Philosophy
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One to One
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Beautiful Words
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Sights & Sounds
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Funny One!
Philosophy
I
Am the Light
WHAT
IS THIS BODY, THIS FORM? And why do you think that is what you
are? What are you really?
You are the light by
which those forms and thoughts are even seen or thought at all.
You exist before there is any idea about form or thought.
You are the light.
You are before thought.
This is the still
point. From this point, you notice the mind begin to move. A
thought springs out of the stillness. Another thought follows
and a story quickly emerges. It is noticed that these thoughts
can be followed — the story can be believed. But that doesn’t
make the story true.
From this vantage
point — the still point of light, before thought — the movements
of mind are seen for what they are. The mind moves — that’s all.
Thoughts arise from nothing and fade back into nothing.
If you remain still,
you’ll see the thought pass. But if you jump on board, as if the
thought were a streetcar, you’ll be taken for a jolly ride. It’s
fine. There is no harm done. But if you find yourself suffering
because the streetcar took you where you didn’t wish to go, you
can jump off at any time. Return to the still point, and see the
thoughts for what they are. They are movement on a ground of
stillness that is you.
From the still point
— “I am the light, before a thought moves” — it is obvious that
you are not the story or anything in the story. It is seen from
the stillness before a thought happens that you are not limited
in any way, to this body or to any form at all. You are not
limited to a body, or a personality, or a life. You are
boundless light, before all stories about form have taken shape.
All stories begin
with a single thought. A single thought, emerging from nothing
like a cloud in the sky, just passes away on its own. But you
follow the movement of it because it’s exciting, like a cat
chasing after a string. You pounce and run after it and the next
thing you know, you are out of your yard and in an unfamiliar
place. You have left the still point, chasing after the thought,
thinking the thought will have something to offer you. It never
does. It only leads you far away from the knowledge that you are
before it.
One single thought
tells you: you are the form. You are this body. This skin you
feel is your skin. These toes you wiggle are your toes. These
are the first movements in thought, and the rest follow. From
the still point — I am the light before the thought — a single
thought gives you a body, mortality, and loss. Every thought
that follows builds on that story. And then the entire life is
spent trying to protect, advance, and pleasure this form that is
not yours to begin with. It’s much simpler to return to the
still point, before the thought, and realize this is what is
going on. Then no action is required.
Quiet down and know
that you are the light. Just stop. You are the light. The next
thought does not need to be followed. Just stop.
And now it is easy
to see a thought as it arises, and see that it comes from
nowhere and returns to nowhere. How have we let the mind get
away with this for so long, convincing us that we have to
fulfill endless needs and desires — that we have to find some
permanent state of peace and liberation? It was all movement in
thought, and you are the light in which it is seen; you are the
background on which all movement appears to happen. “I need
liberation” is a single thought, a cloud passing in front of the
sun, and then gone. And what remains? You, the light.
Whatever it is you
want to know, it is here, in the still point. Ask here, in
stillness. Don’t ask in the mind; don’t ask in words and expect
answers in words. Words strangle the truth. Let your intellect
go; your intellect is killing you. Let your answers come in
stillness.
“I am the light.”
Return to this over and over. You are not the thought or
movement or form. The thought and movement and form happen in
you. You are the light.
Either You are in the Mind or You are Not — That's It!
Q: I am approaching various teachers who have different
paths, experiences or a different kind of awakening, and asking
them to share their blueprints.
A: Oh! I don't have one. I was not awakened.
Q: So you don't have any blueprint?
A: No. I was not awakened because I never slept.
Q: You were always awake?
A: Yes. Awakening comes and goes, it is a relative term.
The moment you sleep, the awakening can come. But to the one who
has never slept there is no awakening. So the term 'awakening'
is meaningless to me.
Q: Ramana Maharshi proposed the fundamental question,
"Who am I?" So, who are you?
A: Yes. Ramana proposed the fundamental question for the
sadhakas (spiritual seekers), not for the one who is
already awake. The moment you ask me, "Who am I?" that is the
moment I start describing myself, and sadly, the beauty is gone.
I start to limit the unlimited, the infinite. Do you understand?
The moment I say, "I am this, or I am that," it looks ugly, so
ugly. It is infinite! I can say that I am consciousness, I am
bliss, I am this, I am that — but I am none of these. I am not
this, I am not that — I am what I am. So the question, "Who am
I?" goes only to the spiritual seekers who are trying to figure
out who they are really — not to the one who knows who he is.
Q: Are you saying you know who you are, and who you are
is this moment?
A: No. I said, "Who am I?" can not be comprehended. It is
unexplainable. You should be that to know that. So I can quote
books saying, "I am the Self , I am Brahman (absolute
reality), I am this, I am that," but these are only dictionary
terms and will not give a good idea of who I am. It is the
infinite. People can not understand the infinite so we start
using words and phrases like 'I am compassionate;' 'I am
Brahman ;' 'I am limitless;' 'I am consciousness.' Suppose
we change the term 'consciousness' to 'stupidity' in the
dictionary, then I am stupidity, too! Consciousness is a
dictionary term. Change it to 'stupidity' then I am stupidity!
It is the mind trying to comprehend something that can not be
comprehended, so these words are needed. If you really want to
know, "Who am I?" there is no way to know.
Q: You are who you are at this moment, right? As it is
now in this moment?
A: Yes, I am ever the same. I am changeless. If you talk
about time, I am the same — past, present or future — it is me,
I am changeless.
Q: What about vasanas (negative tendencies of the
mind)? Must they be removed before Self-realization can be
permanent?
A: Okay, who is having the vasanas? The mind is
having these negative tendencies and it has nothing to do with
Self-realization. You are the Self already. You are imagining
you are having theses vasanas — it is part of the
sickness. The mind itself is illusion, and what are the
vasanas? They are part of the illusion only. The moment you
know you are the Self and the mind is illusion, the vasanas
never existed.
Once you realize the Self there is no way of losing it, if you
truly got it. You know that the mind has created the world; all
creation is from the mind so it is easy for the mind to create
hundreds of enlightenments, too. You get such peace, happiness
and feel you are almost enlightened, but after some time the
mind comes back — because enlightenment and awakening happen in
the mind.
Q: You are saying that you can feel, 'Oh, I am awake,'
but the awakening is still in the mind, it is not beyond the
mind?
A: Awakening happens only in the mind because the mind is
wanting for awakening. Awakening is a term related to the mind,
not to us, not to the Self. The moment you say 'I am awakened,'
that means you were sleeping before; it is the mind that sleeps
to wake up. If you are really the Truth, you have lost
identification with the mind, and know you are the true Self,
then there is no awakening and no enlightenment for you.
Q: So you don't believe in any stages of enlightenment?
A: I don't believe in stages — you are That. There are no
stages in the Self. Who can create a stage in the Self? There
are no stages. The Truth to me is there are no stages. Someone
could say there are one-hundred stages and you have walked only
four. And now you have to walk the other ninety-six stages,
right? Who sets the stages here? There are no stages. Either you
are the Self or you are not. Either you are in the mind or you
are not in the mind — that's it!
The
One Life
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WHAT
IS THIS BODY, THIS FORM? And why do you think that is what you
are? What are you really? 
Quiet down and know
that you are the light. Just stop. You are the light. The next
thought does not need to be followed. Just stop. 
Q: I am approaching various teachers who have different
paths, experiences or a different kind of awakening, and asking
them to share their blueprints.
A: Awakening happens only in the mind because the mind is
wanting for awakening. Awakening is a term related to the mind,
not to us, not to the Self. The moment you say 'I am awakened,'
that means you were sleeping before; it is the mind that sleeps
to wake up. If you are really the Truth, you have lost
identification with the mind, and know you are the true Self,
then there is no awakening and no enlightenment for you. 
