben stehen, weil der Beleg nicht trägt.