– Transcript 212
(Christmas Bhandara)
R: (Tape starts abruptly) …shanti, om, peace. Good afternoon. Happy holidays to you. It is a pleasure to be with you once again. I welcome you with all my heart. I love every one of you. No matter what you are, what you’ve been, what you’re going to be. My love is unconditional. It makes no difference what you do, what you say. Love can never be removed, for love is a cosmic reality. Love is the essence of spiritual life. Love is beauty and joy and the absolute reality.
I want to thank those people who participated in the children’s fund and brought toys for the orphan children. They really enjoyed the toys. You were blessed for that. I thank you for the gifts that you shared with me.
It’s really interesting, for forty years I roamed this world prior to coming to L.A.
when people gave me gifts I usually blessed them and gave it back to them or gave them to some poor person. But now I’m stuck in L.A. I have become a householder so-to-speak.
People dress me up like a peacock, (students laugh) and here I am. The result of the gifts you give me. (students laugh)
The bhandara today is in celebration of three different occasions, Christmas, Hanukkah and the birthday of Bhagvan Sri Ramana Maharshi, which is on the 30th. Of the former two we know very little. We know very little about Christ, very little about Hanukkah, the burning of the candles. Just stories that have been handed down to us. We don’t know whether they are true or not but it makes no difference. What we do know is the extraordinary life of Ramana Maharshi. This we know very well.
When Ramana was sixteen years old, he was living with his uncle. All of a sudden he felt sort of light…light headed, he went into his uncles room and he thought he was going to die but he wasn’t afraid. He welcomed death, so-to-speak. He lay down on the floor and crossed his arms on his chest, his blood pressure went down and he felt like he was dying he was leaving his body. And he said to himself, “If this is how it is to die it’s not bad,” but instead of dying he became absorbed in absolute reality, in consciousness.
He didn’t have an out of body experience, on the contrary. He wasn’t sailing through the universe seeing things and enjoying things. He was not in the universe, the universe was in him. He was the universe. He was the source of all phenomena. He had this realization. His essence was in the trees, the mountains, people, animals, everything.
He became pure awareness. He was totally aware of everything at the same time, omniscience.Then for some reason he came back to the body. He became body conscious again.
Yet his entire personality changed extraordinarily, he was a completely different person.
He was born again as a Sage. He no longer had any interest in school work or his friends.
He used to sit for long hours at his uncles house and do nothing. He wouldn’t do his homework.
One day his older brother saw him like this and told him, “If you want to be a sadhu why don’t you go out into the jungle and stop spending your uncles money for tuition fees for school?” Ramana thought about this and pondered it and he decided to leave. He wrote a little note for the family saying, “I am going about my fathers business, please do no try to look for me. I am paying my brothers school fee.” And he had the money to pay his brothers school fee that day and his school fee. So he went and he paid his brother’s school fee and with the money he had left, about 3 rupees, (it was considered about a dollar in those days). He had heard his father talking to a friend of his fathers uncle, talking to a friend about Arunachala, Tiruvannamalai, the sacred mountain. When he heard the name Arunachala a thrill went up his body. He heard that name before, very much so, it was very meaningful to him.
So he bought a train ticket for Tiruvannamalai only he got on the wrong train.
When he got off he was about a hundred and fifty miles away from where he wanted to go. He had spent his money and didn’t have anything left. So he sat down at the railway station and started to meditate. He became absorbed in consciousness.
A couple who lived nearby saw him, a man and wife and they said, “Here is a great saint sitting here meditating let’s take him to our house and feed him.” They sat down with him. Four hours later he opened his eyes and they took him to their home, fed him. They asked him where he was going, he told them but he wouldn’t take any money from them to take the right train. He said he had gold earrings, he was a Brahman boy, they pierced the ears and put gold earrings in your ear. They were very expensive. So he told the couple, “You hold these earrings for me and advance me that money to go on the trip.” Which they did.
So he took the right train and finally got to Tiruvannamalai. He got off and saw the beautiful temple, the ancient temple. He started to walk towards it. As he did he took off all of his clothes piece by piece and threw them away. The extra money he got for the earrings he threw into the pond and all of a sudden it started raining. He saw this to be a blessing from God to wash and clean. He was reborn. Ramana was dead and a Sage was born. He went into the temple and sat down underneath one of the giant pillars and became absorbed in nothingness.
You can imagine how cold it was. The floors were marble. It was raining, cold night and he was entirely nude sitting there in front of the pillar. To make a long story short he remained in the temple, around the temple where there were mango trees close by, for many years. And people started to gather to look at him, he started to run away. He ran up the hill, Arunachala, lived in various caves for many years, came down again. An
Of all the Sages that I have met in my travels, Ananda Mai Ma, Papa Ram Dass, Nimkarali Baba, Nisargadatta Maharaj many others unknown, Ramana is the purest soul I’ve ever met.
I had a similar experience when I was fourteen years old but it’s different being brought up in New York City and having a spiritual experience. In India they realize what it is. In New York they want to put you into a psychiatric ward. So I went to confirm this.
This is the only reason I traveled to see Saints and Sages. I wanted to confirm the experience. Where I was, what I felt.
(Someone arrives) Welcome John.
I wanted to know if there were any other people who felt the same thing. The spiritual teachers I met in the United States only went so far. So I went to India when I was young. Met these Sages. Realizing they were experiencing the same thing as myself, I became satisfied, fulfilled.
Now all of the great Sages since the beginning of time have taught basically three methods, three direct methods for self-realization. And these methods I’m going to share with you. These three methods I’m going to share the highest teachings on earth. If you only practice these things you would need nothing else and we will awaken and become free which we already are anyway but you don’t believe it. It behooves us to practice these three methods.
The first one is being in the acquaintance of Sages in satsang. Hanging out with Sages, being around Sages in satsang. This is the first principle. It doesn’t sound important to some of you but it’s very important. This is the highest teaching you can get. To be with a Sage, Why?
A true Sage is like the sun. The sun’s rays shines all over the earth. The Sages grace shines all over also just like the sun. But those people who come to the Sage, who hang out with the Sage receive the powerful rays of the Sage more so than everybody else. It is like the sun again where you take a magnifying glass and you bring the ray of sun close so it starts a fire. This is what happens to the person who hangs out with a Sage, who is around the Sage and at satsang most of the time.
Now some of you may say, “I’ve been around Sages for a long time nothing has happened. I’m still the same as I’ve always been.” The answer to this is check yourself out.
What are you really doing? In other words what is your main interest. You have to be honest with yourself. Is your main interest release from bondage or social life? What is your true reason for coming to see a Sage? What do you want? Ask yourself. Find out.
Do the material things of this world turn you on more than self-realization, wanting self-realization? What is your real purpose? In the ultimate truth there is no purpose of course. But we’re speaking of the aspiring Jnani who wants to awaken fast and not have to go through incarnation after incarnation again. If they find a Sage they should stay with that person as long as they can.
The mistake many of us still make is we keep running from Sage to Sage from teacher to teacher. Checking people out going here, going there. This is fun, this is good to an extent but the time comes when we have to stop and get a little more serious about this.
By going from Sage to Sage, from teaching to teaching it will be very hard for you to awaken. Why? Because every Sage is different and by the way real Sages are few and in between. There are many teachers. In today’s age there are more teachers than there are disciples. (students laugh) Teachers are all over the place. You know everyday we see a brochure of a new teacher who is coming to town, Quack Foo Duck, (students laugh) he will be here tomorrow to show his new methods. Mishugamiyogi will be here to bring you peace and harmony and on and on. Our life is full of teachers and Sages all over the place.
Now we mean well. But if we really want to find the truth you should stick with one person.
Now I’m not speaking about myself, you know, because of you who know me know I don’t care about having a lot of people, I’m not looking for fame or name or anything. But it’s up to you what you’re looking for, what do you want? You have to find the right Sage that you respect, share something in common with and stick with that being and follow the teachings. This is the only way you’ll ever awaken. This is the true way of awakening. It’s not reading so many books. So now I know everything now there is nothing else to do I know it all. I’m finished with this path. But if you look at your life you will see that you’re not finished because you have the same old problems, same old depressions, same old nonsense going on in your life. Things disturb you, things bother you.
How can you think you’re realized if you have these problems going on? Don’t fool yourself.
So being in the company of a Sage is very important. It is the highest principle of all spiritual teachings.
The second direct method is self-inquiry. Self-inquiry is very important also. I know many of you have tried practicing self-inquiry and it becomes boring to you or you say you don’t need it. You’ve done it for a couple of hours and that is enough for your life.
But Bhagvan Sri Ramana Maharshi and other great Sages, Shankara, many Sages, many Saints, have emphasized the importance of self-inquiry, atma-vichara. It’s very easy to do.
You should practice all day and all night. Especially if you’ve found a Sage.
When you’re sitting with a Sage in meditation practice self-inquiry. Practice it during the day when you’re going about you’re business. Practice it during the night when you’re going to sleep. Keep on practicing, practicing, practicing, practicing, don’t stop.
Keep doing it again and again. So fortunate is the person who has found a Sage to be with and can also practice self-inquiry. Self-inquiry simply means that you question everything that arises, that’s all it is. Everything that arises you question it.
You question yourself, “Who is feeling this? I am, who am I?” I’ve explained this to most of you so many times but yet some of you just do not do it. You think it’s for beginners or children but on the contrary, it’s very powerful. See you have to have a lot of humility to do these things. If you have a big ego you will quit everything and think that you’re great. You have to have a lot of humility a lot of humbleness. You have to forget about yourself totally and completely.
The third direct method is self surrender. You can do all three of these things simultaneously you know. You can be with a Sage, practice self-inquiry and also surrender.
This is what a true devotee does. They do all three. Without even knowing that they’re doing them.
What is self surrender? When you give up your ego, your life, your possessions, your body, your thoughts, to the Self, to the one Self. When you let go of everything, everything. If you can really do this where is the problem? Where is the anxiety? Where is the sorrow? For you are surrendering it all to the Self, to God. You’re giving it all away. If you can really do this what you call God will take over all of your life completely and absolutely. You will no longer have anything to worry about. You will have no responsibilities yourself, but yet you will do what you’re supposed to do in a beautiful way, a harmonious way, lovely way and you will feel happy all the time.
When the time comes, when you can sit in a chair by yourself become absorbed in the infinite and feel the bliss. That is your true nature. Realizing that there is nothing in this world that can give you this bliss, nothing, then you’ve made headway on the spiritual path.
In other words if your friends invite you and say, “Let’s go drinking. Let’s go have a bowl. Let’s go steal a car. Let’s go shoot somebody on the freeway,” and you say, “Nah, I don’t think I’ll do this today.” And you sit down and feel the joy, the peace, the love which is your Self. You’ve come along way if you can do this.
Most of us are running around all over the place going here, going there looking for a good time and we think we’ve made spiritual advances. But as you know the first thing that comes along of a derogatory nature upsets you very much. This tells you how spiritual you are. When you become very mad excited about something or somebody who has upset you. How can you think you’re making spiritual progress when you can still get upset? Become angry, become fearful. When you think some ones trying to hurt you or take something from you. How can you call yourself spiritual?
A true spiritual being is at peace at all times.
When something doesn’t go right in their life of a spiritual person, they observe it, they watch it, they smile at it and get absorbed in it and come out smiling, laughing. In other words nothing can ever hurt them again.
So, let’s talk about you. Where do you think you are on the spiritual path? Again you can answer this yourself by the life you’re living. Take a look at your life right now and see what’s going on. Are you truly free and happy and peaceful? Or are you only happy and peaceful because things are going your way right now? As you know in this world everything changes constantly, consistently. So if you have beautiful things going your way it will change shortly as it must. And then you feel upset and sad and disillusioned. And you’ll say this doesn’t work. This Sage is no good let me go find another one.
Remember it’s also interesting again the way the mind works in a case like this.
I’m here with you all the time and most of you get to know me intimately. We go to lunch we see each other a lot and you get used to me. But if you go traveling and you see a Sage or a teacher, you’re only seeing them once or twice or three times. So you think it’s something real special, it’s different, because you’re thrilled by seeing these people, you haven’t seen them in your life, you’ve heard so much about them. But yet if you had to live around the proximity of them, week and day after day watching them at work you wouldn’t like them too much. They’d be different than what you thought they were.
What I’m trying to say is be thankful with what you’ve got. Your life is your life, you can do with it anything you want. Try to find the bliss within you. Awaken the peace within you. Awaken the love within you. Live spontaneously in the moment, forget about the past, the future. Try to understand that somebody out there loves you. This whole universe is your friend, nothing is against you. You have no enemies. All is well and everything is unfolding as it should. Peace.
(silence)
While the food preparers, prepare the food so we stuff ourselves, we can get perhaps Kerema to sing a song or too.
SK: Oh?
R: David White couldn’t come today he has the flu, no voice, so we will improvise and do what comes naturally. So listen to Kerema’s beautiful songs.
(tape ends abruptly)
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.