Of course the process of awakening is multifaceted and unique for everyone. However, there are some commonalities that can be used as a guide home. Let's consider the following three steps; Recognition, Identification, and Surrender.
1. Recognize Your True Nature
If there is a moment of awakening it is when an individual recognizes his or her true nature. In a moment of self inquiry you recognize what is always present throughout life. You recognize what gives rise to the body, the emotions and thoughts. You recognize the source of your life and all of existence. The recognition may be subtle, like the dawn before the day, but the recognition is still the essential experience in awakening.
Once you have recognized this eternal presence, you can now pay attention to it. The more attention that is put on source, the faster it will permeate your life. Your attention on source fans the flames of consciousness which free your life from over-identification of your story and allows you to identify more with the absolute.
2. Identify Yourself as Your True Nature
As more time is spent consciously aware of your source, you identify more and more with the source and less and less with an individual life which has a story and a certain body. There is a loosening of the mind’s hold over a life. There is an opening to life without needing to veil it with a story created by the mind based on past experiences. You begin to identify with the permanent presence emanating from all life as your true nature.
3. Surrender to Your True Nature
In knowing your true nature you learn that it is the vastness of infinite freshness, love, peace, and beauty. You realize that the life you had was guided by the mind’s pushing and pulling based on fear and desire. So you consciously choose to allow the source to be the impetus for your life. This is a surrendering to God on a very intimate level. It is surrendering to the peace and love you have come to know and count on at the core of your being. A life that was driven by the mind’s whims is now offered to the infinite knowledge and wisdom of the divine. Awakening has taken root and now flourishes through another life.
http://silentawareness.org/teachings/index.html
Think how many years you’ll be going through life, believing you’re a body, a mind, an ego. The situations you’ve been through. The agonies, the ecstasies, the dualities. You’re beginning to see now that all of those things belong to the I-thought, to the personal self, which is not really you. You are total freedom, having absolutely nothing to do with the personal self.
You simply have to ask yourself, “Who is this personal self? Where did it come from? How did it arise? How did it get a hold of me, and make me believe I’m human? That makes me feel I was born? And I have to die? What is this personal self? Where did it come from?”
And as you follow the personal self, the I-thought, you’ll begin to see it never existed. It was never born. It is absolutely nothingness. And you’ll become radiantly happy, full of love, full of peace.
I know there are many of you who like to go hiking, like to climb Mountains, like to become part of nature. That’s OK, but do not believe that these things are external from yourself. These things are yourself. You are That. When you question, “To whom does this come?” you again realize, “It comes to me, I perceive it.” Then you remember that you are not I. “I” perceives it. Yet in reality, you are not the perceiver. You are not the witness. “I” perceives it. “I” is the witness.
This is a very important point, and I want you to understand it because it can change your whole life. Whatever you see in the world, you are to realize that “I” perceives. But do not look at I as being the self. You have to catch yourself and say, “I” perceives. This does not mean that you perceive it. It is “I” that perceives it. When you separate yourself from the I, all is what?
Consciousness. It is only when you believe that you are I, that your humanhood comes into play. But as soon as you perceive that I is the universe, you have separated yourself from I. And then Consciousness comes into play, you have awakened. In other words, when you can separate from your I, you will be awakened and liberated.
Play this game every day. Whatever you see, whether it is your body or your mind, or other people. When someone does something to you that you don’t like, the worst thing you can do is react. Can you see why, now? Because when you react you are affirming your humanhood and your ego becomes stronger. But when you no longer react, the ego becomes weaker and weaker and weaker. The I and the ego are the same.
The world appears very strong. People appear very real. Some of us always seem to get involved in all kinds of situations. Yet take a look at your life and see why you get involved. Honestly look at yourself. Do not be afraid to see yourself. See the things you do, the words you say, the thoughts you think. And you’ll see why you’re not making too much progress.
Now, if you really want to make progress, you will drop everything mentally. Remember when I speak of dropping everything, I’m not referring to your quitting your job, moving to India, stopping reading books, or watching TV. I’m not referring to this really, if that’s what you want to do. I’m referring to mentally letting go of your reactions to whatever is going on in your body and the world.
Leave the world alone. Leave people alone. Do not try to change people. Or to make them see your point of view. There is no point of view. Every point of view is wrong. We want to get rid of points of view.
You have to sincerely want to awaken. And I kid you not, to awaken is simple. You just have to give up everything mentally. That’s all. And consider the fact that everything is consciousness. Everything. No thing is as it appears. This includes yourself.
The no-mind state is where you come from practicing to the place in the Silence where there are no thoughts to bother you any longer. You get there through Self-inquiry. That’s the fastest way. But that’s not Self-realization. Self-realization is when the mind is pulled into the spiritual heart. Liberation, moksha, Self-realization, is when the mind that’s left over in the silence is pulled completely into the spiritual heart. At that time the whole mind, the I, dissolves completely, and you are free. So the no-mind state is a very high state. It’s a state of bliss, but there’s still somebody left to experience the bliss. When the bliss is pulled into the heart, there is no one left to experience anything. Therefore, you no longer say, “I’m in the no-mind state.” At that time there is nothing to say.
Robert Adams
http://www.robertadamsinfinityinstitute.org/silence1.pdf
Robert Adams
Collected works of Robert Adamshttp://advaitarobertadams.blogspot.com/
This morning, for the first time, I had a very interesting vision, which I'll share with you again. I dreamt I was somewhere in an open field, beautiful field. There was a lake nearby, trees, a forest. And I was sitting under a tree, in this open field. And I had on the orange garb of a renunciate. I must have been Buddhist. All of a sudden hundreds of bodhisattvas and mahasattvas come from the forest and start walking toward me. And they all sit down in a semi-circle around me, in meditation and I wondered what I was doing. Then I realized that I had become the Buddha. And we all sat in silence for about three hours.
~~~
Then one of the bodhisattvas got up and asked a question. He said, "Master, what is your teaching?" It was not in English. I don't know what language he spoke. But I understood quite clearly. And without hesitation I said, "I teach Self Realization of Noble Wisdom.” And he sat down.
We sat for about another three hours in silence, and then another bodhisattva got up and asked a question. "Master, how can you tell when one is close to self-realization? How can you tell when one is about to become self-realized? How does one tell?"
And this is what I'd like to discuss today. How can we tell if we're on the path correctly? I gave four principles, which I really never do in the waking state. I never have a teaching. But I was giving a teaching, so I'll share it with you. I explained four principles, where you know that you're close to self-realization. Of course, we're all self-realized already.
First Principle of Self-Realization
You have a feeling, complete understanding that everything you see, everything in the universe, in the world, emanates from your mind.
In other words, you feel this. You do not have to think about it, or try to bring it on. It comes by itself. It becomes a part of you.
The realization that everything that you see, the universe, people, worms, insects, the mineral kingdom, the vegetable kingdom, your body, your mind, everything that appears, is a manifestation of your mind.
You have to have that feeling, that deep understanding, without trying to.
~~~
So you ask yourself, "What do I think about all day long?" Of course, if you fear something, if you worry, if you believe something is wrong somewhere, if you think you're suffering from lack, or limitation, or sickness or anything, then you're out of it completely, because you're not understanding that all these things are simply a manifestation of your own mind. And if you worry about these things you become attached to false imagination. It's called false imagination. You've been attached to habit energy for many years, and all these attachments and beliefs come from habit energy.
~~~
It's like watching a TV show and becoming one of the characters, when you know that you're not even in the TV. But you believe you're one of the characters in the TV show. So it is with the world. Do not get involved. I don't mean you become passive. I mean your body does what it's supposed to do. Remember, your body came to this earth to do something. It will do something without your knowledge. It'll take care of itself, don't worry. But do not identify your body with your Self. They're different. Your body is not your Self. And I'll prove this.
~~~
When you refer to your body what do you say? Don't you say, "My body?" Who is this "my" you're referring to? You say, "My finger,” "my eye.” Who are you referring to? You couldn't be talking about your body, because you’re saying it's my body, like you own it. Who owns it? This proves to yourself that you're not your body. So do not identify your Self with the body and the world.
~~~
Therefore the first principle, to see how close you are to self-realization is:
You are not feeling that you are identifying with the world. You're separate and you're feeling happiness, because your natural state is pure happiness.
Once you identify with worldly things, you spoil it. The happiness disappears, it dissipates.
But when you're separate from worldly things happiness is automatic, beautiful, pure happiness. It comes by itself. So that's the first principle.
R: Yes. Think about that.
Everything in this universe, person, place or thing, everything, your body, your thoughts, creation, God, everything you can think about... (SD: Each other?) ...yes, everything, and I mean everything, is a projection of your mind.
If you really understand this, how can you have a problem? But you may say, "Well, my rent's due on the first and I don't have any money, so how can this help me?" You would be amazed at what it does for you.
Do the trees lack for leaves? Do the flowers fail to bloom? If you could realize the truth, that everything is an emanation of your mind, you would become yourself, and your Self is omnipresence. It includes everything for the survival of your body. Think about that.
Your body comes from your mind. But as long as you believe your body is yourself, and you understand that it comes out of your mind, it will be provided for, just like leaves are provided for the trunk of the tree.
So this teaching is quite predictable and it can be used to improve your human-hood. Not by trying to improve your human-hood directly, that's where you've got problems, but by forgetting about your human-hood and realizing everything is a mental projection.
~~~
Again what happens? When you realize that the whole universe is a manifestation of your mind you become omnipresence. And in the omnipresence is contained all of your needs, and all of your needs are met from within.
But, when you start worrying or thinking about it, you spoil it. Then you have to do human things to take care of you. But if you leave the human-hood alone, and go back to the understanding that it's all in your mind, you automatically let go of your mind, and the Self takes over, bringing the right people into your life, the right situation, the right address.
~~~
Remember again, your body came to this earth because of karma. And it's going to go through whatever is has to go through. But you've got absolutely nothing to do with that because you are not your body. But if you think about it you spoil it. Subsequently, allow your body to do whatever it came here to do. Do not interfere. Do not fight. Simply observe. Do not react. You will be okay.
~~~
« R: There is something within you that guides you. It'll direct you when you become still, when you make the mind quiescent, quiet, calm. You will then be guided to know what to do. It is true that some people use their intuition and accomplish great things. But how long does it last before it attracts misery to it? As long as you're living in the world of cause and effect, the world of duality, for every good there's a bad, for every bad there's a good. For every up there's a down. Don't be fooled. You use your intuition, you hear voices, and they guide you and tell you to do this, and you become successful. And you think you did something good. But before you know it the IRS gets a hold of you (laughter) and they throw you in jail. (SC: Well I guess they drive you right into the grave one day.) Of course.
SD: I think the question is, "Is the inner voice superior to regular feelings?"
R: Nothing is superior to the Self. Be your Self, abide in your Self and you'll never go wrong. But when you hear voices it comes out of your mind. You're trapped. (SD: And the mind is Maya.) The mind is very powerful. »
As soon as you open your eyes in the morning (I'll speak in the first person) you have to say to yourself:
"I feel, and realize, and understand, that everything, everything, say everything twice, is a projection of my mind."
And think about what that means.
"Everything! Everything! I feel that, I realize that, I understand that, that everything is a projection of my mind."
And then you may think of the problems you have, if you have any, and you say to yourself,
"If everything is a projection of my mind, where do these problems come from?"
You then realize,
"Why, they came from me. I projected them. I created them."
And then you say,
"Who is this I that created them?"
See? Now you're getting to the meaty part, to the substance.
"Who is the 'I' that created all this illusion in my life? Where did the 'I' come from? Who gave it birth? My mind. Where did my mind come from? The 'I'. Why, they're both the same! The 'I' and my mind are the same."
And it's all a revelation.
You think along these lines.
"Where does the mind/I come from and to whom does it come?"
And you follow it deep, deep within yourself. If you do it correctly you will realize there is no I, there is no mind, so there are no problems, and it'll be over, and you'll start laughing. You'll actually start laughing at yourself. You'll say, "To think, I feared this and I feared that." And once you get into that consciousness something will happen to actually physically relieve you of the problem, or what you think is a problem.
As long as you believe in your mind that there's a problem, whether it's little or big doesn't matter, they're both the same, but as long as you believe you've got a problem, you'll have a problem, and it'll grow, and you can't change it. It may appear that you change it, but it turns into something else of a worse nature, when you try to work with the problem itself. Never try to work with the problem but ask where the problem came from. "How did I get it? How did I get this birth? Where did it come from?" That's the problem. The birth's the problem. Because you believe you were born you have the problem, and you can go on and on and on.
That's how you work with the principles.
"Everything! I feel and understand that everything is a projection, a manifestation, of my mind.
Whose mind? My mind.
Who is 'my', 'mine', 'my'? I am my.
"Who am I? " Who am I who has this problem?"
And as you ask yourself this question, you will begin to feel better, and better, and better. You will actually begin to feel better, and as you feel better the problem becomes less and less important, and it will vanish. So you understand, you feel, that everything is an emanation of your mind, or it wouldn't exist. All existence, from the smallest atom to the greatest cosmic galaxy, it all comes out of your mind. But even if I tell you this you still feel that something is real, don't you? You feel that something is real. You may say, "The sun is real." You may say, "Well, God is real." You may say, "An atom is real," but you do not comprehend that you are creating these things. They're all a projection of your mind. If you didn't have a mind, you would not have these concepts. That's why we are told to annihilate the mind, to kill the mind. No mind, no concepts. All these ideas come as you begin to realize that everything is a projection of your mind.
Second Principle of Self-Realization
I explained to the bodhisattvas was this: You have to have a strong feeling, a deep realization, that you are unborn.
You are not born, you do not experience a life, and you do not disappear, you do not die. You are not born, you have no life, and you do not die.
You have to feel this, that you are of the unborn.
Do you realize what this means? There is no cause for your existence. There is no cause for your suffering. There is no cause for your problems.
~~~
Some of you still believe in cause and effect. This is true in the relative world, but in the world of reality there is no cause. Nothing has ever been made. Nothing has ever been created. There is no creation. I know it's hard to comprehend.
How do I exist if I was not born, I have no life and I do not disappear in old age?
You exist as "I-am". You have always existed and you will always exist. You exist as pure intelligence, as absolute reality. That is your true nature. You exist as sat-chit-ananda. You exist as bliss consciousness, but you do exist. You exist as emptiness, as nirvana, but you do exist.
So don't worry about being non-existent. But you do not exist as the body. You do not exist as person, place or thing.
Do you feel that? If you have a strong feeling about that, then you're close to self-realization.
Now, what's the second principle we were talking about. See, the secret, as I told you Sunday, is to think about these things as soon as you open your eyes in the morning. As soon as you open your eyes, what do you think about? You think about food, you think about your day, you think about work, you think about money, you think about friends, relationships, but you do not think about your mind being a projection of all the things that happen. Whatever you think about in the morning will carry you through. Therefore, you have to think about the right things in the morning as soon as you awaken. Don't wait. So what's the second principle we discussed Sunday? Who remembers?
(Students guess.)
R: See? So again I ask you, what do you remember? You remember your personal problems, you remember your needs, and you think you're human. You think about the body continuously. That's why there is trouble with self-realization.
~~~
You've got to investigate your mind and watch it all the time
R: So you've got to investigate your mind and watch it all the time. See what it's doing to you. Watch how it controls you. It makes you emotional. It makes you believe something is wrong. It makes you angry. All these things come from the mind. The idea is to be aware of this. The awareness alone leads you to the light, just being aware of that alone. You don't have to know any book knowledge. Just be aware of what your mind really is. That's how you conquer your mind. By being aware of it, and no longer responding to it, no longer to react to the mind.
Something that usually makes you angry, before you'd respond, and you'd want to win the argument, but now your reaction is no reaction. You simply smile and you watch. When your mind sees there's no response it will become weaker and weaker, until it disappears. It's just like arguing with a person. What happens if you stop arguing? The person goes away. They don't know what to think. They just won't have anything to do with you. They just leave. So when you stop responding to your thoughts your mind will go away, and become weaker, and weaker, and weaker, until there is no mind. So what's the second principle? (SD: Give us a hint.) Some of the words I spoke were them.
~~~
(Students guess some more.)
R: See, think about this. There are so many things you remember. But they all have to do with your body. True?
—————
R: Okay. The second one was to have a deep feeling, and a realization, that you are unborn, that you do not prevail, and you will never disappear. Remember? You will never die. Think about that. Just to think to yourself that you are unborn. There's no cause for your birth. Cause doesn't exist. There's no reason for your birth. You never were born. And as far as your existence is concerned, it's not there. You do not prevail from birth to death. There is nothing going on, absolute nothing. And you do not get older, you do not disappear, or you do not die. Think about that. How free you'll become when you understand what this means. It's a beautiful feeling to know that you were never born, that you've always existed, but not the way you think you are.
~~~
Your life as it is right now, whatever you think you're doing, however important it may be to you, is totally meaningless. Why? Because it'll be gone soon. So whatever you're getting into, whatever excites you, is only for a time. Take Elvis Presley, people still remember him. But will anybody remember him five-hundred years from now? Take your great classical musicians, concertos, Bach, Schubert, everybody else, Rachmaninoff. They're important to you right now, but five-hundred years from now nobody will remember them at all. Everything will be so different it'll be like you're in another universe.
~~~
So the point is, if you get too involved in those things you're missing the mark, because you're not understanding your real nature. You're not understanding who you really are. You should be searching for the meaning to yourself, and spending 80% of the time doing that. I know it's not easy to do for some people because they seem to be involved in life. But yet you can do it. It doesn't matter. You don't have to set aside a time for meditation. You can do it while you're driving your car, while you're at work, while you're playing music. Just be aware of yourself, of who you really are, and realize the rest are a projection of your mind. To be aware of these truths sets you free. Just to be aware of them.
SD: Would that be the same when you say you are unborn or you will never die, would that be the same as saying nothing exists?
R: Yes, it is. Nothing as you think or as it appears, exists. It appears to exist but so does a dream. A dream appears very real. But is there a creation in a dream? Is there an end? Everything just begins, and ends when you wake up. The world is the same.
SG: You should not say nothing exists, because even "exists" is an idea.
R: It's an idea. That's got to go in the end. In the beginning, when you're finding yourself, you realize that I exist. "I am that I am", means I exist, same thing. But then you find out who is the 'I' that exists? And you follow it through. And that's got to go.
SG: The 'I' has to go too?
R: Everything has got to go. Now the average person will think, "If everything goes, what's left?" What's left is everything, you are left as your Self, and that's beyond explanation. Then you turn back to yourself and you become humble, compassionate, loving, because you are aware that you are the whole universe. And you can say, "All this is the Self, and I am That". (SC: Is that an experience?) That's an experience. It's beyond experience. It's a revelation. It stays with you all the time. (SC: Because appearances fall down?) Exactly, true. That can be called sahaja samadhi, when you abide in the Self all the time. But that's ineffable, it's beyond words.
SC: The experience does it matter, does how deep, really matter?
R: There's no such thing as deep. Deep is a mind concept. You're either that or you're not. So what's the third principle?
(Silence)
Now you go to the second one and you work on the second one just like on the first one. Now what's the second did you say Sam?
SM: We were never born?
~~~
It's the way you say it to yourself that counts. Use your own words that are comfortable for you. You have to sort of say something like this:
"I perceive, I feel, I understand that I was never born. I am unborn. I do not prevail. All my existence does not exist, and I will never disappear."
Student: Do you say, "I perceive" or "I understand" before your mind really has fully accepted it?
Robert: Whatever's more appealing to you. Whatever you can work with. But let yourself know that you perceive or you understand that you feel.
Student: I mean, how about..., would it be more honest to say, "I am beginning to perceive..."?
Robert: There is no beginning. So when you say "I'm beginning" you begin, and begin, and begin, every day. Isn't that right? Stay after the truth. You can say,
"There's something within me that perceives, there's something within me that knows I was never born, I do not prevail, and I will never disappear. And I am that one that knows."
So you start working on that. What does this mean,
"I was never born. I am unborn?"
It sounds like a contradiction because you say my father and mother gave me birth. This appears to be true. Who gave them birth? My grandmother and my grandfather. And you go all the way back. Who gave them birth? Who gave them birth? And you go back to the beginning. Where did the first man and woman come from? Who started this? Who started the human race? Who started the idea of birth?
Now don't come up with your answers because the mind answers. You can say, "Adam and Eve, God .” Somebody told you that. You learned it from reading in the Bible. But is it true? Where did God come from? Who created everything? So you go back to the beginning and you can say to yourself, it's like saying what came first, the chicken or the egg? The tree or the seed? It's the same thing. What came first, the man or the woman? How did they both get together? Who made them? Then you will realize they don't exist. Nothing gave you birth. Because the whole origin is false. That's what they call false imagination. The whole origin of birth is false. It's a dream. It doesn't exist. Therefore, I do not exist the way I appear to be.
Then you go right back to the first premise.
"Then "Who am I? "
See, you're always going back to self-inquiry .
"Who am I that exists? If I am not the body , am I my thoughts? I can't be my thoughts because they keep on changing and changing. Then "Who am I? "
Then you keep silent for a while. You know it's working when you start getting a quiet, loving feeling. You start to feel peace that you have not felt before, and you start to feel that all is well.
~~~
(SD: What if you say, "I am the eternal now?" Even that is a product of the mind?) Yes it is. It's a temporary help, because the mind creates it. (SD: There should be no knowing just an inner knowing?) Yes, if you do this often enough – this is why you have to do this every day, when you wake up – pretty soon you will start to feel something. Really, you will feel a happiness that you never felt before, an extreme happiness, and you couldn't care if they dropped a bomb on your head. You would feel this happiness because you will know that you can't die. See, right now they're just words. But you will actually know someday that you just can't disappear.
Nothing can kill you. Kill is just a word that means something that you have accepted. It's just an ignorant word. We make up words and we put feelings behind them. Say it to yourself for a while. See how ridiculous it sounds, Kill, kill, kill, kill, kill, kill, kill, kill, kill, kill, kill, kill, kill, kill, kill. It's just an English word that human beings make up to connote some kind of danger. But the word has no power except the power that you give it yourself. When the mind is silent then reality comes of its own accord. When you're thinking, thinking, thinking, then the world has got you, and you become worldly again. So self-inquiry causes the mind to be quiet.
~~~
And after you work on that you go on.
"I do not prevail."
So you say to yourself,
"You mean my entire existence, since I was a baby, until I die, means nothing?"
And then you say to yourself,
- "I have just proven that I was never born, because I've gone way back to the beginning. So if I were never born, how can I prevail? What prevails? Who prevails?"
And you will see it's the mind that prevails.
The mind wants existence, wants strength, wants power. It makes you believe that you are a body. You ask yourself,
"To whom comes the mind? Where does the mind come from? Who gave it birth? How did it originate? What is its source?" And then keep quiet, keep still.
And you will begin to laugh because you will actually feel, even if for a moment, that there is no mind. You will actually feel no-mind. In the beginning it may last for a moment or two. But as you practice everyday those moments of no-mind will become greater, and greater, and greater and greater.
And then you go on and you'll say,
"I will never disappear."
So now you're laughing again because you realize, "Who disappears? That which never existed disappears. But I am no-mind so how can I disappear?" And this becomes very meaningful for you, and as you do it everyday, you become stronger and stronger in mindfulness. And something happens that's so beautiful that I can't describe it. You feel such love, such joy, such harmony, such bliss.
Then you carry on.
Third Principle of Self-Realization
You are aware and you have a deep understanding of the egoless-ness of all things, that everything has no ego.
I'm not only speaking of sentient beings. I'm speaking of the mineral kingdom, the vegetable kingdom, the animal kingdom, the human kingdom. Nothing has an ego. There is no ego. And do you realize what this means?
It means that everything is sacred. Everything is God. Only when the ego comes, does God disappear, what we call "God". Everything becomes God. You have reverence for everything. When there is no ego, you have reverence for everybody and everything.
~~~
So you have to be aware of the egoless-ness of all things. Animals have no ego, minerals have no ego, vegetables have no ego, and humans have no ego. There is no cause, so there cannot be an effect. There is only divine consciousness, and everything becomes divine consciousness. So if you look at your fellow man and animals and everything else as being egoless-ness, you will see them as your Self. Can't you see that?
~~~
It's the ego that causes separation. When I am full of ego, I become strong within myself. I become totally separate. So the more you like yourself as a person, the bigger your ego is.
You say, "Well, I'm not supposed to like myself?” You're supposed to love yourself, but what self are we talking about? We're not talking about your body-self, because that comes and goes. We're talking about your permanent Self that has always been here. And your permanent Self is me, is you, is the world, is the universe, is everything, that's your permanent Self, egoless-ness.
That's the only time that you can love your fellow human beings, when you have no ego. That's how you can tell where you're at, if you're close to self-realization. That's principle number three.
R: (Robert laughs) I'm going to ask you again on Sunday.
Egoless-ness is at the basis of everything. Everything has no ego. Now I'm not just talking about sentient things, everything. The mineral kingdom, the vegetable kingdom, the animal kingdom, the human kingdom, and so forth. There is no ego behind it.
SD: That's number three that there is no ego in existence.
R: That means there's no cause for its existence. And just to understand this perfectly, makes you live in the moment all the time. It gets you centered. Think what that means to you personally, that there's no ego in back of anything. There's no cause for anything to exist. Like the dream again, is there a cause for the dream? All of a sudden you find yourself dreaming and everything exists. Where did it come from? It came from the mind. It's a dream. And the only way to get out of the dream is what? To wake up! So this is also a sort of a dream, it has no substance. Everything is transient, no ego in back of it.
SD: I don't quite understand there being no ego and there being no cause as being the same things, really? (R: The ego is what makes something real.) Makes it appear real?
R: The reason your body is doing what it does is because of your ego. That's the cause of your body function, the ego. So if there's no ego, there's no lack, there's no limitation, there's no sickness, there's no death, there's nothing like that.
SD: Are the ego and the mind the same, or are you making a differentiation?
R: They can be synonymous, in a way. Take for instance, you've got a sickness of some type. If you realize there's no ego in back of it, there's no cause, where did it come from? It didn't come from anything so it doesn't exist.
SD: So could you also just say nothing exists?
R: But is it meaningful for you when you say that? See, it has to be meaningful for you. If you say nothing exists, your mind and your ego will come and fight you and say, "What do you mean? Look, the chair is solid. It exists". So you'll become disappointed.
SD: My non-existent ego will be disappointed. (laughter)
R: But when you understand the entire principle, that everything is egoless-ness, everything, then you just exist in the moment, like that (snaps his fingers). You exist in the second, in the moment, and in that moment all is well, and everything is unfolding as it should, in that moment. But as soon as you start to think, then there's a cause.
SC: So the only cause is the thinking process. (R: Exactly.) What you are telling us, it's truth. (R: Yes.) Yeah because I’m experiencing that right now.
R: Exactly. And you may think it's hard to do, to think like that, to be like that, but it's not. Just by remembering the egolessness of all things, will wake you up. And you will become free. Now, what's the fourth principle?
And now I go to the last principle which is what?
(A student replies.)
R: Good! No, you say:
"I perceive and understand what realization is. I know, something within me understands, and feels, what self-realization is," and you keep still. Then the thought will come to you that the only way to find out is through negation. So you can say to yourself,
"It's not the sun, because the sun is a projection of my mind. It's not the moon. Same thing. It's not my husband or my wife, it's not my body, it's not my organs. It's not Hussein, it's not peace, it's not the war."
And everything you name, it's not. So when you get tired of naming things, you keep silent, and that's what it is. Everything is silence. All four principles end in silence, they're all the same.
Fourth Principle of Self-Realization
Is simply this: You have a deep conviction, a deep understanding, a deep feeling of what self-realization of noble wisdom really is. What is Self Realization of Noble Wisdom to you?
You can never know by trying to find out what it is, because it’s absolute reality. You can only know by finding out what it is not.
So you say, “It is not my body, it is not my mind, it is not my organs, it is not my thoughts, it is not my world, it is not my universe, it is not the animals, or the trees, or the moon, or the sun, or the stars, it is not any of those things".
When you've gone through everything and there's nothing left, that's what it is, nothing, emptiness, nirvana, ultimate oneness.
(More guesses, including, none of these principles exist.)
R: You're right. I usually don't do this, but I'm giving you these principles to help you. (laughs) Right. They don't exist, you're right. But as long as you believe your body exists they exist also. As long as you feel the world exists, your body exists, and your mind exists, then the principles also exist. And karma exists, and God exists, and creation exists. Nobody remembers the fourth principle? Well, I'll share it with you again.
(More guessing)
R: Well if you recall. You have to have a strong feeling and realization of what self-realization means. And what's the only way you can do that? Remember?
(More guessing)
R: That helps. By realizing what it is not. So you're right. You can't know what self-realization is because you are already that. But you can know what it's not. So by eliminating everything, then what is left is self-realization.
SD: So how would you simply define number four?
—————
R: By realizing there's no body, there's no world, there's no God, there are no organs, there is no mind. (SD: It sort of summarizes all the others.) Yes, that there's nothing. So every time you think of something you say, "Neti-neti. Not this, not this". And you go all the way down until there's nothing left to say. Then you're that. (SD: I still would like a simple explanation, three or four words.) Three or four words? (laughs). There are no others. Nothing else exists but the Self, and I am That. You've got to work it out in your own head. You've got to use your mind to destroy your mind. (SD: But it's based on neti-neti?) Yes. (SD: Rather than emotion?) Exactly. Even if thoughts come to you like, "I am perfect". Get rid of that. (SD: Never had that problem.) (laughter) "I am not the body". Get rid of that thought.
SN: I wrote down, realize what is not.
R: That's good. Whatever you come up with, it's not that, until you're completely empty. It's like emptying out a garbage can. As long as you keep turning it back over, the garbage will stay in. You've got to hold it upside down until all the garbage falls out. So, we've got a lot of samskaras, past tendencies, karma. All that's got to go. So we empty everything out so there's nothing left. (SG: Stay upside down.) Stay upside down. Then you become free. It's really simple. It's not complicated. But if you remember the principles it helps you. That's all I've got to say. Questions?
See those of us who come here are tired of playing mind games. We want to become free and you become free by not wanting to become free. It's just abiding in the Self. By being yourself. And if you follow those four principles, you will become your Self very fast, but you have to think of them all the time.
Selected quotes from the book "Silence of the Heart" by Robert Adams
Ramana Maharshi was Robert Adams' teacher, 1947-1950
"As long as you are born of the flesh you have to suffer. This is the way of the flesh. Do not try toimprove your life. You're making a big mistake. For there is no question about it, if you use positivethinking and use your mind, you may appear to improve your life. But remember, this world in whichyou live is a world of duality. For every up there is a down. For every forward there is a backward. For every good there is a bad. Therefore, whatever improvement comes in your life, it will last for a while,then will subside, then you become miserable again. You'll start sticking up for your rights and fighting for your survival. Then as you get what you want, you'll be happy again. You're like a yo-yo. You go upand down, up and down. And no matter how much I talk to you about this, you're going to keep ondoing this." -
Robert Adams
http://www.robertadamsinfinityinstitute.org/silence1.pdf
"Consciousness, you may say, is the screen of reality and all of the images of the whole universeare superimpositions on the screen of reality."
Page 20
"The only freedom we've got is not to react to anything, but to turn within and know the truth."
Page 21
"Consciousness is self-contained, Absolute Reality. It is yourself, when you do not identify withthe world. And that only happens to the average person just as they are falling asleep and just asthey wake up."
Page 27
"There is only one I actually. That “I” is Consciousness. When you follow the personal
I to thesource, it turns into the universal I, which is Consciousness. Begin to catch yourself. begin torealize your divine nature. You do this by keeping quiet. The fastest way to realization is to keep quiet."
Page 36
"When you catch on to your awakening, the world does not change. You just see it differently,that's all. You acquire a feeling of immortality. A feeling of divine bliss, so to speak, when thingsno longer have the power to affect you."
Page 45
"There is a power that knows how to take care of everything, and will also take care of your body,so-called, if you stop thinking. But as long as you think I am the body, then you have to take careof your body, and watch it, and feed it aspirin and cold remedy and proper foods and do all kinds of strange things with your body."
Page 46
"As long as you are born of the flesh you have to suffer. This is the way of the flesh. Do not try toimprove your life. You're making a big mistake. For there is no question about it, if you usepositive thinking and use your mind, you may appear to improve your life. But remember, thisworld in which you live is a world of duality. For every up there is a down. For every forwardthere is a backward. For every good there is a bad. Therefore, whatever improvement comes inyour life, it will last for a while, then will subside, then you become miserable again. You'll startsticking up for your rights and fighting for your survival. Then as you get what you want, you'll behappy again. You're like a yo-yo. You go up and down, up and down. And no matter how much Italk to you about this, you're going to keep on doing this."
Page 49
"There is no thing in this world that is that important. As long as you believe it is important, youwill never awaken. You can't. For you are caught up in maya. You are playing the game. You arestill involved in the leela. You're feeling things. You're reacting to things. You're arguing aboutthings. You're debating things. You're still not sure."
Page 51
"When something takes place in your mind or in your world, you become the observer. Youbecome the witness. You do not react. You try to keep your mind centered in the now, in themoment."
Page 52
"Grass grows spontaneously, but we can imagine we are making it grow with our willpower. Thesame with the activities of our bodies."
Page 53
"When you stop searching and you calm down and you put your books away, and you confrontyourself and see what you are all about, that will bring about bliss faster than anything you canever imagine or ever do."
Page 110
"It's only what you experience that matters to you. It's not what you read. So what if you learn atruth that you haven't learned before. So what if you say this teacher expresses it this way, andnow I know it from this angle and that angle. I must remind you again. Knowing truthintellectually does absolutely nothing for you. You might as well take LSD. Because you only getpsyched up."
Page 115
"How do you make progress? By using books for reference only. By practicing the methods I sharewith you. By practicing Self-Inquiry. By watching as you go through life's experiences and notreacting. Watching yourself become depressed. Watching yourself become angry. Do not deny it,but observe it. And if you observe yourself correctly in that calm way, you can ask yourself, "Whobecomes angry? Who is feeling depressed?" And follow it through. Do this over and over and overagain, as many times as you have to. One day, the anger will leave you, the depressions will leaveyou, your thoughts will leave you. And you'll just be."
Page 116
"I remind you again, the only difference between the sage and yourself is you see the world andyou identify with it. You think it's real. A sage sees the world and he knows it's a superimpositionupon Consciousness. So he identifies with Consciousness."
Page 117
"For you're saying, "Aren't we supposed to help the world?" You're supposed to find out who youare. Your first and main job is to awaken. And then you will see if you want to help the world. What world?"
Page 119
"Find out who this God is, from where this God came, and you will soon realize that you havecreated God in your image. There is no such God, but it's better than nothing. It's good to knowyou have a big daddy somewhere, who you can cry to, who you can scream at, and blame for allyour problems. Yet, as we grow, as we unfold, as we let go of all this stuff we've been holding onto, something happens; we become lighter. The burden seems to disappear by itself. The onlyburden you've ever had is your mind."
Page 125
"Vichara, Self-Inquiry is only to keep your mind from thinking. That's all it is."
Page 131
"Whatever you're no longer attached to gives way. Whatever you're no longer holding to, no longerholds on to you."
Page 138
"The power that takes care of that knows how to take care of you. Don't you see, there isn'tanything you have to do to help. In other words, God doesn't need your help. All you have to so isto take a deep breath and say, "Take it God. I'm all finished with it. I will never worry again. I willnever be upset over anything again.""
Page 139
"But I mean when you are really in deep sleep and you wake up, if you catch yourself, you'll seeyou feel good. You feel great. You feel wonderful. It's only when you start to think, that thefeeling changes. Check it out for yourself. Why? because deep sleep is really bliss."
Page 148
"Whenever you use the word "I" you want to catch yourself and say, "I is not me. Me is, Who am I?"Me is the question, "From what source does the I come?""
Page 150
"When your thoughts take on a feeling nature you give them power. But when you refuse to takeon that feeling nature, the thoughts disappear." Page 153"No matter how many times I tell you this, you're still thinking, thinking, judging, judging, comingto conclusions, trying to work out your life. You have to let go. Totally, absolutely, completely.You have to let go so completely that you will feel no body, no mind, no pain, nothing."
Page 154
"As you look at the world without interpretation, as you look at the world without attachment,what the world is will be revealed to you."
Page 155
"Worshiping God in the form of a Satguru, or in the form of a Buddha, or a Christ, whatever, iseven better."
Page 172
"Once you know there is no mind, there is no longer the experience you've got to go through. Allexperiences cease. But be aware that all experiences have come from the mind. In reality thereare no experiences. The life you're living now is an experience."
Page 178
"Never pray to God for release of your problems. Never pray to God to change your life, and togive you something better. This is wrong prayer. If you have to pray to God, pray to God to giveyou the strength and the wisdom and the courage that you need to be able to handle the situationthat you're in. This is correct prayer."
Page 185
"All you've got to do is let go of the personal I by not reacting to the condition, and automaticallythe real I comes along, for you are really the real I. This is your real nature. This is your swarupa,God, Brahman, Consciousness. Can you imagine what would happen if you thought about this allday long, without forgetting? Why, you'd be enlightened in no time."
Page 189
"This is a first step. To have total faith and total trust in the Infinite, the One."
Page 195
"We have names for everything. What if we forgot about those names? And we stopped seeingthings as something? What if we just observed things, watched things, without giving them aname, without coming to a conclusion? What do you think would happen? You would transcendeverything."
Page 198
"The realization that everything you see, the universe, people, worms, insects, the mineralkingdom, the vegetable kingdom, your body, your mind, everything that appears, is amanifestation of your mind."
Page 222
"Everything that your senses show you is an emanation of the mind."
Page 223
"Think about that! Everything in this universe, person, place or thing, everything, your body, yourthoughts, creation, God, everything you can think about, everything, and I mean everything, is aprojection of your mind."
Page 224
"When you close your eyes, it goes away. When you sleep you transcend it. But when you areawake, the world exists. The world only exists because your mind exists, and your mind existsbecause your ego exists."
Page 227
"Then who am I? Keep silent for a while. You know it's working when you start to feel a quiet,loving feeling. You start to feel a peace you have not felt before. You start to feel that all iswell."
Page 232
"You don't have to set aside a time for meditation. You can do it while you're driving your car,while you're at work, while you're playing music. Just be aware of yourself, of who you really are,and realize the rest is a projection of your mind."
Page 234
"In the beginning, when you're finding yourself, you realize that I exist. "I Am That, I Am" means Iexist. Same thing. But then you find out who is the I that exists, and you follow it through."
Page 235
"How do you create a dream? Does it start with a beginning? As soon as you start dreaming, there'sno creation. The dream just starts. Everything is already there. The trees, the sky, the earth, theflowers, the grass, people, insects, birds, flowers, everything just appears. Does it die in the end?You just wake up, and it's all gone."
Page 237
"And thinking every day that you are unborn, you have no personal life, and you do not exist, andyou will not disappear, just thinking about these things does something to you."
Page 237
"And we cannot empty the mind by thinking. Only by observation."
Page 251
"See, all these years we've been dealing with a finite mind, with our own intellectual processes,with our own preconceived ideas, with our concepts. But I'm saying we have to transcend those,and use a new part of us that we've never used before. And that's the self."
Page 257
"But if you put your energy into it, and you practice it every chance you get, and you put this firstin your life, you will see amazing results. Amazing results. But you have to put it first in your life.Think right now. What is first in your life? Don't tell me but just think. What comes first in yourlife? Can you take it with you when you die?"
Page 264
"When you open your eyes you can either ask yourself, "Where did the 'I' come from? Who am Ithat slept last night? Who am I that has just awakened? Who am I that exists now?"
Page 265
"You may learn about the astral planes, the causal planes, reincarnation. You may learn abouthow to become positive in your life, how to attract the right mate, how to attract money, health,and all kinds of stuff. How to channel, how to do this, and it's very exciting to the ego."
Page 266
"The three vehicles of Self-Realization: 1. You have a deep longing, a deep feeling to be byyourself. 2. You have a deep feeling, a deep desire, to always be at satsang. 3. You will have adeep feeling, and a deep desire, to be around people like yourself."
Page 268
"Three methods on the PATH
:Number one is self surrender, where we surrender completely to God, or to your Self. Number two is mindfulness, which we were talking about. Becoming the witness. Watching yourself continuously. Watching your thoughts, watching your actions. Sitting in meditation and watching what goes on in your mind. Not trying to change anything or correct anything.And number three is the one that I advocate, Self-Inquiry. Asking yourself, "To whom does this suffering come? It comes to me. Well what is 'me'? I am me. Who am I? From where did the I comefrom?" And following the "I" to its source."
Page 270
" Whatever you think about, that you become ultimately.
So you have to be very careful what youthink about.
Whatever you think about, you become
. Think of the sage, you become the sage."
Page 338
"You realize that the [other] person does not belong to you. Belongs to God."
Robert Adams Quotes and Sayings
Use, Atma-Vichara, self-enquiry. Whatever method you have to use, do it, but do it all day long. That's the secret, not just when you come here, not just an hour a day, but all during the day.
What I'm trying to show you is, you cannot depend on anything in the world for your happiness or your peace. It's a false premise.
For most people to be happy, there has to be a person, place, or thing involved in their happiness. In true happiness, there are no things involved. It's a natural state. You will abide in that state forever.
Whatever you've been doing, you're using your mind to do it. And your mind will always fool you. It will make you believe you're getting somewhere. You're becoming something great. But it's really the ego. It is the ego that is controlling the mind.
You are what you've been looking for. The answer is always in you alone. There is nothing in the external world. For the external world is an emanation of your own mind, your own thinking and your own imagination. You created this world.
As soon as you start to turn within, as soon as you begin to listen to the still small voice within you, as soon as you start to practice self-enquiry, your life begins to change drastically. You become happy. You no longer search for happiness, for you are beginning to realize that you cannot find it externally. You may appear to find it, but it does not last.
The universe loves you. It will always supply you with your needs. Forget about other people, what they do, what they don't do. Do not listen to malicious gossip. Be yourself. Understand who you really are. You are the absolute reality, unconditioned consciousness. Work from that standpoint. Do not work from your problems. Do not get lost in meaningless gossip. Understand your true reality. Be yourself.
Many people enjoy the play, because they wish to continue. They continue to identify with their conditions, situations, bank accounts, wives or husbands. As long as you are attached to anything, you cannot find freedom.
When you stop searching and you calm down and you put your books away, and you confront yourself and see what you are all about, that will bring about bliss faster than anything you can ever imagine or ever do.
As far as I am concerned, its morally correct to be a vegetarian. The soul become purified. You come closer to realization. Eating meat pulls you down to earth. Scriptures talk of the three gunas. Meat eaters have Tamasic qualities, which are the lowest qualities of humans. Therefore, it is better not to eat meat. Your thinking becomes clearer and you are able to absorb the higher teachings.
No matter how many times I tell you this, you're still thinking, thinking, judging, judging, coming to conclusions, trying to work out your life. You have to let go. Totally, absolutely, completely. You have to let go so completely that you will feel no body, no mind, no pain, nothing.
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