– Transcript 177
Is Not To React!
R: Hello. (Students: Hello Robert.) Greetings. It is good to be with you once again. We have a few new people here, welcome.
Some of you have come here to hear me talk or to listen to a good sermon or to some philosophy. I do not do these things. I am not a preacher or a philosopher or a sermonizer or anything like that. I am merely here to tell you that you are insane… (students laugh) …to believe in this world the way it appears. To believe that you are a body going through these experiences. I’m here to tell you that all of your beliefs are nonsense. Everything that you’ve believed since you were born that has been brainwashed into your head is all a bunch of nonsense. And unless you free yourself from this you’re going to go around and around and around never knowing what’s going to be next, like a leaf in the wind. Coming back life after life, fighting for survival. Not knowing what is going to happen tomorrow. Watching the news on television seeing all those dastardly things happening in this world, man’s inhumanity to man. Worrying, fretting going through the whole thing as most people do.
The good news though is that you do not have to do all this. The good news is that you do not have to suffer in any way, shape, manner. You can become free if you want to.
You can awaken to your true Self which is perfect harmony, peace and joy if you want to.
You can become perfectly happy without any change in the happiness. To have total unalloyed happiness forever if you want to but you have to pay the price. The price is giving up your ego, killing the mind. Getting rid of the dogmas and concepts, preconceived ideas that you’ve had for years and years.
How do you do this? By becoming calm, just by becoming calm. If you can truly become calm you will be able to overcome every handicap you’ve ever had. You will be able to find the peace which passeth all understanding. If you truly learn to be calm the whole world will be yours.
What do I mean by calm? I’m not referring to supplementing your feelings or your emotions. I’m not referring to holding it in, not liking something but you have to be happy about it and putting on an act of happiness or peace. I’m referring to becoming totally calm in your heart. Totally calm in your heart is when you feel that all is well, that there are no mistakes. To be perfectly calm is to feel something divine within yourself, a joy, a love. No thing can upset you any longer. Your whole body is perfectly calm, every cell, every tissue, every atom is at peace. This calmness you cannot even imagine. With many people who say they’re calm until someone rubs them the wrong way. Then what happens to their calmness and their peace it’s gone. They become agitated, excited. Perfect calmness is when you do not change. No matter what you see, no matter what is going on around you, you stay relaxed peaceful. You may say this is impossible to do, on the contrary, it’s not! You can make yourself this way for this is your true state to begin with. Perfect calmness, perfect happiness, perfect peace.
There is an interesting story about Ramana Maharshi that illustrates this point.
When he was living in askandha ashram which is up on the hill in Arunachala. In those days there were many people or sadhus living in the other caves above him. Before he arrived at askandha ashram the so-called sadhus were visited by devotees, disciples, seekers. People would come to them give them food, give them money. But when Ramana Maharshi occupied the cave he was different. He didn’t care if anybody came to see him or to give him food or anything else. So with that attitude he attracted more people. People wanted to see this person who needs nothing, who wants nothing, who is still and calm all day long. Flocks of tourists came to see him.
Now the sadhus lived above him about fifty feet above him in the cave became jealous. They decided to kill him. So they rolled boulders down on him. And he would be sitting on a rock outside of the cave looking at the paper and a boulder would fall by the side of him. He never looked up. He never glanced he continued reading the paper. He didn’t care. Another boulder came this side of him, same response. The boulders always missed him. This went on for about a week. At which time he got up and went upstairs to the other cave — upstairs as if it’s a two storey house…(students laugh) …he climbed the hill and he looked at the sadhu right in the face who was throwing these boulders and he said, “What are you doing? Why are you doing this?” Just stared at him and left. Something happened to the sadhu by the look Ramana gave him. He changed his mind and never bothered…
(tape break)
…also there is another incident that Ramana told me personally. In 1948, I was at Arthur Osbornes home near Ramana ashram. And Ramana used to walk in there every once in a while. He came in one day, sat down and he started to talk about not reacting to things. He said, “The only spiritual life you need is not to react.” And he smiled and he told me this interesting story, that happened to him again.
Back in the 1930s some pundits who lived in Madras decided that Ramana should not remain at Arunachala that he should come to Madras, where many people can see him and be with him. Twelve of them approached Ramana and said, “Ramana we would like you to come to Madras. We’re going to take you to Madras where you can be with more people. You are left in the jungle here where hardly anybody knows where you are. Most people do not know about you. We will take you to Madras in two days time.” Ramana didn’t say a word. In times like this he always kept silent, totally silent, he never answered. His devotees became very worried, very upset because they knew he would never
answer, he never does and yet they were going to come in two days and take him away.
These were scholarly people. When they left they asked Ramana, “What have you done.
By not answering you’ve agreed to go to Madras with these people?” He just smiled and said, “Don’t worry.” Two days passed the devotees were biting their fingernails they wanted to lock the doors of the ashram. Some of them wanted to take physical action against these people. For the people from Madras said a group of twenty of us will come in a bus to take him to Madras.
They were supposed to be there at 4 o’clock but they never showed up. Ramana called the cook and he said, “Prepare a meal for twenty people, they will come soon.” And all the devotees said, “What are you talking about? Are you going with them? You can’t leave us.” They were crying and screaming and doing all kinds of things. Ramana said, “Do not worry, prepare food.” And they did. At about 6 o clock the group from Madras entered the hall. They were disheveled. Some of them were bleeding. They sat down in front of Ramana and just looked at him and didn’t say a word and he didn’t say a word.
What had happened when they were on the bus two miles from the ashram the bus turned over three times. Nobody was seriously hurt but they were in bad shape. They sat on the ashram floor looking at Ramana. After about an hour he said come let’s go to the kitchen and eat. He took them into the kitchen, they ate then they came back into the hall and sat down again. After two hours of sitting they got up and went home and nobody ever heard of them again.
Ramana ended the story by telling me that 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.
To be calm means everything is alright. There is nothing to worry about, nothing to fret over. This is also the meaning of the biblical saying, “Be still and know that I am God.” To be calm is to be still.
If you have a problem right now, think about this problem for a moment. If there is anything wrong with your life, think about this for a moment. As you become calm, peaceful the problem will dissolve of its own nature. There cannot be a problem with a person who is calm. It makes no difference how strong your problem may be if you remain calm throughout it, you will come out smiling, laughing, at peace. To be perfectly calm is the same as self-inquiry. When you ask the question, “Who is upset? Who feels discouraged? Who feels disillusioned?” (Robert asks student) Did you raise your hand Bob? I thought you felt disillusioned. (Robert continues) When you inquire within, “Who feels this?” the feelings begin to disappear, just from the inquiry, which is really interesting. This is why self-inquiry is the best psychotherapy around. Cheapest, because you can do it yourself. Whatever happens in your life it makes no difference what it is, how serious it may be, merely inquire, “To whom does this come? Who is going through this? Who is feeling this?” It’s the same as being calm. But once you inquire and ask this question something happens within yourself. There is a shuffling that goes on within yourself. The nervousness, the stress that has been annoying you most of this time starts to back off and you feel good. So even though some of you are not using self-inquiry for liberation or realization. You can use it in your everyday life to become calm, peaceful and happy. If you’re doing it for this reason you do not have to go any further.
In other words if you’re doing it to solve problems, to get rid of depression, sadness, unhappiness, all you have to do is ask, “To whom does this come? Who is feeling this?” That’s all! And become still. You’ll notice you’re feeling more peaceful, all of your worries are melting, but of course if you wish to become liberated you go all the way with it. You ask, “To whom does this come?” The answer comes, it’s happening to me, “I feel this sadness. I feel this stress. Then who am I? Who am I?” All of the time understanding and realizing that this I we’re talking about is not you. This I is the ego, the mind, it’s not you.
The ego is a knot in your heart that separates the mind from the Self. When you follow the I-thought back to its source the knot becomes untied. When the knot is untied the ego and the mind rush into the heart. They both drown in the heart center, which is the Self and you become liberated. When you say, “Who am I?” you’re really asking, “Where does the I come from? (pause) Where does the I come from?” If you do this correctly you will soon discover that there never was an I to begin with. That the I does not exist whatsoever, at all! And you will be free.
So take an honest look at yourself. Examine your thoughts. Realize that you’ve been thinking like this for years and years and years. It is your thoughts that bring you problems and troubles. You have believed all this time that thoughts are necessary, you have to have thoughts or you couldn’t exist, you couldn’t function. On the contrary, when your thoughts are transcended, transmuted the pure awareness takes over. The absolute reality and you will function much better than you did when you think. (Baby makes a noise.) As an example, that little baby does not have to think, it knows somebody takes care of it. Somebody will always take care of it it’s got nothing to think about. It has an inner faith that is unconscious that it will always be taken care of.
An apple tree cannot think, yet beautiful apples grow. Imagine for a moment if you will, an apple tree that can think and it’s like us. It’ll look around and it would say, “I don’t want to be near this tree it’s a different color than I am I don’t like it. I don’t like these flowers around me. I don’t like the color of my apples. I don’t like this and I don’t like that.” It would become fussy and irritable. And the tree would die by those very thoughts.
But because the tree does not think the powers that be take care of it. And it grows into a beautiful apple tree with luscious apples.
This is true of all of nature and babies.
It is only when we grow up and we become babbling idiots. And we start judging, choosing, coming to conclusions about good and bad, right or wrong, this or that. We start comparing and go through the whole nonsense. This is what keeps us back. This is what prevents us from waking up, our thoughts. If only we were like the tree, like a flower, it grows wherever you plant it, it doesn’t say to you, “I’d rather be planted across the street.
Somebody else’s garden.” It accepts whatever is done to it and grows into a beautiful flower.
Take a look at yourself, all of your prejudices, all of your dislikes, all of the things you believe are wrong with the world. Who are you to believe anything is wrong with this world? Did you create this world? You had absolutely nothing to do with it. You find yourself as a guest. We have to co-habit with the trees, with the flowers, with the animals, with the minerals, with the people. We’re not here to change anything one iota. It is because of man changing things that he suffers. You have to learn to leave things alone, to leave ourselves alone. Do not be harsh with yourself. Start practicing this, being calm, peaceful, relaxed.
Close your eyes for a few moments feel the peace and calmness everywhere. Understand the whole universe is simply a reflection of you. Your eyes are closed there is no universe. You’re making up your mind this instant that nothing in this world will ever disturb you again. You have overcome. You understand who you really are now. You are the imperishable Self, all pervading joy and bliss. The past is dead the future is not here. In this moment all is well. In this moment you are peaceful. You are one with all there is.
Whatever needs to be resolved is resolved.
(Silence)
It is now time to play stump the guru. Do we have any stumpers?
Remember to write questions down when you come in. Feel free to ask questions.
SB: Robert what is the role of spiritual experiences. Most of the spiritual paths, the yoga paths they all seek experience as a goal of realization are a means to a goal and yet there are some paths that say all experiences are not the goal they are just a distraction.
R: In truth and in reality there is no goal. For whom is there a goal? Only for the mind to work itself out. But if you can use the wisdom that you already are and just unfold immediately and spontaneously there would be nothing else you have to do. All you have to do is wake up. Awaken to the truth that you’re omnipresence, that you are absolute reality, that you are pure awareness. There is no goal. When you search for a goal it never ends. There is no end to a goal.
It’s like when you have a goal to buy a house. You save your money, years pass you finally have the nice house that you wanted all of your life. And then when you’re in the house you have to buy furniture, you have to decorate it. You have to pay taxes. You have to all sorts of things with your house. So that was only a short goal. And pretty soon you want a bigger house, so you have another goal. It never ends it goes on forever.Human beings are never satisfied. No matter what they achieve or what they have. We are taught to go after one goal and then another goal and another goal, this is life. But there is no happiness involved, there is no peace. So I say to you do not look for goals. Know the truth and the truth will make you free. The truth is, you are already that.
Everything that you are looking for externally is already within yourself. Like when you’re having a dream. In the dream you have goals as you’re growing up to buy a new house, to buy a new car, to buy land, to get married, to have children. You have one goal after the other and then you wake up. There were no goals at all. It was all a dream you’re awake, you are pure, you are consciousness.
And so it is with us in this life. We strive, we go searching for goals. To meet our goals for what? It doesn’t bring us happiness. It doesn’t bring us peace. It may bring us temporary happiness, temporary peace. Then we always have to look for more and more goals. Instead of searching for goals awaken. Wake up and be free, by inquiring, “Who needs goals?” (SB: So experience doesn’t play a part at all or experiences come along the way but they should be more or just…) Experiences seem to play a part for the human being. You learn from experience. But you go through other experiences they never stop. (SB: What about spiritual experiences?) Spiritual experiences makes you go from one path to another path. It makes you study one thing and another thing. It makes you run here and run there it makes you do all kinds of things.
The only spiritual experience you should have is total freedom. And when you have total freedom you don’t need any other experience. Wake up entirely and there would be no more experiences. Wake up now. Do it! (SB: Wake up to what?) To the Self. To nothing. And you will be filled with joy and filled with happiness and peace. (SB: It seems to be a grace that has to come because you say to wake up but I don’t know - I can feel I’m consciousness but I still don’t really realize the status of consciousness what consciousness really is.) Consciousness is really you when you’re quiet and still. When you are calm and there are no thoughts then there is consciousness. When there are thoughts, when there are irritations then this holds consciousness back it appears. So try to quiet your mind. Try to be still for long periods of time and you will be yourself consciousness. (SB: And then whatever has to happen from there on it’d be God’s business or consciousnesses business.) When you are consciousness you will forget about whatever has to happen. Because whatever has to happen is gone has been transcended. Whatever has to happen is around when there is no consciousness. When there is consciousness there is nothing to happen. What else is to happen, nothing.
Fred (SF): If I have a goal it means I want things to be different than they are and there is no way for something to be different than it is at any one time.
R: True it may appear to be different for a while but it always reverts back to something else. Goals never cease. Goals do not bring you happiness or peace. They usually bring you problems.
SH: In consciousness then there is nothing so whatever occurring or happening. (R: Exactly.) It’s a tabula rasa? (R: Yes.) It’s very simple isn’t it?
R: Of course. We’re already that. Why do we seek it? This is our true nature and the way to go about it is to keep quiet. Stop the mind from thinking. Do whatever you have to do to quiet the mind. (SH: Who is it that is supposed to stop the mind?) The ego that doesn’t exist. (SH: How can something that doesn’t exist be a destroyer.) For it appears to exist.
(SH: If it doesn’t exist it can’t do a damn thing?) Of course not. It can’t do anything at all it never has to do anything. (SH: Well then why do you say that you have to stop the mind with the ego’s action?) For I’m speaking as a human being to a human being which doesn’t exist.
(SH: Thank you. (laughter) You look pretty good too.) As long as I’m talking I have to use these terms. They do not exist, I don’t have to. You’re just here to hear me talk and say something. So I say something. (SH: Silence would be better.) Silence, I get a lot of complaints.
(SH: You have a tough job.) (laughter) The last two Thursdays ago when we sat for about an hour I had about seven telephone calls. (laughter) (SH: That’s your problem.) It’s okay.
Fred (SF): I have a question. I’ve been a devotee of Sri Ramana… (R: Rama Krishna) Sir? (R: Rama Krishna?) No Bhagwan. (R: Oh.) For a long time about twenty-four years. And when I finally got to go there in April of 1989. I was there for three and a half days. It was already hot and sticky, over 100… (R: Should have gone in November.) Sir? (R: You should have gone in November.) Well I was in India for another purpose but I wanted to go anyway. And what my question is, when I got there I didn’t have this feeling that so many people write about that the feeling that the Master was there in the body. And a lot of the writings make it sound as though if you don’t have this feeling, these real strong vibes that you’re lacking in spiritual growth. But I did not. But I didn’t feel bad about it because I realized if I were to have those feelings I would have and what happens, happens. And there were two statues of black marble - I think it’s called black marble - I found them very moving. And I also walked up to askandha ashram… (break in tape) …a warm feeling from just being in there. And I should have gone down to was it, Virapacha? The other cave farther down but I didn’t. That is the first thing I haven’t done in my life that I wished I had. And well my question is I shouldn’t feel bad should I that I didn’t pick up these strong vibes from the overall experience? I wouldn’t take a million dollars for having had it. But I’ve had lots of warm feelings at other places. When I went waiting at Dr. Ganeshwar and I felt really good. So most things happen because they’re supposed to happen. It’s not a reward or anything like that. Those things happen when they’re supposed to happen and they’re not necessarily indicative of spiritual growth or lack of it. Is that a fair way to state it?
R: You are correct. The trouble is we compare ourselves with others or we compare what we read in books. We read about people who go there and become enlightened all of a sudden, they awaken, they have all kinds of good feelings. We shouldn’t judge these things. Everyone is divine. Everyone will eventually awaken. Do not look at any body else, at the feelings they have or they don’t have. You are unique in your own imitable way. You are you. Even when Ramana was alive people came to see him and they said, “Who is this old man. I don’t feel a thing. He’s just a silly old man.” Many people went away with that notion. Therefore do not judge yourself. Do not condemn yourself. You are good just the way you are. (SF: Everyone is.) Of course, again the main problem is we compare ourselves to others. We had a person going into all kinds of Krias, having all kinds of emotional fits and nothing happens to us and we look at ourselves and say, “I must be doing something wrong I’m not holy enough,” on the contrary.
I remember one time I visited Muktananda, Swami Muktananda in Fallsbrook or Falls something in New York State. He had a big ashram there, a tremendous hall. And people were in there having all kinds of Krias. Screaming, crying, going into all kinds of postures and Muktananda would walk over to some of these people and look at them and tell the monitors, “Throw them out.” Because they were all faking these things. They were all going on with all kinds of nonsense. Everybody’s different, as long as you are true to yourself you’ll be okay. That is all that matters. Be true to yourself. (SF: The little self is feeling things) Yes. Everything will happen by its own volition when the time is ready.
SH: The self you’re referring to is yourself or it’s just both.
R: Both selves. The little self, the big Self, the no Self. (SH: No self?) Pick a self.
SB: Is it a special blessing to go to Ramana ashram if ever you have the opportunity?
R: Not really, it depends on the maturity of the person. It depends on the background of the person. If a person is a Christian it would be better if they went to see Christ some place. They may visit a Catholic church someplace where there was a statue of Christ. (SB: I mean a person who is into Advaita?) Advaita and Ramana are one. It’s the same thing. But it’s a special blessing for you to be yourself. Just being you is a special blessing.
Just being who you are. (SB: So it’s not anything that’s special to visit Ramana?) Yes and no.
(SB: That’s a direct answer.) Yes, it’s beautiful to be there to see everything. To see the shrines, the samadhi, who is interned, to sit in the hall of meditation. This is good for some people. For some people it’s not necessary. Everybody is different. Again do not compare yourself with anybody else. Imagine that you’re the only person alive in the whole world.
There is nobody to compare yourself with. What would you do then? You would just be you. So be you right now. Be yourself and you’ll be free.
SK: There is no I who awakens? (R: There is no what?) There is no I who awakens?
R: There is no I who awakens, no. That I never existed. But there is the I-am which is the Self, the absolute reality and even that is doubtful. (SK: Is what?) Doubtful.
SH: Throw it all away. (R: Do not get caught up in words. Go beyond the words into the silence where true reality exists.) Self awakens itself but there is nobody to see? (R: Exactly.
There is no one to awaken.) Uh-uh.
R: We have a reading from the Ashtravakra-Gita.
(Tape restarts after reading as Robert continues)
It is now prashad time. The reason you all came here. We have almonds.
(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.