I WAS AND AM A SUPPORTER OF BERNIE SANDERS

I supported him from the beginning. I voted for him in the primaries.  I even started a blog to support him. I was outraged by Debbie Wasserman  Schultz’s actions and called for her firing. But Bernie lost whether it was rigged or not.

Bernie is the victim, yet he supports Clinton.  Why?  Because he has already begun a vast change in the system.  Hillary’s platform is Bernie’s socialist platform, and he is not a powerhouse in the Democratic party as opposed to being an isolated independent senator with little power.

AND, as he says over and over, Hillary is a thousand times better as president than Trump, and he is going to fight to keep her progressive along with all of the millions of people who voted for him in a progressive movement. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/bill-maher-bernie-sanders-strop-trump_us_579c4522e4b0e2e15eb610bf?section=

Bernie is the victim yet wholeheartedly backs Clinton.  Why aren’t you?

Many of you are lost in rage against the system thinking only to deny Clinton the presidency because she is the embodiment of the system.  But so is Trump.  In addition, he is insane, a bigot, a hater, a divider, an unabashedly self-centered egomaniac who will unabashedly use the presidency to enhance Trump enterprises and to pump his grandiosity until it explodes in ways I do not want to see.

I do not want to fight this battle anymore. I have stated where I stand.

So, I make you an offer.  If you lack the discrimination to see through Trump and the danger he poses, and if you fail to see his lack of compassion and heart, and still want him to be president because you are deranged with anger at the system, or worse, you are a Republican, please let me know that you still back him.  I will remove you from my friends list and maybe take the time to block you because I can not be bothered any longer caring so much for my friends who want to destroy themselves because of their blind rage and lack of reality perspective.

I care for you so much it hurts that you cannot see clearly the danger Trump poses for the country and for you.

I don't hate Trump at all. I sort of like the persona he pretends to be. But I definitely see the danger he poses to all of us and the path he will take, whatever that is, because he has not outlined any path but one of bigotry and divisiveness.

THE CASE FOR CLINTON/SANDERS

America has a two-party system.  It is a binary system.  It is one or the other.  Winner take all.  There really are no coalition politics in the American two-party system.

However, what we have seen with Clinton/Sanders is an attempt to form a two-party de facto coalition of a nascent social democratic party with a broader Democratic party.

Take a look at the Democratic platform for 2016.  Most of what Saunders was shooting for is in that platform.  However, few of us believe that Clinton will adhere to those party planks, and will shed them once president.

But some of us have watched Bernie throughout the election process.  Yes, the system was rigged against him from getting the nomination.  Perhaps if it had not been so rigged, he may have gotten another 200 pledged delegates, and cut Clinton’s lead to razor thinness.  But as Bernie has stated, “THIS IS REALITY,” thereby moving the universe of discourse from a socialist goal to the reality of creating a de facto coalition party, of a Social Democratic Party, and the Democratic Party.  This is the reality.  Bernie has forced Clinton to take on many of the precepts of his Democratic Socialism in order to get his endorsement, his delegates, and his followers to come along and support Hillary Clinton for president.

So many people are so angry at Clinton having witnessed the ring system against which Bernie fought, but this is reality.  It takes time to change.  Already Bernie has changed it by eliminating 500 superdelegate positions in future year elections.  In 2020, if Bernie or Sen. Warren want to run for president, not only will they be part of the Newer Establishment at that time, but the entire election process will better reflect what actual voters want as opposed to what the establish party wants.

Those of you who are still so angry at Clinton because of what the DNC did together with Clinton, have to take note of the disaster we will face a year after Donald Trump is elected.  Bernie sees the peril in electing Donald Trump.  As he states, he will do everything possible to eliminate that possibility, and to elect the coalition candidate Hillary Clinton.  Remember, Bernie is going to be a central heavyweight now in the Senate, impossible to ignore, constantly prompting Clinton towards a more socialist leaning.  Perhaps within the next four years we will see the founding of the Democratic Socialist party as a third-party, which could easily supplant the Green party was true and effective vote-power.

So drop your hatred of Clinton, and work with Bernie and her, to get her elected and to stop Trump.  Can you imagine what the world would be like two years after a Trump election?  Can you imagine the chaos?  Can you imagine the danger?  Can you imagine the disappointment in all of those who elected Trump and saw his presidency turn into the disaster he predicted would happen if Hillary were elected?  Can you imagine anyone who voted for Trump been having second thoughts that they are to blame?  No, they will blame Trump for having failed them, holding themselves faultless.

The American electorate appears to be stupid beyond belief.  Therefore it is for us who can better discriminate the reality of what faces us in the upcoming election to work to stabilize the Democratic Socialist/Democratic Party coalition that Bernie and Clinton have forged, and to make it the party of the future.

TO TRANSCEND OR NOT TO TRANSCEND

     Many Advaitin teachers speak of transcending the body, individuality, and the self, and even teaching the transcendence the personality.

     But what are they talking about?

     One such teacher I talked to said he no longer had any sense f identity to anything, and that everything was Shakti. I don't known exactly what he means, except that maybe he "sees," "feels," "understands," that nothing is him, and everything perceived and experienced is "other," Shakti. Or maybe he means he too, his sense of existence is also Shakti.

     But has he lost his personality? If he has, what was his experience? Did he feel he no longer was a human, or did he feel he no longer had a "personality," that which has emotions, moods, makes decisions, and has habit patterns of reactions to the world?

     I don't know what he, or other teachers mean when they talk about their alleged transcendence.

     I for one, definitely feel my personality, my emotions, my individuality, my body, and say, "All this is part of me, one aspect of me."

     I also "understand" that all the apparent world and my body are objects within my own consciousness when I am awake. So I am aware that essentially I am consciousness which includes thinking and the mind as well as memories and intuitions. I carefully watch and also feel into the entirety of my consciousness as a living totality of awareness.

     This consciousness is continually changing, variable, and features one experience or one aspects in an unending flow of experiences and objects. One can say there is an experiencer and the flow of conscious experiences which are objects. Or one can say the experiences and the experiencer are one. Sometimes it appears one or the other is a true statement, sometimes that neither is.

     Then sometimes I can self experience as awareness without mind, without a sense of self or world, without the I Am sensation, and just stay there too, knowing and experiencing nothing.

     All these states of consciousness come and go, including the experiences of coming awake out of a dark and moist nothingness, which is totally relaxing and in total peace.

     I am also aware of my awareness of these various states. These states come and go on me, the witness.

     But my resting state is that of being me as awareness, aware of the life force inside and acting through this body/mind, indwelling my own sense of presence that permeates my body and mind and the space around my body and mind, and all permeated by an empty space, itself permeated by the light of consciousness. I feel the energies inside, not really inside the body, but inside of my energetic self, and feel "see" the life force and the intelligence of consciousness within me. I think Robert calls this the Brahman state. Certainly this is what Nisargadatta called Brahman: the totality of my manifest consciousness or self.

     I am certainly aware of nothingness as the dark void from which I as consciousness emerge each day, and to which I return each night, and which I experience from time to time by being totally merged into itself. But it is not my primary identification.

     Regarding personality, it is my position that personality does not reside in the body or mind, but in the totality of my consciousness. My individual expression of consciousness has its own unique fingerprint in terms of emotional reactions, opinions, lack of opinions, ways of expression, behaviors, directions and desires. I think the rush towards transcendence is often a rush to deny one's own humanity and leads to a poverty rather than transcendence.

     Nisargadatta says in his book the Experience of Nothingness, that once he heard the words that he had cancer, he lost all identification with his body and taught from that denial the last two or three years of his life.

     This is clear indication that he ran from body identification once he knew his body was dying. In fact, much of that book and others written around that time, was his obsession with death, and since he didn't identify with either his body or consciousness, he was not worried or bothered, except that he hoped death came quietly without too much pain.

     I have known hundreds of teachers up close.      From my point of view, all had prominent personalities and all were very human, even if a few claimed not to have a self or personality. What is actually going on in them, I don't know, and often, when describing their self-experience they use abstract or Sanskrit terms that hide rather than reveal who they are.

     Robert was the closest person I ever knew to be close to being totally empty and not there. He was uniquely empty. Others tend to be talking heads.

No matter how relaxed or inspired you feel when listening to Robert's words on audio, or read Nisargadatta's or Ramana's words, realize they are just words. They are concepts spinning in your mind, making you feel emotionally held, relaxed, etc.

Those words you listen to are about Robert's experiences beyond or prior to mind, that are being spoken to your mind, which interprets his beyond-mind words into your experience which is generally mind-bound.

The best way to benefit from those words is to ignore what they say you are beyond mind, but to "feel" into your sense of Self, into the I Am sensation, which at its root are all levels of being, from the I Am, to Nothingness.

Forget about all teachings about no self, no-mind, no separate self, the body is illusion, the world is unreal, and just focus on feeling your I Am. Merger with the I Am sense will reveal yourself as pure Consciousness, the life force, and the energy being that you are. You become the incarnated Krishna, the I Am descended into your body bringing life and sentience.

After this experience, your unfolding takes care of itself. No more work or focus is necessary unless your own self demands more work.

THE LIFE FORCE AND THE UNMANIFEST

I was astounded to find this quote today in the Ultimate Medicine, which are talks by Nisargadatta in the year before his death.  These are exactly words that describe my own experiences, but expressed in a different way. I will not quote the exact page because you need to read that book for yourself.  You can download it from wearesentience.com, but I highly recommend that you buy it.

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Without the vital breath, Ishwara, or God, has no soul; and without God (consciousness), the vital breath has no existence.  Whenever man limits his consciousness to body and mind, he is called Jiva.  Otherwise he is absolutely independent of these two, which are acting and reacting (according to the world).  Consciousness, which expresses itself in various shapes and forms, is all one; whether be an insect, a big bore, or a big man, there is no difference whatsoever.

Without the vital force, nobody can worship God.  Actually, it is the vital breath, the life force which is worshiping God.  And without God, there is no existence of the vital breath.  And without the vital breath there is no expression to God.  Without this vital force can there even be a reference to God?

When this life force seeks the consciousness as God itself, only then dawns the light of consciousness with which the life force works and achieves what it wants to achieve—that is, oneness with God.  Even if you take the life force as God itself, the result will be the same, because the working principle is the life force.  The consciousness is merely the witnessing process.

Consciousness and life force are two components, inextricably woven together, of one principle.  But consciousness is only the witnessing principle or the static aspect; the dynamic aspect or the working principle is the life force.  Once you consider the life force as God itself, then you raise the life force to a status enabling it, together with consciousness, to give you an understanding of the working of the whole principal.  But if you demote that life principle to mere self identification with the body, then the life principle is not given the status which enables it to unfold itself.  It depends entirely on you.  If I identify this life principle with my body, then I make it work according to the body.  But if I raise it to a godly status, then that life principle will unfold itself and give me the necessary spiritual knowledge.

This physical body, this apparatus, is generally regarded very highly.  But can the body, however good, however pure, be as pure as the life force?  If you make a friend of this life force—that is, if you identify yourself not with the body but with this life force—then will one need help from any other source; that is, from any source other than the Life force?  Is there anything more essential than this Life force?  If you have a choice by which you could have the life force or anything else, is there anything else you would give preference to over the life force?

Would you like to ask some questions?  Who is so authorized to ask the deepest questions?

It is that one who has made deep friendship with the life force and this consciousness, who realizes the importance of the life force to the extent he loves the life force as himself and not his identification with the body.  Someone who has this love that has not identified himself with the body, he has conquered everything, and only such a person is eligible to ask (the deepest spiritual) questions.

Union with this life force is in no way different from the love for the life force, the companionship with the life force; that is, this unity is love.  Life force, love and consciousness are all one in essence.

By all means use your body to work in your world but understand what it is.  The body is only an instrument to be used: you are not the body.  You are the everlasting, timeless, spaceless, principle which gives sentience to the body.  This is the most secret but the simplest principle as far as spiritual knowledge is concerned.

I will give you a specific instance.  In one who has understood the principle and is one with the life force, when this life force is ready to leave the body, what will be his reaction?  Apparently, that will be the moment of highest ecstasy.  Why is this?  Because what is manifest is now going to be unmanifest (Thus going totally beyond the pale of life, to that which observes and from whom everything emerges).

Your constant companion is this life force, without which nothing can happen.  When the  life force comes into contact with the consciousness, this combination assumes the status of the highest God.  For anyone who is identified himself not with the body, but with this life force, can there be any need for anything else from any source?

Enlightenment in 30 days--email dialogue with Rob

Dear Edji,

Thank you so much for the guidance and wisdom you have written and shared on your website. For 3 years I have been searching for answers and guidance all over the internet to no avail. I was seeking an explanation for an experience I did not understand. I did not know at the time, but I had accidentally stumbled upon this self inquiry process one night in bed. The experience altered my mind forever, and left me terribly confused. I have found no one but you that could explain what had happened to me and what I needed to do.

A week a ago, I began following your instructions detailed in Hunting the I. Since then, I have been able to understand that my body and the world I had always thought existed are an illusion. I am now focused on resting as the witness of consciousness---that which itself appears to not be consciousness---if that makes any sense. I watch the waking state, sleep state (which was very bizarre the first time), and dreaming. Though in the state of deep sleep I do not seem to be watching or at least I don't remember it.

I am not sure what else to do from here except continue to focus on resting as the witness. My understanding seems to grow constantly, but is still not complete.

I never tried meditation before 3 years ago, and I've never had a teacher. After I started self inquiry last week, I began having intense pain in the center of my head and I'm not sure what it is. I can push this point of pain and pressure around my body or completely out of it, but it quickly returns. I'm not sure what to do to make it stop. Any guidance on this would be greatly appreciated.

I am immensely grateful to you, Robert, and Ramana Maharshi for sharing such clear and simple guidance. Before finding you, all I could find were teachings about oneness that I knew were shallow and not the whole truth. I thought of giving up, but something kept driving me to continue my search. I am very glad I kept going.

Gratefully Yours,

Rob

Ed: You are doing very, very well.  Keep it up. No other advice at this time.

Don't pay any attention to the pain, just observe it.

Hello Edji,

Hope you are well. I've been observing like you instructed me to. Yesterday I thought of trying something else, but it dawned on me that anything else I try is useless. Anything I do is just seeking at the level of the mind, so I just gave up and surrendered.

This morning I was rereading your “Hunting the I” and it finally sunk in.

There is no I! No person, no witness...just AMness. Its all just some mental projection. Is this correct? Is there anything I should be doing or practicing now? Is there anything I should avoid that could be problematic at this stage? Thank you for your time.

Rob

Ed:

This itself is a mental conclusion that you have accepted as true.

Find the I am sensation by feeling for it, not looking for it.

Dwell in that I Am sensation. Become intimate with it that leads to a direct experience of the life force. At the same time you become aware that you are witnessing the I Am sensation and later, consciousness.

Read Apte's Nisargadatta Gita and Nisargadatta's The Ultimate Medicine, which I find the clearest exposition of a class of advaita teachings, and the clearest explanation of the best form of self-inquiry.

Listen to sacred music, Kirtan and Bhajans.

These instructions are generic and fit all people.  Some advance quickly by staying in the I Am sensation.

Some find help or clarity of purpose by reading the Nisargadatta Gita that focuses on the one self-inquiry method that I have found to be the most effective method out of many.

Some feel the hammer blow of Nisargadatta’s clearest work, and that is enough to unfoled their spiritual destiny.

Lastly, for those with a devotional bent, and who already can observe within, I say change your direction and “feel” within, allowing many to experience the explosion of the life force, Shakti, from within

Sear Edji:

Yesterday after reading some passages from the Ultimate Medicine, I started to ponder how I had mentally come to the conclusion there was no I. As I was thinking I realized that I was trying to out-think my own thinking....by thinking. And that even this was still a thought.  Then the mind just froze...all thinking, beliefs, and concepts stopped. I didn't trust any of my perceptions and it was a bit terrifying for a moment. I immediately closed my eyes and tried to dwell in the I Am and find some stability, but it was gone! It had been there seconds before, but now it wasn't.

It seemed diffused throughout consciousness, and when I focused on it then it seemed to move...like trying to catch a cloud. Sometimes it will condense and I'll briefly have the I Am appear to be in the elbow, or nose, or in front of the body.  I also discovered I don't have a body. It's a bunch of sensations that appear random without the idea "body.” If I close my eyes, the body seems flat, almost 2 dimensional.  Sometimes it feels like my shoulder is above my ear, or that one leg is half a long as the other. It’s a lot of fun actually. I feel totally at peace, not the overwhelming bliss that I have been experiencing.

I know absolutely I'm not this body

I know I can't be consciousness because that comes and goes

I have read that I am something beyond this, 

but that's a thought and not something I am aware of having experienced.

Nothing seems real anymore...objects, people, this body, or consciousness itself. I'm typing this inside a dream. I don't know if there is a real ME beyond consciousness or not. If there is a real ME then how do I experience it not simply think it? 

Thank You,

Rob

Rob Again:

I answered my own question from yesterday.

I realized it last night, Edji. While going between, waking, sleep, dream, back to waking...I clearly noticed that which is always there. It’s very difficult to describe, but that "me" was always there I was just too distracted by the appearances of consciousness I guess. Now while awake it feels like consciousness is being "pulled" into this real me and identification with it is becoming more powerful. It feels peaceful almost like being half awake and half asleep.

Rob

Ed:

This is difficult to hold onto.  Expect it to come and go for a while.  But essentially you have got it.  It has to deepen and stabilize.

Also, you say,  you had been in bliss. Tell me how that happened.  Are you directly aware of the life force within as a separate entity, as Shakti?

Where you are now, I was 20 years ago.  But seven years ago I totally awakened to Shakti, the life force that lives and acts through our bodies and our deeper Subtle Body.  Until you have had that love affair with Shakti, if you have not already experienced it, I don’t know how stable your realization will be.  Your direct and continuous awareness of the life force is a mark of the spiritual depth necessary for full realization.

From Rob:

The first time it happened was 3 years ago. Without knowing what I did one night I sank back into the witness. It felt like I had energy running through my body, and new sensations everywhere. It felt better than anything I had ever felt before. The next morning it seemed like I could read what people were thinking, so I thought I had gone insane. I didn't like the mind reading and it disappeared a few days later. The bliss feeling slowly went away after a few weeks, and didn't return until a few weeks ago. 

This is all new to me. I have been singlemindedly focused on finding what I truely am and to know what is real and unreal. So, I tried not to focus on the bliss/energy. I thought if I did I would get distracted and lost. Currently, I'll have this sensation that I can only describe at bliss circulate throughout different areas of the body. Sometimes I'll feel very hot like I have a fever, or euphoria 100 times stronger than being intoxicated. 

I know nothing about Shakti. Not intellectually(for whatever good that's worth) nor how to control it or even if that's possible. I would love to know more!

Thank you for your guidance!

Rob