It is altogether perfect to talk about awakening, love, and awareness, but there is such brutality in the world, especially towards animals, and one feels helpless to do anything about it. The photos following basically are from the meat and fur markets in China, and the killing fields for dogs in Romania. They are too ugly to post here so I give two links: The first is to penned dogs in a Chinese fur market, the second is to all 498 photos.


Look at the photos. Really look at them.


There is much to be done to tone down the cruelty of consciousness, and no one here but us to do it.


http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=239722419385237&set=pu.211735252183954&type=1&theater


http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=pu.211735252183954&type=1


When I was in Korea it was the same, but the killings and butchering was not done in public as here. 


I had been ordained as the first American ever to be named as a World Teacher of Chogye Buddhism in 1999.  About a year later I renounced the title in protest after I learned more that had been hidden from me while I was there.

I do what I can by just looking around me and seeing I can help homeless cats in Los Angeles.


Last night I was feeding near a Spanish market in Encino, when an about 5 month old female kitten walked up to me where I normally feed an older, very feral male cat, looked me right in the eye, and said "MEOW" in the loudest voice from a cat I ever heard. I promptly gave her an extra can and a half of cat food, and plan on capturing her soon and maybe find her a home as she will almost let me touch her.


One woman I help is Marie, who feeds 122 cats every night, and yet only has a take home pay of $1,000 a month and another $800 in Social Security.  I plan on following her on her rounds one evening soon, to photograph her feedings dozens of cats at a time in some places.


Of course spaying and neutering is always going on. I mention this because inevitably I will get a comment that the cats should be sterilized or else the problem increases. Duhh.

From my friend D. I could not read this in one reading. Halfway through the affect was so great I got dizzy. Later when I tried to finish reading it, I felt immeasurable joy. D is a pure Jnani and one who is complete.


Thank for your kind words, J. I'll tell you a little story about my life that relates to how I perceive things. Many years ago, after my mother passed away, I was walking in the Rocky mountains with my father. We were hiking at around 13,000 feet, very near the Continental Divide. After walking for some hours, we finally reached this beautiful, blue lake, surrounded by sheer, rock cliffs on three sides. Water flowed over the top of one of the cliffs into the lake, and the sunlight reflecting in it created a rainbow effect. It was absolutely stunning, and I felt this incredible peace in my heart that I had never experienced before. Just then, the thought occurred to me, "The joy isn't coming from the lake. It's coming from inside of you."

This is the way it is. Certain people and experiences may elicit joy from within us, but the joy has always been there. It is our own nature and could never be given to us by anyone or anything outside of ourselves. So the light you saw emanating from my words was really just a reflection of what was already in your own heart. You are the light of all life. You are love itself, dancing in human form, dancing as emptiness. Beneath the thin veneer of ego and mortality, this is what we all are. The Persian poet Rumi summarized this exquisitely when he said, in response to being asked who he was, "I do not know who I am. I am an astounding, lucid confusion. If you label me and define me, you will starve yourself of yourself. If you box me down with labels and definitions, that box will be your coffin. I am your own voice echoing off the walls of God."

Ed has shared with me some of the beautiful experiences you have had recently. This is only the beginning. What people loosely call "enlightenment" isn't a destination, but a never ending journey in which one never arrives. It is a pool of fathomless, ever-new joy that just deepens forever. It is like the poem by Rabindranath Tagore:

Thou hast made me endless, such is thy pleasure. This frail vessel thou emptiest again and again, and fillest it ever with fresh life.

This little flute of a reed thou hast carried over hills and dales, and hast breathed through it melodies eternally new.

At the immortal touch of thy hands my little heart loses its limits in joy and gives birth to utterance ineffable.

Thy infinite gifts come to me only on these very small hands of mine. Ages pass, and still thou pourest, and still there is room to fill.

And yet ironically, after "awakening," we are still human. There is an old zen saying: "Before enlightenment, chop wood, carry water. After enlightenment, chop wood, carry water." After enlightenment (which really has no "before" or "after" -- it just is), one may continue to experience periods of bliss, but they will necessarily be juxtaposed by the pain and unpleasantness that the vicissitudes of life invariably bring. What remains throughout all experience, however, and what continues to deepen as time goes by, is the awareness of Truth -- the abiding peace of the Self that transcends all human understanding.

Some people are under an illusion that the jnani never feels pain or sorrow. This is not true. When Ramana Maharshi was informed that his beloved devotee, Ganapati Muni (a great saint in his own right) had died, he said, deeply moved and with tears in his eyes, “Where can we find another like him?” Towards the end of his own life, commenting on the sarcoma that was eating away his body, Ramana remarked, "Appa! Who could conceive that a disease such as this could be in this world? When a hiccough comes the whole body splits like flashes of lightning in a cloud! There has not been a spot [on my body] which has not been painful to touch."

Yet as identification with the Self deepens, the pain that often accompanies duality increasingly operates in the background, muted by the changeless, blissful reality that is our real nature. As Sri Ramana once explained, "Everybody feels the pain of a cut or sting, but a jnani whose mind is sunk in bliss feels it as in a dream." To use another one of his analogies, the jnani's perception of pain is like the experience of two lovers who are tortured together and are aware of it, but do not mind it too much because they are in ecstasy gazing at one another.

So your path now that you have reached the destination of non-arrival is to continue walking as (what Rumi called) a "breath breathing human being" -- fully experiencing all of the ups and downs that are concomitant with that role, yet feeling an ever increasing awareness of your divine nature. You are living the life of a householder, which can be challenging to say the least. In one sense, having reached a high state of awareness can make this job easier because you have been given an exalted, panoramic view of all creation. In another sense, it can also be harder because ordinary life can take on a mundaneness like never before.

Yet, everything sorts itself out and smooths out in time. When my son, who is now ten, was a baby, I started getting bad migraine headaches from lack of sleep and the many demands that were being placed on me physically. Yet during the same time, I had some of the deepest experiences of bliss while rocking him to sleep. The bliss was so intense at times that I thought my heart would explode and I would leave my body. People looking at my life today from the outside would see much chaos and many sources of stress. Yet, I am happier now than I have ever been. I am deeply in love with love itself, and I find such joy in doing nothing in particular.

So I wish you peace, J, as love continues to unfold within your heart. I don't comment on Ed's blog so much anymore, not because I love him any less, but just because when I have free time, I enjoy sitting in silence or chanting kirtan. You and Ed have a very special place in my heart, and you are most welcome to write me anytime you wish.

Love and Blessings,

D.

From the Gospel of Sri Ramana Maharshi:


"The eternal, unbroken, natural state of abiding in the Self
is jnana.  To abide in the Self you must love the Self.  
Since God is verily the Self, love of the Self is love of God;
and that is Bhakti.  Jnana and Bhakti are thus one and
the same."   

To Me:

My Beloved, let me ask you something.

When you woke up the Universe this morning,

Tell me, did the sun shrink back in shyness at the glory of your presence?

Did the majestic mountains prostrate themselves at your feet?

Did the birds finally get their chattery act together and sing sweet harmonies in your ear?

Did the butterflies gently kiss your cheeks?

Did the flowers of the field give up their fragrance to anoint you?

Did the trees of the field wave and clap giddily as you passed by?

Did all beings, sentient and insentient stand and salute you?

Did  the whole Universe humble itself, realizing it shines by Your borrowed light?

If not, then my Love, we have some serious problems.

What is to become of a world that forgets its only purpose for existence?

Ed:

Wow! Did this poem come from you? If only a few hundred million people understood this, that they are "The World Honored One," the one to whom all creation bows. What a world that would be!

At Me: 

Yes, the poem did come from me but I think mind keeps me from experiencing or seeing it as deeply as you do.  I guess I am saying that I want to experience it from where you are, as a constant, fixed reality, no longer something that requires effort.  But effort until it is no longer needed.

Ed:

Look, that love in you is always there as deep and wide as the oceans. You expressed it perfectly; you know it. Your question appears to be, "Is there more?"  Yes there is, but the constantcy is not in the state, because it comes and goes and wobbles. It lies in the absolute trust and conviction that you are both the absolute and the I Am at all times. You do not want to get trapped into the belief you need to be perfect love or ecstasy at all times, because the nature of consciousness and the I Am is to always change, sometimes, as you now witness, with violent swings and mood changes. The only constantcy is when you reach the center around which consciousness plays. 

Love indeed is a powerful tool to the absolute, although you can find It there within your own sense of presence as a feeling of immense power and groundedness. Several of our family feel that presence, almost like an "other" within our own presence, the One in the center around which consciousness dances. Penetrate that presence by loving it, and you are close to home. Ryan, like me, is finding it the traditional way of meditation--just endlessly witnessing, which can be kind of dry.


The other way is setting the I Am on fire, becoming alive with thousands of energies, love, and ecstasies, and loving all beings and consciousness.  The flip side is dealing with the negative emotions so as to not harm others. In both approaches the guru can be a great aid, and some deem him indispensable. Robert was for me. 


Below is what Ram Dass said about his guru. Read the third paragraph closely. I have bolded it. He advocates exactly the approach I am suggesting. Loving someone external to love fully, completely, totally, and thus find it is your own love within, and then eventually finding the grounded, unmoving center, the absolute and feeling you are beyond even this wondrous dance of consciousness.


I want to be really clear though, there are many journeys possible within consciousness, and some, even knowing the absolute, the divine peace and mystery there, may choose, like Ramakrishna, to stay into the personal, to remain or become a person again, so that he could worship Kali and remain a lover. In fact, even the Jnani needs to return to the I Am to learn the lessons of love and consciousness, otherwise he is dry, or as Robert said, "A cold fish."

THE WAY OF THE GURU, part 2

May 30, 2011

I could see that my guru had this power, this peace, this wisdom, this love, but it was hard for me to see it in myself. My neurotic ego didn’t allow me to think so positively about myself. But once I began to see myself through the guru’s eyes, with his grace the weight of all those negative habits of thought began to drop away, enough to allow me to go on with the journey. 

That’s a little of what the guru does. What we haven’t talked about is the incredible joy of being in his presence. It’s an ambience, a field around him, the field of his consciousness, who he is. When we were with Maharaj-ji most of us interpreted his physical form as the source or generator of that field, but it’s really his being attracting our souls. It’s a feeling that you only get when you’re contacting your deeper self, your soul. He invites us into a soul plane, he’s a soul connection. It’s a different plane of consciousness. It’s being in love, really being in it, being bathed by love until it suffuses your being. 

It’s like if you had intense love for Jesus as a human being. Then as you love Jesus so much, you start to meet the Christ. Then as you love the Christ more and more you keep merging into that love. When you’ve merged into the Christ there is only One. Initially it’s dualism. That’s the route of devotion to the guru. It’s a great asset to have the inner guru, to feel the presence and then keep merging into that presence. 
Each of us has our way of tuning into that place where the guru dwells inside, the telltale sign of that presence. For me, it’s like I’m in a dark room and there’s someone else in the room, a presence of another being who my external senses don’t register. If I’m really tuning into Maharaj-ji there’s a sense of joy, of truth. It feels right on, it resonates, and I can’t get away from it. It takes me over. I associate a feeling of deep harmony with him, or I notice the way things happen with incredible synchronicity that still feels completely natural. 

He comes to me in different ways, in different voices, in different people and yet there’s something about his presence that’s the same. It’s ecstatic. For you maybe it’s a feeling or a remembrance that comes from looking at the infinity of the night sky, or meditating, or listening to certain music, or a poem with an intimation of divine love that stirs your heart. 

Hi Edji,

I tried to catch you on Facebook the other day, but unfortunately I missed you.  I have been wanting to speak with you, but I suppose this e-mail will do. I always find it best to articulate states and thoughts to you through written e-mails, so perhaps it is better than I am writing anyway.

I am moving to Thailand at the end of this month.  I depart on August 24th and am enrolled in a month long TEFL course in the northern city of Chiang Mai. After the course is finished I plan on moving south to look for a job. A friend I studied abroad with said she could probably get me a job at the school she works at, but it isn't certain yet.  I don't plan on staying longer than a year or two, and it will be interesting to see what comes of this journey.

The more I go forward, the more lucky and blessed I feel to know you.  I prayed to God for a teacher and he gave me you.  I've never mentioned this, but before we met, I regularly meditated in a park near my home with little success, and with much dismay in the face of so many traditions and paths, describing something I didn't understand.  One night I prayed that if there was a God or any sense of justice in this mad world, a teacher would come into my life and help me.  Soon after, I discovered itisnotreal.com and e-mailed you.  In retrospect, I now firmly believe that God answered my prayers, and in that moment my life truly began.

I am entirely indebted to you, Edji.  Your teachings, from the very beginning when I first found your site, to what they have transformed into now, have been the perfect antidote.  As for the new site, the work Jo-Ann and you have put forth to create wearesentience.com has paid off in the form of an incredible spiritual resource for all seekers, and will help many, undoubtedly, reaching and helping more than itisnotreal.com in its previous state ever could.   I cannot thank you both enough for this site, let alone organizing Satsang, and all the other services you each have helped provide in the name of helping students understand their nature.

As for my state, I feel increasing love for everything in consciousness, because I see (at least to a certain level) that the totality of consciousness, and the forms within it all arise within 'me'.  I see myself in others more and more, and at the same time feel a concrete sense of identity less and less. I feel a continued and palpable sense of existence throughout all the states, instead of only during waking. I am always there, always.

Often times I feel the manifestation is communicating with me as a result of this increasing love for it.  Recently, one evening I was distraught over the death of a resident whom lived at the care center near my home and I was close with named, Alice.  I was laying on the grass in my backyard, in the moonlight, and I began crying.  I was sad about her death, and a sense of frustration pervaded my being, the source of which I did not know. I thought 'God, please just accept me, please, just accept me for who I am.'  Then, the brightest shooting star I have ever seen streaked across the sky, and a voice within said 'I accept you, but you must accept yourself'. I was immediately relieved and filled with an extreme sense of wonder, almost fear.  

Coincidences like shooting stars, and the voice of guidance have happened to me frequently, and I like to think they are a way God acknowledges and helps me, but this was by far the most intense, and direct experience I have ever had.

I know I should not focus on this experience, but I can not help but marvel at God's beneficence, as its greater depth was revealed to me in that moment.

All in all I am doing well, extraordinarily well. I am so pleased that things are going well for you too, or at least they seem to be. How is the animal side ofwearesentience.com going?  Do you need any help with anything? Please let me know.  As always I will continue to donate from now on.

I want you to know that I love you, Edji, and I think of you often even though we haven't communicated directly very much lately.  I thank you for showing me how to live, and being an example of the highest ideal.  I hope to see you in the next Satsang soon.

Love,

R. 

To Me: 

I've had a keen interest in awakening and self-realization for about four or so years ever since an friend online introduced me to the book I Am That. After a couple years of nothing more than intellectual obsession with the idea of it all I read a bit of Autobiography of a Jnani and then got in contact with Rajiv, mostly because I thought there was something to be had in the interaction with an awakened person even if just through email. I guess I can't truthfully say that that isn't the main reason behind this very message to you.

While talking with Rajiv through email I told him about a profound dream I had of me walking up a staircase through four floors of a building. After the dream I thought about it the entire day trying to interpret it and it all seemed very clear. My interpretation was that the lobby of the building was symbolic of every day life which is were I was(and still am). The first floor was symbolic of the pursuit of riches and financial wealth as it was about young stock brokers and businessmen. The second was of the pursuit of knowledge and world peace as there were many young students with many great ambitions to change the world. Finally the third floor was a small attic like storage room for the janitor and strangely the janitor who I was going to see that day(in my dream that is) was you. Then you pulled out a crossbow and killed me with it, a frightening part which ended the dream, which I interpreted to be symbolic of the event of self-realization or the death of the ego.

That dream has kept me from asking you any questions and so I've been following Rajiv for some time since then, and now just to get it off my chest I decided to just tell you about it.

I know it's just a dream and hardly worth further thought.

There is something that has been bothering me half my life which I haven't ever told any one about except you now and someone else very close(and physically distant) to me. I would say I have delusions of grandeur. When I was just a child my father told me about a prediction that Nostradamus had made about a boy born in the 20th century named (my name) who will achieve great heights of success. Looking back on it I realize he was joking or possibly even being sarcastic(I don't know as I could never actually bring that up with him) but for a considerable time in my youth I really believed it.

Now after reading your comments on the powers of Siddhis being of no value and importance of an instructor to help you avoid the mystical powers, I find that I have an alarming difficulty in accepting this. Not as if I don't accept it but that I am just still very bound by the seed that was planted in my head of me becoming "someone" really great. It's quite embarrassing and at the same time even talking about it with you now there is this vague hope that I'm not able to eliminate that you will say something like "yes it is your destiny". I'm just trying to be honest here that's all, I don't talk like this all the time. I'm trying to strip myself naked in front of you so to speak.

I haven't asked a question yet, but could you send a reply just to confirm you've read this, or possibly comment on anything that you feel should be said to this.

Thank you kindly

RESPONSE: 

You came to the right person for an answer.

Yes, you are indeed someone great!  Really!

Look within, follow the I Am, learn to love your sense of presence and you will find you are the greatest ever born, for you are the Self, the center, creator, and sustainer of the universe!

You are immortal and beyond time.

So rare is the human that discovers this. Maybe that was the purpose of the seed. Find your magnificense by looking within.

The dream you had was perfect!!!!

Wonderful!

Come to me and find your immortal greatness.

I love you,

Ed

Dear Edji,

The more I go forward, the more lucky and blessed I feel to know you.  I prayed to God for a teacher and he gave me you.  I've never mentioned this, but before we met, I regularly meditated in a park near my home with little success, and with much dismay in the face of so many traditions and paths, describing something I didn't understand.  One night I prayed that if there was a God or any sense of justice in this mad world, a teacher would come into my life and help me.  Soon after, I discovered itisnotreal.com

 

 and e-mailed you.  In retrospect, I now firmly believe that God answered my prayers, and in that moment my life truly began.

I am entirely indebted to you, Edji.  Your teachings, from the very beginning when I first found your site, to what they have transformed into now, have been the perfect antidote.  As for the new site, the work Jo-Ann and you have put forth to create wearesentience.com has paid off in the form of an incredible spiritual resource for all seekers, and will help many, undoubtedly, reaching and helping more than itisnotreal.com

 

 in its previous state ever could.   I cannot thank you both enough for this site, let alone organizing Satsang, and all the other services you each have helped provide in the name of helping students understand their nature.

As for my state, I feel increasing love for everything in consciousness, because I see (at least to a certain level) that the totality of consciousness, and the forms within it all arise within 'me'.  I see myself in others more and more, and at the same time feel a concrete sense of identity less and less. I feel a continued and palpable sense of exist throughout all the states, instead of only during waking. I am always there, always.

Often times I feel the manifestation is communicating with me as a result of this increasing love for it.  Recently, one evening I was distraught over the death of a resident whom lived at the care center near my home and I was close with named, Alice.  I was laying on the grass in my backyard, in the moonlight, and I began crying.  I was sad about her death, and a sense of frustration pervaded my being, the source of which I did not know. I thought 'God, please just accept me, please, just accept me for who I am.'  Then, the brightest shooting star I have ever seen streaked across the sky, and a voice within said 'I accept you, but you must accept yourself'. I was immediately relieved and filled with an extreme sense of wonder, almost fear.  Coincidences like shooting stars, and the voice of guidance have happened to me frequently, and I like to think they are a way God acknowledges and helps me, but this was by far the most intense, and direct experience I have ever had.

I know I should not focus on this experience, but I can not help but marvel at God's beneficence, as its greater depth was revealed to me in that moment.

All in all I am doing well, extraordinarily well. I am so pleased that things are going well for you too, or at least they seem to be. How is the animal side ofwearesentience.com going?  Do you need any help with anything? Please let me know.  As always I will continue to donate from now on.

I want you to know that I love you, Edji, and I think of you often even though we haven't communicated directly very much lately.  I thank you for showing me how to live, and being an example of the highest ideal.  I hope to see you in the next Satsang soon.

A letter from one of Maharaj's students:

You new web site it absolutely beautiful, Ed. I particularly like the new photos of Robert and the chants. In one sense, those two things could be the entire teaching. All the other stuff is really nice too. I am glad you getting the help and recognition you deserve for all the wonderful work you have done to help people and animals.

You are right about Nisargadatta and love. Love and devotion were really all he ever talked about. Even when he was discussing pure advaita, it was still about love. To most people, love is only an emotional attachment. What love really is is reconciliation with the entire universe. This is the teaching of Nisargadatta and all great teachers.

Mooji is now having online satsangs that last two hours. He is charging $20 for each.


I have been invited to online satsang with Francis Lucille. There is no formal charge, but a donation of $15 is suggested.


Satsang with Ed Muzika is still free. Suggested donation: your life as it is now.

For those who believe that Nisargadatta never talked about love or the importance of love, devotion or bliss in one’s sadhana, I post below some excerpts from his book given to me by Jean Dunn, "Self-knowledge and Self-realization." He wrote it in 1963, and according to Jean Dunn, this was his own spiritual autobiography. The quotes below should be read very carefully. One will find a Nisargadatta early in his guru-hood, teaching in a very different style, and of his own journey. It is also clear he talked about stages and purification processes.

Nisargadatta:

Page 4: When we concentrate our attention on the origins of thought, the thought process itself comes to an end; there is a hiatus, which is pleasant, and again the inward process starts. Turning from the external world and enjoying the objectless bliss, the mind feels that the world of objects is not for it. Prior to this experienced the satiating sense enjoyments constantly challenged the mind to satisfy them, but from the inward turn onwards, the in interest in them begins to fade. Once the internal bliss is enjoyed, the external happiness loses its charm. Once tasted the inward bliss is naturally loving and free from envy, contented and happy with others prosperity, friendly and innocent and free from deceit. He is full of the mystery and wonder of the bliss.

Page 5: with heartfelt love and devotion, the devotee propitiates God; and when he is blessed with his vision and grace, he feels ever happy in his presence. The constant presence establishes a virtual identity between the two. While seeking the presence of the supreme soul, the Bhakta renounces all associations in his life, from the meanest to the best, and having purged his being of all associations, he automatically wins and association with the supreme self. One who has attained the position of unstinted emancipation can never be disliked by others, for the people themselves are the very self luminous soul, although ignorant of the fact.

That overflowing reservoir of bliss, the beatific soul, does confer only bliss on the people by his loving light. Even the atmosphere around him hard as the suffering souls. It is like the waters of the lake to give nourishment to the plants and trees around, and the grassy fields nearby. The saint gives joy and sustaining energy to the people around him.

(I should further note, that Nisargadatta is definitely talking about stages in a progression in his own awakening process. I am sure that many of the neo-Advaita is out there will deny that Nisargadatta wrote this, but it is a fact. This book was first published in 1963, and was republished by Jean Dunn in the early 1990s.)

Page 6: in the beginning sadhaka is instructed into the secrets of his own person, and of the indwelling spirit; the meaning and nature of prana, the various plexuses, and the nature and arousal of kundalini, and the nature of the self. Later on he comes to know the origins of the five elements, their activity, radiation and merits and defects. Meanwhile his mind undergoes the process of purification, acquires composure, and this the Sadhaka experiences through the deep-laid subtle center of the indweller. He also knows how and why it is there, and how the God element is kindled. This knowledge transforms them into the pure, eternal and spiritual form of the Sadguru.

Page 7: as the great ukarama said, the aspirant must put in ceaseless effort in the pursuit of spiritual life. Thoughts must be utilized for self-knowledge. He must be alert and watchful in ascertaining the nature of this "I" that is involved in the affairs of pleasure and pain arising out of sense experience. We should not waste our energies on useless pursuits, but should use those energies in the pursuit of the self and achieve identity with God. Spiritual life is so great, so deep, so immense that energy pales into insignificance before it, yet this energy tries to understand it in again.

As regards to the saint, people are always on the lookout for ways to serve him more and more, but as the ever contented soul, steeped in view attitude, desires nothing, they are left to serve in their own way, which they do with enthusiasm, and they never feel the pressure.

Page 12: I am ever free now. I am all bliss. This beatific conscious form of mine now knows no bounds. I belong to all and everyone is mine. The "all" are but my individuation is, and these together go to makeup might be difficult being. Bliss reclines on the bed of bliss. The repose itself is turned into bliss.

The how and why consciousness became self-conscious is obvious now. The experience of the world is no more of the world as such, but is the blossoming forth of the selfsame conscious principle, God, and what is it? It is pure, primal knowledge, conscious form, the primordial "I" consciousness that is capable of assuming any form it desires. The world is an expression of the divine, it is the pure, simple, natural flow of beautific consciousness. He that meditated on the bliss and peace is himself the ocean of peace  and bliss.

Page 14: the Bhakta pours out his devotion, molds his behavior in every respect in accordance with the will of God. In turn he finds that God is pleased with him, and this, his conviction, takes him near to God and his love and friendship with him grow richer and richer. The process of surrendering to the will of God in every respect results and his blessings.

One who is blessed by God is a blissful soul. Being at peace with himself, he looks at the objects of enjoyment with perfect indifference. Is content with whatever he has and is glad to see others happy.

As to the method, and the extreme difficulty of seeing to the center of his beingness, he states on page 15: 


I him I have seen him who I so earnestly desired to see, I met myself. The meeting required extremely difficult and elaborate preparation.

I pined to see the most beloved one. It was impossible to do without it, I wished to die if I were not to do it. Even with the innermost sincerity of my whole being I was not able it at it, and the situation was unbearable. Yet with love and determination, eagerness and courage, I started on my journey. I had to go through different stages of places in the undertaking. 


Being quite deft, it would not allow me cognition, at first. But Lo, I saw today, I was sure, but the very next moment I felt perhaps was not it. Whenever I saw that I was intent on observing it, and not knowing its nature with certitude, I could not decide either way. I could not be sure that was my beloved, the center of my being. Being an adept in the art of makeup, it dodged me with a quick change of form before I could arrive at a conclusion.

Page 16: it is extremely difficult to get at the root of the cosmic energy, that perfect adept in assuming an infinite variety of forms. The consciousness to be apprehended in the power of concentration are one and the same.

FOR THOSE WHOWANT TO READ THE WHOLE BOOK FOR THEMSELVES, GO TO OUR NEW WEBSITE:

http://www.wearesentience.com/self-knowledge-and-self-realization.html 

Some people have become upset with my change in teaching style. Some say I am misstating what Nisargadatta said. Some say Nisargadatta never taught a method, only listen to his words. Some say I misunderstand Robert, or I misquote him. Some say Robert never taught X or Y, as they feel I do.

Let me be candid with you. Teachers change their style and their teachings over time. The Nisargadatta of “I am that” in 1974 was not the Nisargadatta of 1980. He admitted as much, and stated only his later talks should be listened to because his viewpoint had changed. Roberts teaching style also changed over the years. When he taught spirituality as M. T. Mind during the 1970s when he was in Santa Fe, teachings were much simpler and less complicated than what he came to LA, when he began to tell long stories and parables to his audiences. He became more interesting.

So to my style has changed. I think far too much is made of the term enlightenment, because everybody seems to have their own version and they deny that anybody else but they and their teacher have it, like the Raman who comments on this site. Some state unity consciousness is enlightenment. Some say having convictions of the absolute before consciousness is enlightenment. Some say staying in one’s sense of presence is enlightenment. Some say having an empty mind is enlightenment. Some say totally manifesting love is a sign of enlightenment. Some say being in the immediacy of the present with no mind is enlightenment. But who cares?

It is like the argument about the debt. Liberals have one point of view conservatives and other. Each pushes for certain policy changes according to their ideology. One is a Keynesian, another follows monetarist theories. But when all is said and done, what does the changing debt ceiling have to do with the man in the street and his family? That is, with you and me this day and tomorrow?

The same with all these theories of enlightenment and experiences of awakening? A seeker can stand amidst this spiritual marketplace with his mouth open wondering who is correct, which is true, which is false, and where he should spend his time. He acquires a belief that a certain end state espoused by his teachers some other teacher is the correct one, tries to understand that state, and tries to arrive at that state. Then he runs into another teacher, who teaches something else, using koans or hitting people with wooden sticks. This confuses the seeker, and he may be driven away to go somewhere else where he will be less confused. Instead, he is more confused. His mind is filled with partial teachings of three teachers, and his own experiences of utter confusion, and he has no happiness or peace.

What if from the beginning, instead of seeking enlightenment, we seek something else, something we know already? No concepts of enlightenment, the absolute, awakening: just one concept, one idea: I want to find out who I am and what I am.

Perhaps someone else says there are too many spiritual paths out there, how can there be peace any truth whatsoever by following any of these paths outside? I'll never be able to find out a true path from all of these, because I don't know where they're going. I hear only their words, and I am afraid of being captivated by the potentiality they teach. That would require trust in a group, and a maybe I am not built to trust anyone, I need to find out for myself.

So, given this state of affairs what to do?

Here is my take. Personally, I am quite secure in the little bit of philosophy I teach about the I AM and the absolute. As strongly as I know that this body that I live in has teeth, I know that I am entirely beyond this world and it has nothing to do with me. I can explain this further and say I identify with the nothingness or the emptiness or the non-manifest side of existence, the other side is consciousness. I do say you are that which you identify with in your experience and you can change that which you call you. You can be a role, such as father, the I Am, the totality of consciousness, or almost anything else you experience. You can be everything or nothing. But how do these identities make you feel? Do you feel happy or complete, at rest or peaceful, or do these experiences still leave you seeking?

I can only speak for myself. I am happy. I am at peace. I love myself and all others that come to me. I am at rest. There is nothing I seek except to keep others safe and help them thrive. There is nowhere for me to go. I can lead you to experience 100 different states from empty mind, the no mind, to love, unity consciousness, all of which would be considered awakening by some. But so what? There is only one mindstate that counts and that is the one you are presented with at the moment, whether of samadhi or the dream state.

Eventually I only want you to be content within your own skin, feel love for yourself, for others, and to know as a steady truth who you are, and that you will be like a Mount Everest in terms of that understanding.

And the method I use, abiding in the I am, which really means abiding in yourself. The I AM has many names, one’s sense of beingness, one’s sense of existence, the movement of energy within yourself and your core, and eventually I am is consciousness itself. It changes as you watch it and love it, as do you in terms of how you are as a person.

One other method is being around a teacher such as Robert, who says none of this matters at all, just look within yourself and love yourself. Reach a place of rest in yourself where you don’t need to wander anywhere or go anywhere. I know that  self abiding, which could be described also as resting in yourself, gradually results in revealing all the truth you ever need, all the understanding you will ever need, and allows you, totally to rest. There's no need to rush, in fact rushing prevents you from seeing who you are.

Don't seek all of those various states that people call awakening. Seek only to know yourself and to love yourself, and come to rest in yourself. Is not this the end all want, the cessation of seeking and being happy within oneself? Is not having complete knowledge as to who and what you are, being able to love all things as you love yourself good enough? Isn't this what we all really seek? Ramana said this was the goal of spirituality, complete, unalloyed happiness and peace. This is what Ramana taught, Robert Adams taught and what I teach. I just borrow the concepts of Nisargadatta because they are so effective at removing blocking concepts.

There are many methods, and many ends, some take you further and further from the self, some take you into endless work with energies, balancing them, adjusting them, sending them up or down or sideways. My way really is of rest. Just look within, look within and see the emptiness as well as the fullness, see one’s sense of presence, see the mind, see emotions, everything is there. All the universe is there. Just abide there, rest there, and you be so surprised at what happens to your external world and in your life.

There are certain requirements though to be successful here. You really have to have a sense of patience, you can't be eagerly looking for new experiences, which is really a spiritual greediness and unhappiness with your own experiences here and now.

In other words, you already have to be halfway there. You need to trust yourself and trust your teacher, otherwise you will wander hither and yon and become exhausted. Just in trusting the yourself, will already find much rest.

In loving the self, loving the I Am, you will find peace. And as Robert says in a previous post in this blog, how can you love the self unless you know what it is? You pick something you already know to love, a person, a cat, a child, and you indulge yourself in that love, focus on that love. It will grow and after time will permeate your whole sense of existence, the I Am will be filled with love. And just staying there, all knowledge will be revealed to you. Peace will come down on you, and settle on your shoulders like a very fine spiritual shawl that will protect you and hold you.


Then again, you don't have to use love as the gate to the I Am. Just turn within and find your sense of presence, beingness, energetic center, whatever you want to call the I Am. Abide there. But it really helps to try loving all that is revealed. It speeds things up as Robert said.

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Love and the Self:


From Robert Adams:


Robert's December 13, 1992-12-13 Satsang. He tells how to love yourself by loving the self that appears in the moment. This was in response to a question asked of him: HOW DO I MAKE LOVE TO THE SELF? DO I LOVE THE HIGHER SELF? LOWER SELF?

ROBERT: The self im speaking about is not the higher or lower self. Think of someone you love unconditionally, ultimately, no strings attached. It may be your dog or cat or a person. You have to have unconditional love for this and feel that love. Realize that love you feel is love for yourself, you are the guru, god, Krishna, your wife. Feel that love. 


This requires practice. If you practice this you will develop really fast. Most people think they have to love the self that appears or love god or brahmin. You cant love God if you dont know what he is. You cant love Brahmin if you haven't experienced it. You have to love something you've experienced. And it expands, becomes all-pervading. 


Ed: As a friend stated:


When one loves intensely, one moves from loving a person to loving existence, to becoming Love itself.  The experience of becoming love is the purest experience of knowing the Self.   Love is the the totality of what can be known of the Self. Love is the manifest aspect of Self, the aspect we can know.