THE MASTERY
OF YOUR ATTENTION WILL COME
WHEN YOU WILL START SEEING the truth..
Lead me from opacity to clarity.
Lead me from the complicated to the simple.
Lead me from the obscure to the obvious.
Lead me from intention to attention.
Lead me from what I'm told I am to what I see I am.
Lead me from confrontation to wide openness.
Lead me to the place I never left,
Where there is peace, and peace
- The Upanishads
*note* since we are talking about ,,gods,,..let's make a point straight..Robert says,,All the gods that you've heard of, the Buddha,
-added by danny-
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Turning Away from the World
Towards the Self
Robert talks about two realities: The world of our everyday world and the Self. But there is only one reality. The world is a reflection of our own Self, and therefore it is not really there separate from me. That is why Robert calls the world illusory, that it does not exist, only the Self exists. The Self is the source from which the reflected world comes. Robert urges us to find this Self consciously. Normally we are unaware of the self and are aware of the world. When we are unaware of the world, we are in the self. In sleep, we are in the Self only, but are not consciously aware that we are the Self.
To become aware of the Self, you need to let go of the world, and, so to speak, let God do it. This gives us leave to relax and look within; we are no longer obligated to worry about the world. When somewhat freed of our worldliness, we can look within for who we really are.
Letting go of the world—that is our work. Then, Robert, the guru, does his work, which is to take you consciously to the place of no objects, doing or existence, to pure awareness, the Self. This is who you are always, but you are not now aware of that. Robert leads you there consciously, to Self-realization, and with it comes liberation from the waking dream.
Or, so he says…
Robert:
Peace. Good afternoon. I welcome you with all my heart. It is good to be with you once again on this hot Sunday afternoon.
Most of you have come here for one reason: to find freedom from your everyday experiences, to be liberated, to be self-realized, to attain Nirvana, Satori, to become enlightened. Yet, does the Sun have to be enlightened? Your real nature is Moksha, liberation. You have always been that and nothing else.
But some of you do not believe this, do not feel this, have had no experience of this. For this reason it is my responsibility to see that you awaken. That's why I'm here. I'm responsible for you. If you realize this, if you understand what I'm talking about, you will let go of everything else. All of your attachments, all of your fears, all of your frustrations, all of the things that you have been holding onto for years, will be given up. When you give up these things, divine grace flows by itself, and you will be where you are now: awakened, only you don't know that now.
One of the things you have to work on in yourself is passion. You must give up all passion for this world and the things in it. You must develop dispassion. Now to some of you this sounds terrible, not to have passion for the things of this world. Never to be passionately in love?
What I'm referring to is having dispassion for the world of Maya, and having total passion for the Self. As an example, if you are intimate with a boy friend or a girl friend, or a husband or a wife, or a camel or a yak (laughter), whatever turns you on, you no longer think you're with that kind of a being, whatever it may be. You are loving your Self. The camel is your Self. Your partner, your lover, is your Self. It is your Self that you are in love with. Not the self called Robert or Mary or Jane or Joe, but the Self as consciousness. You have total passion for your Self.
As you love the trees, the sky, the world, you no longer think it's a world of Maya, a world of illusion, but an extension of your Self, the absolute reality, the effortless, choiceless, pure awareness. It is your Self you're making love to. When you think it's another human being, this spoils it. When you think it's a person, place or thing, this spoils it. It is always only the Self. There is only the Self and nothing else.
When you begin to understand this, you begin to move in the right direction. Otherwise if you're looking at people as a person, place or thing, you're making a terrible mistake. That brings sorrow. It brings unhappiness, jealousy, fear, frustration. The way you know when you are with the Self, is when there is freedom. No restrictions. No laws. No rules. No regulations. You're always with the Self. You have always been the Self.
So there are two ways of seeing this world. One is Maya, the grand illusion. You want nothing to do with this. This is what creates problems. This appears to create animosity, sorrow. But then there is the real world: The world of the Self. The world of bliss. The world of total joy, unalloyed peace and happiness. This is what you really are. This is your real nature, your Swarupa. You have always been this and you will always be this.
Forget about the past. Do not worry about the future. Have total faith, total joy in yourself. Only when you can understand yourself as all-pervading consciousness, can you possibly understand that the universe is an emanation of your mind.
Everything that you see comes out of you. You are the creator. You are the God. You are the Avatar, the Atman. All the gods that you've heard of, the Buddha,
Why do you look at yourself as a simple mortal being with problems, always thinking about the future, thinking about your pride and your ego. Drop that. Give it up.
The two things to understand is that self-realization is not your responsibility, it's mine. For you sought me out. I'm here for you, not for me. But you also have to give up the rest. It's up to you to diligently work on yourself to remove all these false concepts that you've had for years, for centuries, for many lives.
It means you have to be totally honest with yourself. Totally honest. Completely honest with yourself to see the way you've been carrying on. To see how your thoughts have been ruling you. Your mind has been telling you, "This is like this and this is like that. This is good, this is bad. This is right, this is wrong.” Being judgmental all the time, this is what has to be given up, totally and completely.
Do not concern yourself about this world. For mortal man can never understand this world at all. This world appears very confusing, very chaotic. There seems to be so many wonderful things in this world, and yet, there seems to be so much destruction, man's inhumanity to man. Dastardly things are going on everywhere, intermingled with the beauty and joy of this world. It becomes very confusing to the mortal man.
Then you see yourself getting older and older. All of your material plans have gone by the wayside. And even if you have accomplished great things, you have to leave them when it's time to go. You start to think to yourself, what is life all about? Who am I? What am I really? What is the source of everything?
No one has ever explained these things to you. So you believe life is just chance. By chance you've been born, you’ve gone through prevailing conditions, you get old and you die. You have no idea what's going on. Therefore I say to you, leave the world alone. Do not believe you have to bring peace to this world. There is a greater power that knows the way that takes care of this world, this universe, and needs no help from you.
The only way you can help this world, is by awakening, by becoming self-realized. How do you help this world by becoming self-realized? When you become self-realized, you are no longer a body. You are all-pervading consciousness, the absolute reality. You are boundless space. You become the trees, the mountains, the rivers, the animals, the insects, the birds. You have become everything. You are the Self, the imperishable immutable Self.
But when you can't see this, you act as an independent agent. Thinking, you're going to make this a better world in which to live. Sticking up for your rights. Trying to change people's opinions. Protesting about this and about that. I admit all these things are necessary in this world, but this is what Maya is all about. Maya is a wonderful illusion. It makes you believe you've got to do something to change things in this world. But I can assure you, nothing will ever change. It will appear to change for a while. Things will appear slightly better at times, and they'll be slightly worse at times. There will be cataclysms, destructions, all sorts of things happening to this world. This is the nature of this world. It has absolutely nothing to do with you. Yet at the same time you are the world. I always contradict myself, this is the teaching. It's a total contradiction. But the ultimate reality is, let go of everything. Know your Self as omniscient and you'll be total happiness and total freedom.
As you try to understand these things, as you begin to ponder what I'm talking about, you look for a way to remove everything from your mind, to empty the mind. You begin to enquire: To whom do all these thoughts come? To whom does the feeling of humanity come? To whom does this universe come? To whom does the ego come?
And smile to yourself. You keep still. You will soon realize that everything comes to you. It comes to you. I think these things. I believe this and I believe that. I feel hurt. I feel this way, I feel that way.
A new revelation comes to you. You begin to see that the I-thought is the culprit. From the moment you get out of bed in the morning, you begin with the I, and it never ends till you fall asleep. Therefore the only peace you ever get is when you are in deep sleep. When you are in deep sleep, the I returns to the heart, to the source. There is nothing going on. Nothing is happening.
At the time you are unconsciously self-realized. This is why when you get up in the morning and you say to yourself "I slept well.” You are talking about
What you really mean to say is the I wasn't interfering with your life. But as soon as you begin to think, you say "I am late for work. I have to catch the bus. I have a headache. I have to eat breakfast." And you go on and on and on with this I, and it never stops. All day long it's I,I,I,
And again the I goes back into the source, into the heart, and you're at peace once more. Until you wake up and it starts all over again. After doing this for a million years, you get to the stage when you'll ask yourself "Who am I? What is this I? How did it arise? From whence did it come?" This is the beginning of wisdom, when you inquire for the source of the I. You ultimately begin to trace the I to the source. When you do this finally, when the I is in the source, it is just like when you're in deep sleep, except that you're conscious.
Think about this for a moment. In deep sleep you have no I, for it has returned to the source. You're totally happy, but you're unconscious of it.
When you attain what we call self-realization. It means that the I has returned to the source while you're awake. There's nobody left to think. There's no one left to worry, or to fret, or to be unhappy. You have merged with the infinite, with the all-pervading Brahman. If you understand this and you practice this, you will become the happiest person in the world. On the way to finding the I-source, you begin to feel happier and happier every day. The old thoughts melt away. The old you dissolves. You become free.
Of course you've got a choice. And this is your choice. Whom shall I follow this day, God or Mammon? Which simply means, following Mammon is following the world, the world of illusion, which keeps tricking you, making you believe you should do this and do that and to go here and to go there.
When you follow God, you're following yourself. You're following the Dharma, Swarupa. You no longer feel sorry for yourself. You no longer feel guilty about the sins of commission/omission of the past. Your mind becomes clear, peaceful. Your mind becomes like a mirror. And since the mirror is unable to see itself, it sees its reflection in the world, as peace, love, harmony, joy. As you continue to work on yourself this way, the day comes when all this is gone, and you are gone. You become nothing. A good for nothing. You go beyond nothingness, which is ineffable, something that can't be explained. There are no words or thoughts to understand this, yet, you have it all within you.
Everything you need is within you. You are the one.
All the tools that you need are within yourself, but you have to make the move to do something. As I said, leave the realization to me. Work on yourself. Get rid of all the stuff that's kept you bound for so many years. You know what it is. The fears, preconceived ideas, all these things that have kept you in bondage all these years. Let go of them. Give them up. Surrender everything. Which means you really have a job on your hands! Yet I tell you all of the time, everything is preordained. Everything is karmic. This is true for the average person who does nothing to find realization for themselves. Then your entire life appears to be karmic.
Yet when you begin to work on yourself, when you begin to see the truth, when you begin to enquire all day long "Who am I?”, wherever you are, whatever you do. And you go deeper and deeper within, all of karma is transcended. Everything is transcended. You become a totally free being.
The question arises, if everyone becomes free in this world, how will the world function? People always ask me this. I have told you, do not concern yourself with this world. There is one who takes care of this world. When you merge with the one, you will understand this. So you do not have to keep running around, trying to improve world conditions any longer. Everything is as it should be. This is something you have to comprehend totally. Everything is in its right place. Everyone is where they belong, karmically speaking. There are no mistakes. None have been made, none are being made, none will ever be made. There is no past, there is no future. There is only this moment in which you live.
In this moment ask yourself, "Who am I?" and see where you go. Remind yourself everyday that you are not the doer. You are not the body nor the mind. Keep reminding yourself daily that you are Parabrahman, beyond Brahman. You are the choiceless, effortless, pure awareness. You are Nirvana, ultimate reality, the ultimate oneness.
Stand up tall. Do not be afraid any longer. There is nothing that can hurt you. There is nothing in this world that can actually do anything to you. You are free. You are the substratum of all existence. Everything is an image on consciousness. The whole universe, all the planets, all the galaxies, are all images on consciousness. Know yourself and be free.
It is now time again to play stump the Guru. Did we pass the basket around to get all the ridiculous questions? (laughter).
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Question: Robert, when you see someone that you love very much going down a very destructive path, how can you become detached?
Robert: You realize that that person does not belong to you, he or she belongs to God. Therefore if you have the right wisdom, you'll do something to try to help that person. But then again, karmically, that person has been given to you for you to go through this experience. So the correct answer for this of course is to know yourself. If you know yourself it will take care of the person. For your Self is that person. The greater you know yourself, the greater help the person will receive. For there is only one, and you are that. But when you separate yourself by saying this person is doing this and I'm trying to stop this person, there is duality.
Then things will get progressively worse. But if you know who you are, then what will happen to this person is what is supposed to happen. I know that's hard. Sometimes you want to grab the person and shake them. And you want to interfere and do something for them. Yet if we could only remember that everything is in its right place and see who we are, that would take care of everything.
We've never done things like this before. We've always taken action. And sometimes the action seems to work. For we've halted a certain situation that appears to be terrible, going in terrible directions. And we've put a stop to it. This is only temporary. Whatever the person has to go through, they will go through, one way or the other. The only relief is to awaken. Consequently when you awaken, you will see things differently. And this is how you help the person.
Question: Robert, what causes a person to display self-righteous anger to defend another person or a cause? Can you explain?
Robert: It's all ego. What else? Only the ego is self-righteous. Only the ego goes for causes. But if you understand what I was talking about today, if you understand slightly how this universe works, you will see that going for causes is not the solution. It appears to be a solution, but it is a temporary solution. Go back in retrospect and see how many justifiable causes there have been in this world since the beginning of time. There have always been causes. Righteous causes. Causes for peace and justice. Has the world become any better? Take a look at this world.
And yet, the people who are fighting for these causes are necessary. This is their Dharma, to do what they're doing, I suppose.
But for the people who come to meetings like this, you have been in this type of teaching for many incarnations. This is why you are able to comprehend something of what I'm talking to you about. The average person in the street has no interest in anything like this. The average activist has nothing to do with things like this. They would have no interest. But you are here. Therefore there is something in your heart that wants to unfold and become self-realized and become free.
Question: If I think it enables me to sit in silence before going to work in the morning, should I actively seek to be transferred closer to home? Or, should I just work on "Who am I?" and trust that right action will take place and my job will be where it's supposed to be, and I should just meekly go where I'm told.
Robert: We don't want to be meek, and we don't want to be self righteous. We want to be the Self, period. Therefore if you can, slow down your mind by allowing it to rest in the Self to an extent, by removing thoughts, feelings, attitudes and going to a higher plateau. By enquiring "Who am I? To whom do these things come?" Then you'll be safe.
But, if you see that you cannot do this yet, if you're afraid you'll get fired from your job, you won't have any money, or go to the poorhouse, you'll become a homeless person, then by all means you have to do what you have to do.
So you have two choices. Either discover who you are, what your true nature is by understanding that there is a power that takes care of you, the power that knows the way, that will always love you and put you in the right place. Or, you go where you have to go, and do what you have to do.
The choice is always yours. There is not one answer or one choice to this question. It depends on the person where they are, where you're at. If I took on a person from the street and told her "everything will go well with you, don't worry. You don't have to beg, you don't have to steal", that person may starve to death. For that person's karma is to steal and to beg. And we have no right to tell a person how to live.
But if that person was able to see the light, so to speak, where the truth is. That they are not the doer, they are not the body, they are not the mind. Then they will be lifted up from where they are into a higher state of consciousness, and will be taken care of.
You know where you are by the type of thoughts that come into your head, by the type of feelings and emotions that come to you, by how you feel everyday. Take the right action.
Question: "Robert, what about sleep with dreams? There are spiritual traditions and religions say that you learn by your dreams, that they guide you. What about this?
Robert: There are three states of Consciousness, so to speak. The waking, the sleeping, and the dreaming. The deep sleep is when you are self-realized. There are no thoughts, but you are unconscious of this fact.
The dream state is like this. When you are dreaming you are simply in another state of consciousness that appears very real to you. And, it is real as long as you are dreaming. When you awaken from the dream you are in this state of consciousness, which is also a dream. Therefore what you want to do is to remove all of the dreaming completely and totally, and become absolutely free.
So when you wake up in the morning and you remember your dream, ask yourself, “Who dreamt?" And you'll say "I dreamt.” Then you'll realize the dream is part of the I again. So enquire "Who am I?" Or, "Where did this I come from?"
Then follow the I-thread to the source by repeating again and again to yourself , “Who am I?,” which really means, "What is the source of the I, who has these dreams?” One day the I will go back into the heart, into the heart center which is consciousness, and you'll be free of all dreams. But your dreams should not be taken too seriously. It is like this life.
You're dreaming right now that you are a mortal being. You go through many experiences. You have fears. You have happiness. You have all sorts of emotions. If I tell you you're dreaming this, you won't believe me. You tell me "Robert, how can I be dreaming? I'm living it." I tell you, you are dreaming. If you listen to me you will do what you have to do to get out of the dream by enquiring "Who am I? Where did the I come from?" So when you're having a dream at night, it is the same thing. It's merely another dream. But you awaken faster. And then you're in this dream. So stop dreaming completely and awaken and be free.
Question: When you come in contact with the homelessness that you mentioned before, perhaps caused by natural disaster or difficulties that people are going through in different parts of the world or in front of you, sometimes because of their own self centeredness and sometimes because of the natural situation. What reaction do you have in your state? Does compassion arise in you? Or, is it arbitrary to you? Meaningless to you? Other people suffering? How do you relate to that, to suffering?
Robert: Both are correct. I have a great compassion even though it's meaningless. So I get in there and help. I will give $10 to a homeless person. I'll help people in the city. If I'm there I will be part of it. But realize it's meaningless. I'm not the doer. That what appears as a body will do what has to be done.
But there is no thought behind it. I do not consider I'm doing something good, I'm doing something bad, I'm helping someone, I'm not helping someone. In reality, no one is doing anything.
