– Transcript 126
R: It is good to be with you once again. I welcome you with all my heart. It’s good to have you here out of the rain, the wet streets, thunderstorms. You’ve come to a dry place. You’re here, this means something to you. That you would leave your warm home to come here is a sign that there is something within yourself that is anxious to come out.
You would brave the storms, the snow, the sleet and you have arrived. A good sign. Not for me for you.
Always try to remember that this is not a prayer meeting or a philosophical meeting or any kind of meeting. This is satsang. Satsang is where the Self meets the Self. Satsang is where you meet the reality of your Self. There is only one Self. You are that. So satsang is different than most meetings you go to. There is something here that most of you can feel. Something within you that says I’m tired of this life, with all its confusion. All the nonsense that goes on in the world. The good times, the bad times. The constant change. There has to be something else. Something within you says that.
Doesn’t it, have you heard it? Have you heard something within you talking to you? If you did you’re just as crazy as me. (students laugh) There is nothing to talk to you.
Why do you want something to talk to you? You’re nobody important. Nobody’s going to talk to you or tell you anything. This is because you do not exist as a body. You do not exist as a soul. You just do not exist. So really there is nobody that has to talk to you at all.
When you hear voices, when you see visions, always remember this is all an emanation of the mind. The mind puts on these shows. The mind loves to entertain you. It will show you all kinds of things, better than going to the movies. It will fantasize. It will make you believe that you’ve seen a vision. That you’ve seen light. That you’ve been transformed. It’s all nonsense.
The truth is of course that you are already that. There is nothing you have to become. There is nothing really that you have to do. You simply have to realize, “I am that”
and let go. You are not this, you are that! Why aren’t you this? I don’t know but you’re that. What is that? Find out. Find out what that is. How do you find out? By simply awakening. How do you awaken? By letting go. Stop holding on. Do not hold on to your life, your so-called life. Let go of fear.
Some people are afraid to let go because they think they will die. What is death? It is simply like going to sleep. You’re not afraid to go to sleep. As a matter of fact we look forward to going to sleep. And when we awaken from the sleep we say, “I have rested. I feel good. I feel energetic.” What people call death is the same thing. You just go to sleep and then you feel great. You feel wonderful. You are finished with this cumbersome body as it appears. It’s all beautiful.
Most people are dead right now. They think they’re alive. They’re fighting for existence. Trying to survive, debating, arguing. That’s death. Believing that you are the body-mind phenomena is death. For you’re not living. To live is to die to the body. To die to the mind. Not to have one fearful thought. Not to have one belief that something is wrong somewhere, somehow. Not to think you have to do this or do that or go here or go there. To be still. To stay where you are. To be happy, blissful. This is to be alive.
You should be able to sit in your home and be filled with joy and filled with so much happiness that there is nothing that you can possibly want to do in this world to have any more happiness. To feel and realize that no one anywhere in this world can give you one ounce of happiness more than you are now. To feel that no one in this world can give anything that you don’t already possess.
It’s really funny to me that people run all over the place to entertain themselves, to be entertained, where the true Self is at peace right now. The true Self is total bliss right now. There is nothing you need. There is no one that can make you happy. Oh it appears that way. I’m sure you can say this person makes me so happy. My new home makes me so happy. My new car makes me so happy. My new friends make me so happy. Those are all temporary conditions. They have to end. Everything that is born has to end. This means every new person that comes into your life. Every new gadget that comes into your life. Every new environment that you go to will first bring you total happiness, so it appears to you then when it comes time to leave it will bring you unhappiness. For you will have to give it up even if you have to give it up when you die so-called, when it’s time to leave your body. The reason we leave our body as it appears is because we refuse to give up everything when we are alive. Think about that.
If you were able to give up everything, mentally. Give everything up in your mind including your body and your mind. If you’re able to do this there would be no need to die. No one would die. Remember death is only to free you from your attachments. That is the only reason death exists.
Some of us become so miserable with our attachments. When I speak the word attachment I mean everything. Say you’re ill. You worry about your body. You concern yourself with your body. This is attachment. As long as you are attached to your illness by observing it, by talking about it, by trying to heal it, by trying to do anything to it, you are attached and you have to die. Isn’t that wonderful? So you can become free because you refuse to believe and know that you are already free. You are still looking for someone to free you. You are still looking for a secret mantra or a secret esoteric teaching that no one knows. You are looking for the person who can give you something that you think you do not have. And you go searching all over the world. You’ll never find it because it doesn’t exist. You have been that yourself all along. That has been you. And we go searching for
happiness, we go searching for realization, we go searching for the right mate. We’re always searching, looking trying to find something that will bring us greater happiness, greater joy and greater peace.
It cannot be done. It appears sometimes as if it is happening like this. For you will find the right mate, the right guru, the right book, the right environment and so forth. It will appear as if you found these things. How long do they last before you become disillusioned again, before you become used to conditions where you are living, the guru, the mate you take for granted, when you’ve been with a person a long time and you continue searching and keep looking, you’re looking in vain. Try to remember this, “You are the one.
You are the one you’ve been searching for all these years. You are the one.”
If you believe you’ve got problems, you’ve got troubles when you are in deep sleep do you have these problems, these troubles? Of course not. Yet when you awaken to this world, the so called problems, the troubles seem to be staring you in the face. But you didn’t have them when you were in deep sleep where did they go? This is a hint. A hint to show you that they never really existed. If they really existed you would be experiencing them in deep sleep. But when you are in deep sleep you wake up refreshed and you say, “I slept well.” But as soon as you become cognizant of this world your so-called problems return, whatever they may be.
Whether they are fears of the unknown. Whether it’s lack or limitation. Whether it’s a disease, whatever it may be. It did not exist when you were in deep sleep but it exists now when you are awake. It shows you that these are not permanent problems. For you would feel them continuously without stopping. They would be in your mind 24 hours a day. But they’re not. Only when you are waking to this world. You therefore have to find out, “To whom do these problems come?” I didn’t have these in deep sleep.
As a matter of fact I was talking to a person in the park this morning, in the rain, who had cancer. And he was very worried because he didn’t think he was going to live. I asked him the question as just explained here. “Do you feel this cancer when you are in deep sleep.” He said, “No.” “How do you feel when you awaken?” He said, “For a few minutes I feel fine until I remember the cancer.” So I asked him, “What do you think would happen to you if you didn’t remember the cancer? What do you think would happen if you were just the way you were when you were in deep sleep, no memory of any disturbance?” Of course that was too much for him, he couldn’t answer. He didn’t know what I was talking about. But the fact is he had no cancer. He didn’t have any cancer. The ego did, so it appears. And since there is no ego there is no cancer. It would be terrible if there was a real ego and we would have to get rid of the ego to remove the cancer.
So the point I’m trying to make is there is no one to have anything good or bad.
No one like that exists. Do not feel that you have an ego and you have to get rid of that ego, thinking of this all of the time. This will be your downfall. It is true in the books they tell you that the ego has to go. They’re trying to explain to you in words that there is some belief somewhere inside of you that makes you believe that there is something wrong someplace, something isn’t going right, so philosophy and psychology gives it a name, the unconscious mind or the ego. And then when we get into spiritual work we work on removing the ego. Transcending the unconscious mind. This is a mistake. Why are we trying to get rid of something that never existed? How wonderful it would be for you if you could just realize this moment that none of these things exist. You are absolute reality, absolute reality! That’s it! Just by hearing this something should happen.
You are absolute reality! Absolute reality means pure choice-less effortless awareness. Pure choice-less effortless awareness is like space. You are that space all pervading.
No thing can attach itself to that space, to that pure awareness. There is no thing that can attach itself to it. Your body appears to attach itself to it. Your conditioning in life appears to attach itself to it. All the so-called experiences of your life appears to attach itself to it.
But this is only an appearance, like a mirage, like a magic show. Where things seem to appear but they do not appear.
To spend your time trying to get rid of your ego, trying to get rid of your body, trying to get rid of your mind is a total waste of energy. Even working with vichara, atma-vichara, self-inquiry this is for beginners. This is when a person comes from the street who has never heard of anything like this and wants to find total freedom. You therefore teach them self-inquiry. You teach them to be observant of their thoughts, to become the witness.
But I’m talking to all of you people here tonight, 90 percent of you have been around me for a long time. I can tell you truthfully stop searching for anything. For you’re searching for something that has never existed. All you really have to do is recognize what I said and you will be home free.
You are alive in this moment as Sat-Chit-Ananda. There’s nothing else. It is only your mind that begins to think about these things that I speak to you that spoils you from becoming awakened. If your mind was able to remain still. If your mind was able to be totally quiet and totally still you would awaken, you would be totally awakened. But because you cannot still your mind you have to practice sadhana and go through the various techniques.
Remember what these techniques are for. To still the mind, to become so one-pointed that everything in this world will disappear and only the one will be left. I can share this truth with you tonight. For again as I explained to you most of you have been with me a long long time. You can stop wasting your time practicing meditation, sadhana, if you will simply stop thinking.
Now I know some of you say it’s very difficult to stop thinking. It’s virtually impossible to stop thinking. Do not say that. Because you say this then it becomes virtually impossible to stop thinking because this is the suggestion you give to yourself. If you try to realize who the thinker is, who is the thinker? There is no thinker. No one thinks. Thinking is a misconception. There has to be someone to think. Just as Fred thinks he has to get up, he had to think about that first. There has to be someone, somewhere who thinks. I’m allowing you to think about this. (students laugh) We always believe there is something to
think about. We believe that we have to think in order to straighten our lives out. To make things right for us. We believe we have to think in order to be productive citizens. This is a game the mind plays.
Everything that transpires in your life is Maya. The whole universal scheme is God’s Leela. It is a passing fancy magic show. It’s abracadabra, I see you. But I tell you you do not exist, you have never existed and you will never exist. There is no such thing as ceasing to exist. For if you have ceased to exist it means that you have existed at one time.
We have to get rid of all these words, all these concepts to feel, “I have to do something,” is also a mistake. It implies there is somebody there to do something. It is also a mistake to say, “I have to do nothing,” it implies that there is somebody left over to do nothing. Even saying, “I am nothing,” is wrong. Every word is wrong, every thought is wrong. Be yourself, without thinking. Yes it’s possible.
We have been believing many different books and movements and yoga teachings that explain to us we have to stop thinking through these methods. Practicing pranayama, japa mantra. By using all of these methods we will stop thinking. These methods increase your thinking. They cause you to think upon the mantra, to think upon the subject, to meditate on God but think of what you’re doing. None of these things exist. So by thinking about something that does not exist your mind moves in waves, so it appears. And the mind becomes stronger.
Then what kind of work do you do on yourself? You do nothing because you are nothing. If you are nothing does this mean you have to do something? There is absolutely nothing for you to do. Know this truth. Become this truth. Stop concerning yourself about anything and happiness will come right to you.
Try to understand that you are in your right place right now. Going through those experiences that are necessary for your unfoldment and leave it alone. Do not try to save yourself. Do not try to overcome problems. Yet your body will do things.
Remember when I talk to you this way, some of you not all of you but some of you still believe that you have to either sit in a chair all day and do absolutely nothing or go to a cave or to a monastery or to a jungle retreat and sit. Of course you know for those of you who have tried this have realized that you have taken your thoughts with you. Your thoughts will bombard you twice as strong, ten times as strong. As they did while you were in the city.
Due to the reason that when you were in the city life things took up your time.
And there were times during the day when you were unable to think because you were too busy doing your job or watching television or doing something that you usually do.
But when you go to a jungle retreat or to a cave there is nothing there to occupy your time.
Therefore guess what is going to happen. All those thoughts that you have suppressed all of these years by covering them up by television, newspapers, magazines, movies, bowling, swimming all the things that you do so you do not have to think will now reveal themselves to you and you’ll go crazy. You will become mad. Many people have been destroyed this way. They go completely insane.
Your so-called body will always appear to be doing something. And that is under the laws of karma. Ishvara the so-called God of karma will take care of everything for you.
You do not have to worry. You simply have to rest in the moment where nothing is happening while your body is doing the work it came here to do and be free.
I can share with you that I speak to three levels of experience. I speak to the devotees, to the disciples and to the seekers. This is why I’m always speaking of absolute reality, karma, reincarnation and sadhana. The devotees when they hear me couldn’t care what I say, they’re living in total love. If I recited Jack and Jill they would rejoice. It makes no difference what I say to the devotees. For they’re coming from a different space than most people.
The disciples want to measure what I say with a yardstick of the mind and compare notes. What did this teacher say, what did that teacher say, what did this book say, they’re always comparing. And the seekers are only interested in removing the problems from their lives. They’re interested in other words in exchanging good for bad or bad for good. They’re interested in improving their humanhood. So there we speak at three levels.
I intermingle all these things so that everyone can grasp something and feel better for a while. But when I speak as I did tonight I was really speaking to everyone no matter what you are. Forget your troubles come on be happy. (students laugh) That’s the message.
There is nothing that wants to harm you. There is nothing that wants to prevent you from awakening. Stop believing and thinking you have to… (break in tape as Robert continues) …you do not have to go through any type of realization, to be realized. Self-realization is a misnomer. For there is no self that becomes realized. All is well. All is exceedingly well.
(silence)
Feel free to ask some questions.
Fred (SF): You spoke earlier of satsang and my impression is that we’re never apart from satsang.
Universal and all-pervasive and in some situations stronger than the Self?
R: Satsang is the Self. (SF: In everybody?) Exactly. Satsang is always with you. When you are by yourself at home or wherever you are in the office, you are in satsang. Feel that!
Do not believe this place is this way and a different place is a different way. There is only one, not two or three, but one. Therefore satsang is one. Which means it’s all pervading.
It’s omnipresent. So if you find yourself in hell, you are in satsang. If you find yourself in heaven you are in satsang. There is no differentiation. Except when you allow the mind to differentiate for you. (SF: I’m beginning to see that if I sit here thinking that a person a place or a thing should be different than it is, it’s a pure utter waste of time.) Yes. Exactly. Stop trying to change the world. Stop trying to change yourself. So often I try to say to you, stop trying to change the world and start changing yourself. But I share with you, there is no self that needs changing. Therefore you do not have to try to change yourself at all. Rather you have to be yourself. Be your Self. The Self which you already are.
Fred (SF): Going back to scripture for a minute, (laughter) There is a lot of wisdom in scripture.
(R: Yes.) And it’s all a question of the understanding that a so called individual can find in something that so called scripture. (R: Umm.) And a lot of wonderful things are in scripture. (R: Umm.
So?) Well I just wanted to throw it out on us. (students laugh) I’m a fan of scripture, I’m a raunch of scripture. (R: I know.) (laughter) I’ll keep it to myself.
R: No you can share it with us, it’s fine.
Fred (SF): Okay. There is this guy… (SH: Here we go) …who said “thou I speak with the tongues of men and of angels and have not love I have become as sounding brass or a tinkling cymbal. And thou I have the gift of prophecy and understand all mysteries and all knowledge and thou I have all faith so I can remove mountains and have not love I have nothing.’
So it brought a question. What it means to me, what the word means to me and what it means to some other guy all depends upon the intellectual understanding is exactly what it’s supposed to be in each individual, is that not so?
R: You cannot have love until you know who you are, otherwise love is false. It’s predicated on conditions. For you know who you are, you are the Self, pure awareness, then you never think about love. Love is your Self. (SF: It doesn’t need an object.) Exactly.
You don’t even know the word love exists but you have become that. (SF: Thank you) SB: Robert how does creativity relate to realization?
R: Since creativity does not even exist, it doesn’t relate at all.
SB: For instance last night I went to a concert and truly enjoyed it very much and it seems like a lot of people who are arty people, musicians, dancers, painters, their whole life is to be creative and create perfect expressions of love, is the spiritual path of realization, transcending creativity, above creativity, the source of creativity?
R: Learn to leave other people alone. Creativity is an emanation of the mind. The mind wants to be creative. To be creative you need space and room in order to create what you want to create. But since there is only absolute reality. Since there is only pure awareness, there is no space for anything else. Therefore where would the creativity come from?
The Self is at total peace with itself. Total wonderful joyous peace. It needs nothing to create to find happiness. Human beings create things to find happiness. To give happiness to others. This is an illusion. You are pure choice-less awareness. You are ultimate oneness, nirvana, all pervading, nothing else. There is no place to create anything. There is no room to create anything. Creativity is unnecessary.
SD: Are you saying then that creativity is part of Maya?
R: It’s part of the dream. (SD: So if someone is going to be creative they’ll be creative, has nothing to do with the Self?) Exactly. No, I’m not saying you should forget about being an artist or a painter or a sculpture or anything else. As I mentioned before your body will continue to do the things that it came here to do. So if you’re karmically supposed to be a sculpture, you’ll be a sculpture, or a painter, or a murderer. That’s creative. (Students laugh) (SD: Some body.) (laughs) You’ll be whatever you’re supposed to be according to your karma. Do not concern yourself with this. Do not think about these things. But rather identify with the source which is the Self, absolute reality and let go of everything else and be free.
SB: But on a certain level Robert, since we are already the Self and the creativity seems to spring spontaneously out of the love. When resting in the Self and the great love arises that the desire to express that through music.
R: If you are resting in the Self there would be no one to aspire to write music.
There will be no one to rest in the self. There would only be the self. (SB: What of that great love that arises and surprises us with…?) That’s the mind. The mind is doing all of these things. The self does not need to love itself. The Self does not need to express itself. It is. It is pure beingness. It has no qualities. All the qualities you are speaking of are from the mind. (SB: But hasn’t there been great realized Masters who were also musicians or artists…) Sure.) (SB: …they express their teachings through poetry and so on?) Yes. (SB: People like Kabir and…?) Yes there are people like this. Find out who you are first then you will be able to understand where they’re coming from. It’s virtually impossible to understand, to comprehend people who are expressing themselves in the way that you say, who are realized without first knowing yourself. (SB: I don’t understand what you’re saying Robert, realized without knowing yourself?) I’m saying, “Realize who you are first.” Then see if you know these people or you’re concerned with what they are or with what they’re doing or if you’ll be concerned with the person who is expressing themselves or not. Awaken yourself first.
Then see if that question comes to you.
(silence)
R: Well we all heard the word, now what are we going to do about it. We go back into the world. The world shows us all of its manifestations. Will we continue to react or will we just smile and say, “So what?”
Do we have any prashad? No prashad? (laughter) Why do you think I came?
(laughter) Do we have any announcements?
(Announcements about transcripts being returned)
R: Anyone else have anything else to say?
Fred (SF): Here’s something that I wanted to tell you but I’ll say it to everyone. I described that drug experience last Thursday and I had a lot of wonderful experiences but at the time I was aware that what it amounted to, I was sneaking into a show for which I had not bought a ticket. (students laugh) So I quit. Maybe I can buy a ticket somewhere along the line. (SJ: Maybe someone will give you one?) (laughter) That’s the idea he can’t. It’s a question of finding him. Making it real.
(short silence)
R: Remember to love yourself, to worship yourself, to bow to yourself, to get rid of yourself. (students laugh) (SH: Good variation.) Do it! I love you, peace…
(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.