Robert asks if you are happy. I shout out from the peanut gallery, "No." Henry laughs and Robert says, "That is an honest answer."
He says people are unhappy because they do not know truly who they are. If they did, they would be totally happy.
He also says it is only the mind that keeps you unhappy because it keeps you from the now, and that Now is liberation and happiness.
I agree with the first half of his teaching, but not the second, which is typical neo-advaita.
But then he says the external world is in you. You are it. There is nothing you need from the outside because it is all you.
With this I agree too. Look within deeply and find the Self.
Then he talks about the function of the Guru, bringing you to yourself.
http://siriusink.blogspot.com/
Realizing the Manifest Self--the Life Force permeating our humanity--and the Unmanifest source from which it arises.
Oh my God, Edji, this talk is perfect beyond belief. Thank you!!! I had fallen into reacting to a situation. Peace has returned. I feel like someone very gently brought me back home. Bliss, indeed.
ReplyDeleteSerena
I had a very similar experience! I was brooding all day over an interpersonal situation when I listened to this and it hit me right over the head and brought clarity and peace, answering the questions I've been having around this situation. Thank you Edji!
DeleteRich
I am still feeling stunned by Robert's talk. No ordinary person could speak for 40 minutes purely spontaneously with such beautiful order and clarity. The beginning, middle and end... just so. Pure intelligence. I can see why people were drawn to him. I ended up feeling deeply moved and relieved of my burdens. Even happy. Yet his is not the face of a happy man, nor does his voice have a happy quality. Very strange experience.
ReplyDeleteSerena
Emptiness, the Void, beingness, light of Consciousness are all words to describe certain aspects of our inner experience, the meditator's realm.
ReplyDeleteThese words describe aspects of our awareness of the manifest external and internal worlds, and thus are just objects, just like a chair, a musical note, a flower, or our bodies. They are simply objects of awareness even though the Void is that in which all other objects are contained.
If awareness goes, so do all the objects including the Void, emptiness, beingness, and Now.
However, there is that which is beyond Consciousness, the Absolute or Witness, Parabrahman, but more importantly, buried deep within the manifestations of Consciousness is the Self of All, AKA the Atman, Turiya, which contains and underlies all states of Consciousness that we are.
It is this manifest Self thatI focus on, the dynamic energy, Shakti that runs the manifest universe, which is also known as God, but which we are.
The Self is not so much discovered, as it presents itself to us when we are ready to feel her, see her, and to love her.
And we get there through love. I do not advocate all the Kundalini breathing and imaging exercises; rather I emphasize emotional intensity to gain the power and energy to create the opportunity for Self-Realization.
Realization of the Absolute can occur before or after Realization of the Manifest Self, but is not nearly as important to you as an individual, or to the human race as Self-Realization of Shakti, Atman, and its perfect fitting with our human, emotional existence.
Hi Edji,
ReplyDeleteSince you mention various types of awakening, Self-realization being the highest, I am curious to know if these other states of awakening have the quality of remembrance as, "this is who I am, have always been, and always will be"? Do these other types of awakening have the qualities of beauty that make one feel that if God exists God is experiencing me as me? I've wondered before if there were various types of awakening because that would explain much for me.
Thanks,
C
It takes a book to answer this question. Download mine from http://wearesentience.com
ReplyDeleteThanks Edji. The title has a wonderful meaning to me. Will give it a go.
ReplyDeleteC
Well I tried to read but all I ever do is find myself perplexed by other's perceptions of something that to me should be so incredibly simple. I don't understand all these exotic "Selves" and exotic paths to Self and exotic awakenings before waking as Self. Not saying there is no validity in anything I've read. More than likely I simply just don't have the ability to understand. Awakening as anything other than Self isn't in my experience. Hence the confusion with so many Awakened's varying outlooks. I guess this is what happens when Self can express itself as an infinitude of possibilities or nothing at all.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure I'll give your book another go. It is interesting for sure. A salute for offering it freely, too. Took me a bit to find it, though. I thought I was to read "Dancing With God" at first.
Take care...and please excuse me if I sound like a nonchalant jackass. It's just the magnitude of what is being discussed here and by you is so inexpressible and inexpressibly significant to me. Yet, here we all are talking about it. I find it surreal..so please excuse me.
C