– Transcript 179
R: Good afternoon. It is good being with you again. You’re very brave souls to come out in this heat. Many people can’t take it but you’re here, this means something. I don’t know what it means but it means something. It’s good to see you. We’ll discuss two topics today. One is…one is what let’s see. I’m trying to pick up what I should talk about.
What you have to hear. So we’ll go back to the two topics. One is why do some people practice spiritual practices, sadhana for many many years and nothing happens. And some people do not practice perhaps, never practice become enlightened so-to-speak.
The second topic is: Is the world really an illusion? It’s so hard to comprehend the world as being an illusion. It seems ludicrous to say something like this, “The world is an illusion. That this world does not exist. Here it is facing us. So am I crazy?” Yes, we’ll see where we go.
The first topic: Why is it that so many people practice sadhana for many many years and nothing really outstanding happens to them? They may feel better about themselves to an extent. Things may improve in their humanhood to an extent but nothing drastic happens like waking up, becoming liberated. And yet all of you have read about people who have been illumined by doing absolutely nothing. They just awoke.
You have to remember that this life in which you are appearing right now is only a split second in eternity. You believe so much in your humanhood that you think you live a long time and you’re important and what you do matters. You don’t see that your life is but a split second in eternity.
It’s like this keyhole example that I always give you. You look through the keyhole and you see a certain situation happening and that is all you see. You therefore react to that situation which you see through the keyhole. But if you saw the whole picture if you were able to open the door you would see really what’s going on. That’s how it is with this body in this age. Your time allotted to you in this particular body is like looking through the keyhole. You’re only seeing partially what ts going on. Therefore if you understand this and you know what I’m talking about why would you react?
You look through the keyhole and you see somebody stabbing somebody. And you get excited, “Look what’s going on. There is a murder going on.” That’s all you see. Yet if you open the door widely you would see that in a previous life the person being stabbed, stabbed the person who is stabbing. What goes around comes around. And if you continue looking you would see that both people, the person being stabbed and the person who is stabbing are laughing in the end, so-called. And nobody killed and nobody got killed. It just didn’t happen.
Another good example of that is when you see a movie. The same thing happens.
There is a beginning a middle and an end. But you see the whole movie, you see the beginning the middle and the end. Yet your life is like the middle of the movie. You don’t know the beginning. The beginning is not when you are born. That is not the beginning.
The end is not when you leave your body so-to-speak. Life is a continuum. There was never a beginning and there is no middle and there is no end.
Now remember something else as I share these things with you. I’m not speaking about anything I read in a book or what some wise teacher told me. I am speaking of my own experiences. It’s not hard to sit with you and tell you something somebody else told me or something I read in a book. I wouldn’t be worth anything. I would never be able to help you to unfold and become free. I’m just relating to you what somebody told me or something that I read. Always bare this in mind.
That when I had my illumination which was uncalled for when I was fourteen years old. I went through the whole experience of life in an instant, birth, growth, death, astral planes, causal planes, different planets. It all happened instantaneously to me it was very clear. And it left me in a state of consciousness where I can explain this to you. To share this with you and make you see that this is the truth. Even though perhaps you’re not yet feeling anything like this. So to get back to the subject.
Everything that has happens to you in this life has been preordained. As long as you believe you are a body-mind and you do not awaken yet, everything is preordained, everything. Nothing happens by chance, nothing. The best thing to do if you are on the path is not to pay too much attention to these things. Because it will drive you crazy if you think about it too much. You’ll be thinking, “How much time do I have left? Will I be awakened in this life? Is there any bad karma coming to me?” You’ll be thinking, thinking, thinking all this all the time and you will not be able to function or focus.
This is why the Sage tells you, “Live in the moment. Do not think of the past. Do not worry about the future.” If you look properly in the moment you will be taken care of correctly. For in the moment no thing is happening. In a split second nothing is happening.
It is only when the mind starts thinking, starts moving. When the energy of the mind starts to move then the universe moves. Things happen when the mind moves. The mind is all karmic. And the mind does things that is supposed to happen to you because of prarabdhic karma… (tape break) …you will be awakened in the right time. Do not worry about this. Do not concern yourself about this. I hear from so many people who have lived in India, ten years, twenty years and they’re sort of disillusioned because nothing is happening. They lived in the great ashrams where great Saints used to live. I hear from Christians. I hear from Muslims. They all tell me basically the same thing.
A girl called me yesterday she’s been a Sufi for fifteen years. She told me it was exciting when she first got into it and the teaching is wonderful. But she is becoming discouraged, disillusioned for nothing is happening. When you talk like this it’s a big ego trip. For it is your ego that says these things. It is the ego that tells you all of this. That tells you what state of consciousness you’re in. That tells you why it is taking so long. Let’s change teachers. Let’s go to India. Let’s go to Tahiti. Let’s go here, let’s go there, let’s read this book, let’s read that book. This all has to do with your ego. If you could only comprehend that everything is preordained you would not worry. There would be absolutely nothing for you to worry about. Nothing for you to fear. Nowhere for you to go. You just look at this world and not react. Then you will make progress.
As I was emphasizing in yesterdays class the idea is not to add new techniques to the old techniques. Never practice new yoga’s, new Zen movements, new Sufi movements.
Not to add anything on but to subtract. To remove the karmas, the world. Just like you peel an onion. To get to the juicy onion you have to get to layer after layer after layer. Not add layers after layer after layer. Yet no matter how many times I say this to people they’re always reading a new book, find a new method they look for a new teacher, they’re adding, adding, adding, adding, adding. This is a grave mistake. You want to remove those things that have been hanging on to you including the teachings. Including what you know about the teachings. Awakening does not come to a person that knows the most teachings. Many of us believe that the more I know about the teachings the sooner I will awaken. This is a fallacy. It has absolutely nothing to do with how many teachings you know. How you’ve mastered them. It has to do with how many teachings you let go of.
You see it’s in reverse.
Many people talk to me to show me how intelligent they are, in yoga, in Christianity, in all kinds of teachings. They recite the Kabbalah to me; they tell me all kinds of things. They know. I do not have the heart to tell them to let go of it because they have been studying these things for years and years and years. Yet the truth is you have to drop everything. Let go of everything even what I’m sharing with you. Do not hold onto it, empty your mind of it become free of it. There is something there that will take care of itself when the time is ready for you. Everybody is completely and totally different.
Before you came into this body - if you were meant to be liberated in this life - the time has been planned for you. June the second 1994, 3 o’clock. It’s all been laid out, all been planned. There is absolutely nothing that you have to do. There’s really no action you have to take. The only thing you really have to do is be calm, peaceful, practice loving kindness, forget about the past - that’s an important one - never mind how old you are or how many years you’ve been practicing, how many teachers you’ve had, how many books you’ve read. Drop it! You have to act sort of as if you were just born every moment.
Everything will unfold by itself. You have to get yourself totally out of the way. It is you who cause the problems in your life whether you know it or not. And some people are so stubborn, so stubborn and they’re holding on to stuff. Hurts from twenty years ago.
Things people did to them. They went to prison for five years perhaps for something they didn’t do and have hate inside of them. We’re here on this earth to go through these experiences so we can drop them and let them go and go forward. It’s up to you to do this to yourself. To let go of your entire past and stop thinking of the future. Again you may say, “If I don’t think of the future how can I plan? How can I make things happen?” It’s already been planned for you. The happenings have already been made for you.
Does a tree have to plan when it’s going to grow apples? Does the grass have to plan when it’s going to grow? Does anything in nature plan anything? The food that we eat has anybody planned this food for us? All this food has already been here on this earth when we came to it. We have been totally provided for. Everything has been provided. But you think you have been estranged from everything. So you have to fight for yourself. You have to stick up for your rights. You have to do this and you have to do that. You step in somebody’s shoes, you hurt people because you think you have to survive. All of this causes suffering. A true devotee forgets about all these things. Stays put in the now, in the here and now, in the moment. Realizing all is well.
So look at your life what you’re going through. Do not condemn yourself but realize that you’re responsible for everything that has happened to you. Who else can be responsible? And remember if you react to it you’re just causing new problems for yourself and keeping yourself earthbound again and again and again. And the appearance of that you go through life after life after life after life playing games with yourself. You’re doing the whole thing. Therefore trust the power within you. Realize everything you need, your wants are within you. The kingdom of heaven is within you.
That’s the first part. As I mentioned there are two parts that we’re going to discuss.
The second part: How can this world be an illusion? It seems so real. I’m affected by it. It shows me all kinds of things. But notice what you’re doing you’re referring to yourself continuously. It’s always me it’s always I. I’m affected by it, I go through all these experiences, I see this world as it is. And this is a big ego trip again, because what you’re really saying is I know. And the world affects me and it must be real. Isn’t that what you’re really saying? You are saying that you know. You are sure because I feel this way and I feel that way. Who are you? Where do you come from who feels this way and that way? You think you’re so important. This is what is called ego of course.
And you tell me, “Robert I broke my arm last night don’t tell me the world is an illusion look I’m in a cast. Don’t tell me that nonsense.” Even science tells us today that the world is an illusion, mighty science. Science agrees with this now. Why? Because everything is subject to the law of change. If nothing is permanent how can you say the world is real? Or this tree may live about three, four hundred years but it will go sooner or later.
Elvis Presley may be around for another two hundred years but he’ll fade away sooner or later and people will forget all about him. A mighty mountain even Arunachala will only last so long and be gone and disappear.
Remember this earth has been around for billions and billions of years. We have had many civilizations on this earth that have come and gone. Civilizations mightier than ours, more advanced. And there have been high teachings, spiritual teachings, it’s all gone.
Everything is gone. So here we are we appear as we appear and we start to act as if we know something. We sort of think that we are smart. “Whatever happens to me is an experience,” we say, “therefore I know.” In other words we are reacting to person, place and thing.
Again you look at the dream state. This gives you a clue. In the dream everything appears so real. If we were having a dream right now and we were having a class like this.
I’m sitting here talking to you and you’re telling me, “Robert you’re crazy. The world is not an illusion. We’re sitting here. I behold you, I behold the trees, I behold the mountains. I come over and pinch you and you say, “Ow!” I try to explain, “This is a dream pinch. It’s a dream observation but you don’t believe me.” You say, “He’s crazy.” But the time comes when you wake up from the dream doesn’t it? And then you laugh and you say, “What a dream I had?” The dream is gone and here you are in another dream, the waking dream so-to-speak. Yet you take everything seriously. You try to fix things. You’re always seeing something wrong. You’re always believing you have to correct something. You have to straighten somebody out. You have to make somebody know the truth and preach to them and tell them your truth. You debate, you argue hour after hour, week after week, month after month, year after year. And pretty soon your hair turns white and you become seventy, eighty years old you’re still arguing, you’re still contradicting, you’re still fighting.
What has become of you? You have become totally disillusioned, disenchanted.
And then the time comes for you to leave your body and you do it all over again. Same thing all over again, different places, different faces, different people maybe a different planet. So how can this world be real? Again, let’s get back to science. Everything from science comes from the same source, everything. If I take your body, the chair, the microphone, the cup and I started to break it down I would get molecules, atoms, subatomic particles, pure energy, no human being can go further than that. But from the pure energy you get the void. The void you’ve heard about in Buddhism, in zen, this is not the end.
From the void you get absolute reality and from absolute reality you get yourself, you.
This is the way it works. I’ve been there I’ve seen it. The end result of everything is you.
Nothing else exists.
I don’t mean you as your body as you appear now with all your troubles and problems and frustrations. I mean the you, the I-am, the one. Now the I-am, the oneness, the pure awareness is so far out that I shouldn’t even talk about it. It is something the finite mind can never comprehend. It is really not an experience, it is nothing. It is something beyond all comprehension. It is something we waste our time by talking about it but you can become it! That’s the good news. When you become it, whatever it may be, there is a feeling that is ineffable. There is a knowledge. A knowledge that there is no birth, nothing was born. There is a knowledge that nothing prevails. By nothing prevails I mean we do not go through any experiences after we’re born at all. And there is a knowledge that you never disappear. What can you be? Don’t ask yourself this question you will never find out in your present state. This only becomes clear to you when you awaken.But yet the contradiction, the paradox is do not think of awakening. For by thinking of awakening keeps you back. It keeps you back because you have a preconceived idea of what awakening is and you keep saying to ourselves, “Boy I want to be that. I want to be that. I can’t wait to awaken I want to be that.” I want to be what? There is nothing to be.
When you awaken so-to-speak there is no one to be anything. So can’t you see by saying, “I want to be that, I want to awaken,” you’re pulling yourself backwards. You’re going backwards. This is why I talk so much about having a peaceful mind. It all begins in your mind. When the mind becomes quiescent, quiet it can go deeper within itself. But when you are making a lot of noise debating, arguing, trying to put people down, trying to discover faults in people, doing all the things you do, you are just being pulled backwards.
So the world is an illusion to the one that is not the world. As long as you are the world and you feel things of this world you shouldn’t walk around saying, “The world is an illusion,” because that sounds ridiculous. You can’t prove it. You shouldn’t walk around telling people, “I am not the body or the mind.” If somebody tells me that I say, “Show me.”
This is why the greatest saint keep still. The greatest Sage keeps quiet. People come to the Sage they argue about this they argue about that they complain about everybody. The Sage just keeps quiet. Where are you coming from right now? You have to be totally honest with yourself. What’s going on inside of your head? It is you who has kept yourself back all of these years. By arguing, by fighting, by trying to prove points, by doing this and doing that. How should you live? In an atmosphere of loving kindness.
You should have loving kindness for every human being. Never mind who they are, what they’ve done. Your job is to have loving kindness for them. I’m not saying you have to live with them. Just have loving kindness. Your job is to make your mind peaceful.
Do whatever it takes to make the mind quiet, peaceful, relaxed, harmonious. Your job is to do unto others as you have them do unto you. Look at everybody like yourself. Whenever you’re going to take an action against anybody ask yourself before you do, “Would I do this to myself?” Because there is only one Self. Whatever I give to someone, whatever I take to someone, whatever I think of someone I’m only thinking about myself. I am the one. This is where you should start.
If you can practice self-inquiry by all means do that. If you cannot do whatever you have to do to become free and liberated, whatever that means, by not reacting. By leaving people alone. By not coming to any conclusion. It’s up to you.
You have any questions?
(Q - Mary reads, A - Robert answers)
Q: Robert, how can I get rid of this desire for liberation? The myth that there is something I can attain in the future.
A: We talked about that, stop wanting it, stop desiring it, stop thinking about the future. Work on yourself in the now. Go out and help the poor the homeless. Do something good for someone. Forget about liberation, delusion. Forget about the past, about the
future. Live today as if it was your last day on earth. Be happy, love everyone and everything will take care of itself.
Q: I see one thought is telling one thought what to do?
A: So what do you want me to do? (laughter) Punch out the thought, kick it. One thought is telling another thought what to do? Be the observer of the whole thing. Be the witness of that game. Just watch it don’t do anything. Watch it. Watch one thought telling another thought what to do. If you are really able to watch this and observe this the thoughts will become weaker and weaker and weaker they have to. Because you’re not responding to them. You are not giving them any action. Thoughts like action. They tell you, “Somebody called me a dirty son of a so and so. I’m going to call that guy up and give him a piece of my mind.” That’s what the thoughts like they like action. They want you to do something. When we observe and you just watch those thoughts they become weak and run away. (pause) Next case.
Q: Do you think that people is decided what will do in their life when they was born? (R: That is nearly as bad English as I speak. What was that question?) (laughter) It says do you think that people is decided - probably they mean - do you think that people are decided what they will do in their life when they were born.)
A: Yes we discussed this. Everything is preordained, everything is decided for you. You have nothing to do but to be yourself, be happy. Everything that you’re supposed to do and supposed to go through in this life you’re doing right now. Your job is to turn within, seek the kingdom of God by becoming quiet and still and all these things will be added unto you. Which means your life will have whatever it needs to go through this sojourn peacefully, happily but you have to never react to anything. Just turn within. See the one life. See the oneness in everything. Bless everyone, love everyone, condemn nothing, especially not yourself. Forgive yourself of past sins of omission and commission and forgive everybody else of their sins of omission and commission. Leave the world alone and you will be happier than you’ve ever been in your life.
Q: If I don’t read books on spirituality my mind will fill up on other books.
A: If you do not read books on spirituality why should you read other books? If you’re going to read, read spiritual books. But if you do not read books on spirituality do not read other books either. You are a book yourself, there are many stories in you. Look at the stories in yourself. If you investigate yourself you will not have time to read too much.
Take a good look at your greed, your lust, your hate. All these things that keep you back.
Look at these things intelligently. See what’s going on within you, that’s your book, removing those traits, becoming kind and simple and peaceful. If you’re doing this work on yourself you will not have time to read pornographic books or fairy tales or fiction or the best seller in the New York times, you’ll be too busy getting rid of the stuff that keeps you back, working on yourself. That’s it.
Anybody like to say something? Make a comment? Have a question? Or an answer? (SC: Yeah.) Nate?SC: When I first came here, a year ago more or less I wasn’t into it. Now that I want to be into it…like I came a little late because of circumstances, it was really…what you said really struck home and I know there is nothing I can do yet I feel helpless that I can do nothing. It’s frustrating.
When you said that you took this mathematical test and you woke up and you were free apparently that’s not the only way for it to happen. I’m not saying take a mathematical test but…now that I can see where I’m coming from, the mind’s coming from and there is nothing that I can do because whatever I do will be the mind…let’s say it could be, it is more peaceful, more satisfying but at the same time it’s more frustrating because knowing whatever I’ll do will be the mind.
R: See Nate you’re doing the same thing I was talking about. You’re judging yourself. (SC: I’m sorry?) You’re judging yourself. You’re saying anything I can do it’s all I, I, I, Nate. (SC: I understand that I see, what I’m saying is I see what I’m saying which is frustrating.) Then stop saying it. Stop thinking about it. Inquire, “To whom does the I come?” Who says all these things. Even if you have to say, “Who am I?” forever, why not say it? It’s better than saying, “I hate you.” (SC: You’re right. Very good. Or I want to be free of “who am I?” or “where do these thoughts come from?” just…not that dialogue rather than - I know it’s a technique but at least it’s…) Exactly. Do it and don’t try to figure it out. (SC: Yeah, got you. Okay.) R: Anyone else like to share anything? Glen.
SN: Robert is the idea that everything is predetermined that isn’t really congruent with non-duality right or Advaita?
R: In Advaita Vedanta as you are aware there is no such thing as karma. There is no such thing as predetermined. (SN: But that is just a technique to help us?) Yes. (SN: But it’s not the true reality.) Of course not, but what is the true reality? Nobody knows. (SN: Well is it helpful for us to hear the true reality I mean that you can say that the true reality is a mystery wouldn’t you think that that is helpful for us?) Well I say that many times. (laughs) (SN: Yeah.) It is a mystery. But what happens to us, to some of us is we get a hold of this especially for new people. They hear that they are Brahman, they are God, they are the ultimate absolute reality and they feel good about it. But as the months go by all their stuff is coming to them they’re still experiencing all kinds of things going through all kinds of situations perhaps losing their job, losing their family, losing their money, going through this going through that. Those people become frustrated. They become disillusioned. They’re saying, “If I’m absolute reality why are these things happening to me?” Because they don’t know that they’re absolute reality they’re just voicing it. They’re talking about it. They know it intellectually. That’s also these people who read all the books. About 90 percent of all the people here have read all the books on Advaita Vedanta, Nisargadatta and everybody else.
SN: Well it’s like you’re spoon-feeding some people though are you assuming that other people know…already know that well this is nonsense so don’t even pay attention to what you’re saying?
R: What I do is a certain technique that new people can take care of things in their way and old people can take care of things in their way. (SN: Right.) So everybody is different. (SN: Right.) Everyone unfolds differently. This is why if you can come in here and
really have an open heart then what you have to do will be revealed to you as we talk and as we go through this. But if you come here with preconceived ideas or dogmas and all kinds of stuff then you have a hard time in life.
Nate (SC): I went to a metaphysical church on Santa Monica day and a man was talking about universal love and he was saying, love yourself first before you can love anybody else. And I know I’ve been having difficulty doing that.
R: Because he is telling you to love yourself as if to love the ego. He is not really explaining that when you love yourself you love God. You love the God Self the higher Self. The I-am. That’s what you love. When they say, “Love yourself,” they don’t go any further. So you love the person that does all the nonsense. The person who gets in trouble.
The person who is a jerk. (laughter) They begin to love that self and they have a hard time doing it. For they start thinking, “I’m a jerk and I’m supposed to love myself?” They can’t do it. (SC: I thought he was talking about self-esteem he said he was speaking to the audience there he said people with low self esteem to raise their self esteem and they would be easier to love themselves.) When they raise their self-esteem they become CIA agents. (SC: They what?) (laughter) Become CIA agents, they become lawyers, doctors. (laughter) They’re a nation of the world. That’s what happens when you have high self esteem. What we want to do is go beyond self-esteem. Self-esteem is only to build up your ego. That’s what self-esteem is.
Nate (SC): Nothing wrong with that it was, it’s very interesting and they had a…more than a hundred people there and they formed two circles and they’re playing in the garden there or something… (R: Umm.) …and women and men were going around putting their hands up for about fifteen minutes and then I got so…it never happened to me before I started…then tears started coming down my face, I was so moved and apparently one of the women who was one of the healers and she put her arms around my arms and I started crying and she kissed me and she said it was good that I could let go like that.
R: It was a moving experience? (SC: Yeah.) Good. (SC: This seemed contrary to ???) It’s not really contrary, it just makes you see who you really are, what you really are all about. (SC: Well it’s a good feeling I tell you when you let go and start crying like that I just feel like a freedom.) Yes it’s good. There is nothing wrong with that at all.
Do we have any prashad? We don’t eat today. (laughter) You’ll have to go home with hungry tummies.
Thank you for coming. Remember to love yourself. To worship yourself. To pray to yourself. To bow to yourself. For God dwells in you as you. All is well, peace.
And away we go.
ST: If there are new people there are transcripts on the table that are free…
(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.