Even to talk of re-uniting the
person with the self is not right,
because there is no person, only
a mental picture given a false
reality by conviction. Nothing
was divided and there is
nothing to unite.
Nisargadatta Maharaj
“My place is the Placeless, my trace is the Traceless;
‘Tis neither body nor soul, for I belong to the Soul of the Beloved.
I have put duality away, I have seen that the two worlds are One;
One I seek, One I know, One I see, One I call.
He is the first, He is the last, He is the outward, He is the inward;”
-Rumi
“When the mind has been transcended there is no longer a world that you see like it was before. You see the world as images, appearances on the screen of life and you become blissful. You become more blissful than anything this earth can offer you. This world, this universe cannot offer you anything as good as this bliss that you already are.
… And we want to have this bliss because it’s our natural state. This bliss is peace, happiness, joy. Can you ever imagine being in eternal happiness, eternal peace, eternal joy? When nothing bothers you any longer. Nothing comes into your mind any longer. Nothing disturbs you any longer. Yet the so-called disturbances are still going on. They’re still going on as it was before but not for you.
For you no longer have a mind to comprehend these things. The mind has been totally annihilated, totally destroyed. The body will continue what it does yet you will understand that you are not the body. You are not the doer. You are free. You are total freedom. You are effortless, choiceless, pure awareness. This happens by itself.”
~ Robert Adams (20th century American Advaita mystic)
The self does not need
to be put to rest. It is peace
itself, not at peace. Only the
mind is restless. All it knows
is restlessness, with its many
modes and grades. The pleasant
are considered superior and the
painful are discounted. What
we call progress is merely
a change over from the
unpleasant to the
pleasant.
Nisargadatta Maharaj
That’s what the silence is. It’s not being quiet. It’s beyond that.
It’s not just quieting your mind, like I say all the time.
It’s understanding that there’s no mind to quiet.
When you realize there’s no mind, you automatically become silent.
When you still think you’ve got a mind, you make every effort to quiet the mind, and you can’t.
How many of you believe you can quiet the mind through effort?
You can’t do that. It’s not the effort that makes you quiet your mind.
It’s the intelligent understanding that you have no mind to begin with.
Then you just keep still and everything takes care of itself.
If you have to meditate, by all means meditate.
This path is never against any other method, due to the fact they all eventually lead to awakening.
You have to do whatever you have to do.
But for those who can understand what I’m talking about, and realize you’re dealing with no mind, no body, no world, no universe, no God, an awakening comes immediately, because there’s no one who is sleeping.
Do you follow this?
–Robert Adams – T52: Jnana Marga – The Path Of Knowledge – 14th March, 1991
“In silence there is power, in silence there is the highest truth, in silence there is pure awareness. When we talk too much, when we get involved in too much discourse with people, when we talk too much about philosophical teachings, spirituality, it loses the essence of the teaching.
When you hear about your self, you hear me telling you, you are pure awareness, boundless space, sat-chit-ananda, you are the Self, when you’ve practiced observation, observing, being the witness, when you’ve practiced vichara, self-inquiry, and you’ve done this for many years, it is then time to be silent.
It is then time to keep quiet, not to allow your thoughts to go any further. When I say to keep silent, I do not mean just keeping quiet, when your mind keeps thinking, thinking, thinking, I am referring to quieting the mind. When there is no longer any noise in your mind, when the mind becomes quiescent, the reality appears by itself.”
~ Robert Adams (20th century American Advaita mystic)
You have just forgotten yourself.
Nothing is lost, nothing is missing, nothing has to be found. Just remember. A simple remembering – the simplest things are very difficult, that’s true – and this is the most simple thing.
None of the problems are yours. As far as you are concerned, no problem can enter in you, but you can get identified with something which is not you.
I remember a story. A man’s house caught fire. The house was on fire, and it had taken the man’s whole life’s effort to make that beautiful place. Thousands of people had gathered, but there was nothing that could be done. The fire had become so big. And you can understand that man: tears were coming from his eyes. It was his whole life burning in front of him. And then suddenly his son came running and he said, ”Dad, why are you worried? We sold the house yesterday. You were out… but we have sold the house. It is now for somebody else to cry and weep, not for you. And we have got enough profit out of it.”
The man immediately wiped away his tears and became just a spectator like the others were spectators. The identity, the invisible identity, ”It is my house,” was no longer there. There was no pain, there was no misery, there was no problem at all. And he was really happy in a way: ”Now we can make a better house.” He was feeling relieved; the house was burning, and he was feeling relieved.
And then a second son came running. He said, ”It is true that we had negotiated the sale, but the papers were not signed and the money has not been transferred. So it is our house that is burning, and you are looking at it as if you are just a spectator!” Again those tears were flowing and again the heart was breaking. And nothing has visibly changed: the house is burning, the man is standing there. But these people who are bringing messages are changing everything! When he becomes identified, he is burning with the house. When he gets unidentified, he is relieved and he has nothing to do with the house; it is somebody else’s house.
To be a beggar I only mean that although you live in palaces, but don’t let palaces live in you. Ownership is illusion, as permanence is illusion. Except the Eternal all is accidental. Except the Eternal all is misery, all is a bondage.
AND WHAT IS IT YOU GUARD WITH FASTENED DOORS?
DROPPING THE IDEA OF OWNERSHIP IS RENUNCIATION. RENUNCIATION IS NOT DROPPING THE POSSESSIONS BUT POSSESSIVENESS. Look at your possessions. Do you possess them?. If your house is destroyed you will weep, you will scream, you will go mad, but if you die, your house is not going to weep, it is not going to go mad. So who was the real owner?. The house owns you. It doesn’t care a bit about you: whether you live in it or not. This sutra is meaningful in this sense that only the self can be possessed and nothing else. And if you cannot possess your self, what else do you think you can possess?”.
“So be a master – the master of your own self – and don’t make any effort to possess anything. I don’t mean to leave everything. That’s not the point. Use everything, but don’t think in terms of possessing. Use the house, but don’t be the owner. Use wealth; don’t be the owner of it. Use the whole world, but don’t think that you possess it. You are just a traveller. You come to a point where the things you wanted are there, whatever you desired has happened, but you have become the slave. The kingdom now appears to be nothing but an imprisonment and whatever you possess, or think that you possess, is not really possessed, because it can be taken away at any moment. Even if no one takes it away, death is bound to take it. In religious terminology, that which can be taken away by death is not yours. Death is the criterion. There is only one criterion to judge whether you really possess something. Judge it against death and see whether you will still have it after your death. If death takes it, you never possessed it. It was just an illusion. Ownership is illusion, because permanence is illusion. But there is something that death cannot take over and that something is hidden within you. You already possess it. It is your innermost nature. It has come with you; you are born with it. Or rather, it will be better to say that you are it, not that you possess it. If you possess it, it can be taken away. You are it, it is your very being. It is your very ground; it is your existence. That is what is called atman, Soul, Consciousness. Atman means that which you are already. No one can take it away from you; not even death can destroy it”.
Osho- The Path of the Mystic
ROBERT ADAMS
Excerpt from: Satsang
Q/A: ‘Mind, Senses and Doer’
As you keep giving up all the reactions to life. As you begin to surrender everything to the one Self. The one Self which is the absolute reality, the pure awareness takes over. And will do whatever you have to do, even better than you can do it yourself. This power that knows the way will take you over completely. And it will speak for you. Do everything for you that you have to do and yet you will feel that you are not the doer. Yet everything will be done perfectly.
Many people are afraid to give up their senses. For they believe that they will turn into a vegetable. But this is not true. You will always function. You will always do what you came to this earth to do. And you will even do it better than you ever can imagine. So do not concern yourself about these things. SImply go within, surrender everything to the Self. Give up everything.
SZ: But in our daily lives we have to also sometimes pay attention to many things. Life requires us to solve many practical problems.
R: Yes of course. But as I said the Self will take over and do all these practical things for you without you believing that you’re the doer. Everything will be done. You will see.
SZ: We have to pay attention to many things therefore we cannot give up the tendency to follow the arising things.
R: As you follow the arising things as you say all of the senses will become destroyed and the Self will take over. And the Self will do the things that has to done. Everything will be okay. You don’t have to worry.
SZ: Do you mean, when I abandon the tendency to fix the things by my attention, the Self will take over and will automatically fulfill all the functions?
R: Yes, exactly.
SZ: And when things are arising, I follow them or not by my senses?
R: No, the idea is to get rid of the senses. You do not want to use your senses to do anything. What you should do in your case, is to inquire, “To whom do these things come?” And as they come you say to yourself, “They come to me. I feel these things. Then who am I? What is the source of the I that feels these things?” And the I will disappear one day and you will be completely free.
SZ: Another question is that, our body must be prepared to receive the grace of the liberation? If the body is not prepared then the shock of the grace will cause great harm to our bodies? And does that mean our growth for liberation will take time?
R: If you inquire correctly. Every time a thought comes to you, just like the thought that you just had. If you ask, “To whom does this thought come? Who is thinking these things? To whom do they come? Who do they come to?” and you say, “They come to me.” The me you’re referring to is the ego, the mind. So you ask further, “What is the source of this ego or the mind? What is the source of the I that thinks all these things?” And you keep still, then slowly but surely the I will begin to be dissolved and the one Self will take over and there will be no problems.
SZ: But when I think about the practical problems of life I must think to solve the problem. Is that true?
R: You think what about the problem? You have to solve the problem? Do you think you have to solve the problem?
SZ: Yeah.
R: As long as you’re speaking as you are, you’re speaking from the senses. So you will have to solve the problem. But if you go beyond the senses by inquiring, “To whom do the senses come?” You will realize that you have no senses whatsoever. And you will be free of solving problems by yourself. Things will come easy for you. Everything will happen like it’s supposed to.
See all the questions you’re asking is from the sense of your ego, your mind. Get rid of all this and everything will take care of itself.
“We believe erroneously that person, place and thing bring us happiness. There is no thing external to you that can ever bring you happiness. Why? Because happiness is your very nature. You are happiness all by yourself. When you go after happiness outside of yourself, you have to know that it’s a temporary condition.”
~ Robert Adams (20th century American Advaita mystic)
Your direct insight tells you
that yourself you know first, for
nothing exists without your being
there to experience its existence.
Whatever can be described
cannot be your self, and
what you are cannot
be described.
Nisargadatta Maharaj
