Robert: I want to let you in on a little secret. There are no problems. There are no problems. There never were any problems, there are no problems today, and there will never be any problems. Problems just mean that the world isn't turning the way you want it to. But in truth, there are no problems. Everything is unfolding as it should. Everything is right. You have to forget about yourself and expand your consciousness until you become the whole universe. The reality in back of the universe is pure awareness. It has no problems. And you are that.
If you identify with your body, then there's a problem, because your body always gets into trouble of some kind. But if you learn to forget about your body and your mind, where is there a problem? In other words, leave your body alone. Take just enough care of it. Exercise it a little, feed it right foods, but don't think about it too much. Keep your mind on reality. Merge your mind with reality, and you will experience reality. You will live in a world without problems. The world may appear to have problems to others, but not to you. You will see things differently, from a higher point of view.
I had an interesting phone call this week. Someone asked me, "Do self-realized people dream, or have visions?" Now, in order to have a dream or a vision, there has to be somebody left to have it, and yet, if you're self-realized, there's nobody home. There's nobody left. So it's a contradiction, as truth is. All truth is a contradiction. It's a paradox. The answer is, sages do dream sometimes, and have visions. But they're aware of the dreamer. In other words they realize that they are not the person dreaming or having the vision. But as long as there's a body there someplace, there will be dreams and visions. Even though there's no one home, there will still, once in a while, be a dream or a vision.
As an example, Ramana Maharshi often dreamt and had visions. Nisargadatta dreamt and had visions. And they were both self-realized. But again, the question is, who dreams, who has the vision? There's no ego left. As long as the dreamer is separate from the I. I can only speak from my own experience. There's no difference, to me, in the waking state, the dreaming state, the sleeping state, or the vision state. They're all the same. I'm aware of all of them, but I am not them. I observe them. I see them happening. As a matter of fact, sometimes I can not tell the difference. Sometimes I don't know whether I'm dreaming, or awake, or having a vision, or I'm asleep. It's all the same, because I take a step backward, and I watch myself going through all these things.
So, for some reason, lately, I've been dreaming about the queen of England. She was coming to satsang. I don't know why... for about three nights in a row. But I did have an interesting vision this morning, about four o'clock, and we'll spend the rest of the time discussing it, because I found it very interesting.
As many of you know, I have had a constant vision, periodically, of myself going to Arunachala, the sacred mountain where Ramana Maharshi lived. And the mountain is hollow, in the vision. And I go through the mountain, to the center, where there's a bright light, a thousand times brighter than the sun, but yet it's pleasing and calm, and there's no heat. And then I meet Ramana, Jesus, Rama Krishna, Nisargadatta, Lao Tse, and others. And we smile at each other, we walk toward each other, and melt into one light, and become one. Then there's a blinding light and an explosion. And then I open my eyes. I've shared that with you before.
But 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, a 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 a 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 it 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 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.
Principle number 1: 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, 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. That'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 yourself. They're different. Your body is not yourself. 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 yourself 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 identified 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.
Principle number 2: 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 nonexistent. 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.
Principle number 3: You are aware and you have a deep understanding of the egolessness 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 egolessness 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 egolessness, you will see them as yourself. 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.
Egolessness. 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.
Principle number 4: You understand the Self Realization of Noble Wisdom. 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.
Anyway, I explained these four principles to all the bodhisattvas and all the mahasattvas. Then we sat three hours in meditation and they got up and walked back into the forest. Then there was a flash of light, and I opened my eyes. What do you think of that? Any questions?
Student: Was it a dream or a vision, and how do you distinguish between the two?
Robert: Well, I don't really know, to tell you the truth. I'm usually aware of what's going on, so all the time I was aware of the vision/dream's taking place.
Student: Including this time.
Robert: Yes, I realized I was doing all these things. It was like I was watching everything taking place. But there was never a time when I actually became the dream or the vision.
Student: Or felt totally caught up in it? You were always observing.
Robert: Right. I was always observing. But it was like an omnipresent observer. So that's the teaching. That's how you tell when you're getting close to self-realization. So, do you remember the four principles? Why don't you repeat them for those who came late?
Student: I don't think I remember the four.
Robert: I think they're very important to remember. Which ones do you remember?
(The students struggle with trying to remember the principles).
See how easy we forget?
(More struggle, and something close to the first one).
That's right. The whole universe is a manifestation of the mind. Everything. You've got to feel that and know it's true.
Student: As long as we're identified with the body or the mind, then we're not very far off.
Robert: Exactly. You're part of the world.
Student: Then how do you say the first one?
Robert: The first one is that everything, and I mean everything, the mineral kingdom, the vegetable kingdom, the animal kingdom, the human kingdom, everything your senses show you, is an emanation of the mind. You're projecting a picture, just like you project a moving picture, and everything you see right now, in this room, comes from your mind. You may say, "How can we collectively see the same thing?” That's because of the habit energy that we're brought up in. So collectively we seem to be seeing the same thing, the same picture. That's number one. What's number two? Who can tell me?
(Students try to remember).
Robert: That's right. We're not born. We have no existence. In between the time we're born and when we die we really have no existence. And we do not die. There's no disappearance.
Student: So how would you summarize it? That we are non-existent, or that we have no beginning and no end?
Robert: Both are right. We have no cause.
Student: So you're saying that existence implies a relative cause, and existence only takes place in a relative world, and we're not really a part of that.
Robert: Yes, exactly.
Student: And non-existence?
Robert: Non-existence also does not exist.
Student: But then couldn't you say the mind doesn't exist. I mean you say that everything that exists...
Robert: Nothing that you can explain exists.
Student: But earlier you said that everything emanates from the mind.
Robert: Yes. You're projecting the picture.
Student: But then you have a mind.
Robert: You don't have a mind.
Student: I think he means everything in the earth plane world.
Robert: In the relative world. In reality there's no mind. That's how the picture appears. The mind projects the whole universe. So if you get rid of the mind, there's no universe. We have to kill the mind. And the whole universe is annihilated, because it's the mind that projects the universe, and tells us all these stories. Think, for a moment, of all the problems that you believe you have. Think of what's bothering you. You can tell me your story for four hours. This is wrong and that's wrong. It's all a projection of the mind. So by getting rid of the mind, everything stops, and beauty, and joy and bliss ensue. But you're covering the beauty, and joy and bliss when you worry, when you fear, when you think something is wrong someplace. So that's precept number 2. What's number 3?
Student: Egoless.
Robert: Right. Everything is egoless. Not only human beings, but everything. Mountains, trees, the sun, nothing has an ego. That means it has no existence. So where did it come from? When you have a dream, where does the dream come from? Same place. From nowhere. From false imagination.
Student: I don't understand the expression "false imagination,” because the word imagination implies a certain falsity.
Robert: You're imagining a false world and a false ego.
Student: That's sort of a paradoxical saying.
Robert: Sure. It's all paradoxical. Because it doesn't exist. But that's how we imagine it. This is the reason I always go back to the sky is blue. Somebody takes me outside and says, "Look at the beautiful blue sky.” And I agree with them, but I know deep inside that that's not true. There's no sky and there's no blue. It doesn't exist. Or the oasis in the desert. The water. It doesn't exist. It's a mirage. The world's the same thing. The universe only exists in the dream state. It's like a dream. Now what's the fourth precept? What's number four?
Student: It has something to do with we are nothing.
Robert: (laughs) Everything has to do with that. But it's actually to have an understanding, and a deep realization, of what Self Realization of Noble Wisdom is.
Student: And how is noble wisdom defined from regular wisdom?
Robert: It's the same thing, just more wordy. It's a Buddhist expression.
Student: They have all these real long expressions. And then they always say what it is.
Robert: The eight-fold path. And then they take years explaining it. But when you get into the highest teaching there's nothing. So the fourth one is, the only way to know what self-realization is, is by knowing what it is not. And whatever is left, that's what it is. So you say it's not the body, it's not the mind, it's not my organs, it's not my thoughts, it's not the world, it's not the sun, it's not the universe, it's not God, it's not creation, and you go on, and on and on. When you get out of breath and out of words, that's it.
Student: Is that what the expression, "neti, neti" means?
Robert: Yes.
Student: Is it boring? If all that goes away and there is nothing...
Robert: (laughs) No! See, that's what people think. That's why I explained before, the mind will make you say that because it doesn't want to be annihilated. It wants to rule you and control you completely, because that's its nature. That's the nature of the mind that doesn't exist.
Student: When you're meditating, are you totally separate from this physical world?
Robert: When who's meditating? When I'm meditating personally? Well, I don't usually meditate. I sit sometimes with my eyes closed but I just rest my eyelids.
Student: Because there's no one there, right? There's no one to meditate.
Robert: There has to be someone to meditate. That doesn't mean you should stop meditating. It means you should look at these four principles and compare them to where you are yourself, and work on yourself so that you can apply these principles to yourself everyday, until the day comes when you don't have to talk about it any longer. You just become a total manifestation of those principles.
…
Robert: There are three methods we use to help us on the path, so we can realize what we were talking about before. Number one is self-surrender, where we surrender completely to God, or to yourself. But that's hard to do for most people. It sounds easy, but it's not. It means that you have no life of your own. You surrender completely and totally everything to God. Totally. Every part of your life goes to God. "Not my will, but thine.” That's devotion, bhakti. Again, it sounds easy to some people, but it's not when you get into it, because it means every decision that you have to make is left up to God. You give your mind to God, totally, completely, absolutely. And that leads you to self-realization.
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. Just observing. Becoming the witness to your thoughts in meditation, and to your actions in the waking state.
And number three is the one that I advocate, self-inquiry. Asking yourself, "To whom do these troubles come? To whom does this karma come? 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 come from?" And following the I to its source. You can use any of those three methods, the one that suits you best. But by all means do something. Don't waste your life with frivolities. Work on yourself, if you want to become free.
It doesn't mean you have to give up going to the movies, or going to work, or anything. You give nothing up. You just become aware of what you're doing. You become a conscious being. You become conscious of your actions. You become loving, compassionate, gentle to all people. You stop watching out for number one. Most of us say, "Number one. I'm number one.” Forget it. That's how you suffer. That's ego. It's hard to understand, when you give up your ego, how you can have a better life, but you do. Try it and you'll see.
When you stop thinking of yourself, and you start thinking on yourself, but yourself becomes omnipresence, that means you're thinking of everybody else as yourself. So if any human being suffers, you suffer too. But, in a way we differ from Buddhism. Not much, but a little. Because the bodhisattva says he will not be realized until everybody else is realized. But then they have a higher bodhisattva called the Arhat. It's like the Avadhut in Hinduism, who becomes self-realized, by himself, because he understands that his self is the self of all. And that's what we accept. In other words, if you want to help your fellow man, if you want to make this world a better world in which to live, find yourself first, and everything else will take care of itself.