ISBN: 9781483547732
PREFACE
“Teachings are within the mind. Becoming free from the mind is enlightenment. That is when you are truly free.“
This is a collection of the teaching by Sri Bhagavan from the Oneness University, India. The aim is to bring clarity to your awakening process as more and more are going through this transformation right now. It’s meant to answer commonly asked questions on awakening and to support your own process.
It is by no means an attempt to praise the Oneness Movement over any other belief or practice - and have I no personal interest of doing so. Oneness and Sri Amma Bhagavan embraces who you are as you are, regardless of your beliefs, religion, or cultural background. Oneness is rather a movement and a blessing towards a personal Awakening more than anything else. To awaken the qualities within you, becoming your highest potential. Oneness is attained within you and is not something external.
Awakening is a neurological shift happening in the brain, resulting in a shift of perception and quality of live. Oneness is a state of being, where everything is experienced as it is. You feel you are One with All That Is. There is no boundaries, no The official Oneness website is http://www.onenessuniversity.org/ thinking, no doer, no past, no future. There just is this present moment full of life. It feels very natural.
Most people by now have experienced shorter or longer periods of Oneness. And this book is a support to your Awakening process and transformation period.
I can highly recommend to compliment the teachings with actual experience of the Oneness Blessings. An Energy transfer to help promote a physical shift within you. I can say so, as I personally experienced this and observed countless of others going through this. Very fast. Suddenly it’s like a switch that is turned on.
The Oneness Movement can be found nearly in every corner of the world, and in most bigger cities. People come from all religious traditions and backgrounds. And you should be able to find Oneness groups in your nearby city. If you feel like complimenting your process with Blessings and transformative exercises.
To keep the teachings closest to the original transmission as possible. I have tried my best to only pick direct teachings from Sri Amma Bhagavan without any further interferences or corrections and only correcting simple spellings from transcriptions. I personally wanted this collection to contain the teachings directly given by Sri Amma Bhagavan. There are a few exceptions where I have included secondary sources which I believe have great value for the reader.
I’m ever grateful for the teachings, blessings, love and support. Like a bird leaving its nest with full of love and support.
Cover art by Kerstin Rikardson
Composed by Jimmi Andersen
http://getawake.org
Table of Contents
Global Awakening
Chapter 01 Oneness Movement
Vision
Next phases of Oneness
Chapter 02 Oneness University
Sri Amma Bhagavan
The Temple
Chapter 03 Oneness Phenomenon
Oneness Blessings
Oneness Meditation
Sacred Chambers
Oneness Processes
Weekly webcasts
Rituals
Moola Mantra
Chapter 04 Suffering
7 Truths to be free of suffering
Chapter 05 Awakening
Benefits of awakening
Who can become awakened
21 Conditions for awakening
Am i awakened?
Suffering after Awakening
Raising ones Consciousness
Transformation
Flowering of the Heart
Awakened One
Teachings for Awakening
Liberation Sutra
Chapter 06 Meditation
Chapter 07 Teaching can’t give you Mukthi
Chapter 08 Relationships
Listening
Understanding each-other
Parents
Four baskets
Partners
Love in relationships
Children
Parenting
Ancestors
Chapter 09 The mind
Authentic self and mind
Inner integrity
Personalities
Individualization
Taking position
Attachment
Craving
Mind chatter
Judgement
Comparison
Motivation
Concentration
Intent
React and response
Declutchment of the mind
Programs and conditionings
Free will and divine will
Choice and free will
Chapter 10 Feelings
Grateful
Love
Causeless joy
Emptiness
Laughing
Desires
Lust
Acceptance
Forgiveness
Surrender
Helplessness
Fear
Separation
Pain
Hurt and charges
Anger
Grief
Regret
Sadness and crying
Insecurity
Jealousy
Stress
Heaviness
Suffering
Chapter 11 Teachings
9 Teachings
Learning is unlearning
Interdependence
Karma
Time and space
Presence
Consciousness
Awareness
Witnessing
Spirituality is based on kundalini
Solution and dissolution
Virtue
Right action
Purpose of life
Destiny and fate
Phases of life
Birth and death
Work
Sadhana
Dark room process
Chapter 12 Health
Chapter 13 Wealth and Success
Chapter 14 Golden Age
Society
Countries
Awakened communities
Environment
Oneness care
Chapter 15 Enlightenment
Chapter 16 God-Realization
Image of God
Guidelines from God
How to pray
Talking with your Divine
Relating to your Divine
Worshipping
Divine manifestation
Sri Murthi Phenomenon
Grace
Miracles
Sacred space
Sri Amma speaks
Chapter 17 Selfless service
Chapter 18 Oneness Trainers
Chapter 19 Gratitude
GLOBAL AWAKENING
As of Jun, 2014
People Awakened are over 2,182,000
People Living in The Presence are over 3,022,000
People in Awakened States are over 1.02 billion
People experiencing The Presence are over 1.42 billion
CHAPTER 1
CORE TEACHING
“When you are awakened, you feel you are empty, and then once you are filled with the Presence, you will feel completely full”
There is only one Mind - the Ancient Mind. It is conditioned by separation and duality.
Your mind is not your mind, but an extension of this Ancient Mind.
Similarly, your thoughts are not your own thoughts, but downloaded from the 'thought sphere' associated with this Ancient Mind.
The sense of a separate self is generated by the neurobiological structure of the human brain.
This 'self', in experiencing itself as separate, generates cravings, aversions, comparisons and judgments, which are the core of suffering.
When the self disappears, suffering ends.
When cravings drop away, including the craving for enlightenment, you are enlightened.
When the Blessing is given, a neurobiological process begins, which leads to the dissolution of the sense of a separate, or fixed, self.
When the fixed self disappears, you experience yourself as simply a dance of personalities continually arising and passing away.
Your body is not your body. When the self disappears, your sense of ownership of the body disappears, and you experience it as a vehicle for the divine dance of consciousness. Eventually, all creation becomes your body.
The mind, based in duality, cannot be enlightened.
The self, which is an illusion, cannot be enlightened. The self is only a concept.
Enlightenment is the realization that there is no self to become enlightened!
CHAPTER 2
ONENESS MOVEMENT
“This Place Exists To Set Humanity Totally and Unconditionally Free.”
Oneness, a spiritual organization, founded by Sri Amma Bhagavan seeks to alleviate human suffering at its roots by awakening humanity into oneness, wherein every individual feels connected to all that is. The central understanding of Oneness is that inner transformation and awakening into higher states of consciousness is not an outcome of a mere intellectual understanding but a neurobiological process in the brain, whereby one’s experience of life is redefined at its core. This is achieved by Oneness Deeksha, which is a process of transfer of divine grace that initiates a journey into higher states of consciousness. The Deeksha is believed to affect the different lobes of the physical brain, thereby reducing stress levels and intensifying the levels of love, joy and awareness. Millions across the globe testify the calming and awakening effects of the Oneness Deeksha, which is now slowly gaining recognition as by far the easiest and most effective approach to enriching human consciousness.
Settled majestically at the foothills of the Vellikonda range on the eastern coast of South India, 80km north of the city of Chennai, lies the Oneness University.
A center for learning and growth, The Oneness University creates an atmosphere for people to learn and grow in consciousness leading to a ‘happy’ individual and family. Catering to people of every faith and all walks of life, the University represents growth and learning in both the internal and the external spheres of life.
Oneness in many regards has a highly scientific approach, quite evident in many of Sri Amma Bhagavan’s teachings and this actually comes as a relief to the many Oneness followers ranging from the younger generation and the intellectual/elite classes, who abhor blind belief and unscientific philosophy at all levels.
This kind of a vastly liberal and truly secular approach could be attributed to a very unique perception of Oneness that the founders Sri Amma Bhagavan share, who emphasize the beauty and importance of religious and cultural variety as every human being is unique and cannot discover his true self through one single path. It is therefore, Their message to the world that Oneness is not necessarily about making everyone embrace the same system of belief, doctrine or tradition but more a process of discovering the truth that is inherent in every tradition. Oneness as a concept is beautiful, as an experience is staggering.
SECTION 1
VISION OF ONENESS UNIVERSITY
“TO SET HUMANITY TOTALLY AND UNCONDITIONALLY FREE”
The nature of existence is bliss. It is qualified by auspicious qualities like love, compassion, connectedness and silence. Man’s consciousness is fettered by concepts, ideas, conditionings and mental constructions. Sri Amma Bhagavan say, ‘When consciousness is purged of all its contamination what remains is life, pure consciousness or God’. Hence Sri Amma Bhagavan define Awakening or Oneness as ‘liberation of life itself’.
Vision Of Oneness University explained by Bhagavan:
See you have got medical universities, engineering universities. So this university is a university for universities. That is, to make you into a true human being. Those universities give you technical knowledge. They give you specialization. But they never make you into a human being, to what you are supposed to be.
Every human being has to be enlightened. Every human being has to be God realized. This university exists to help you become enlightened, to help you become God realized. But down the line, if you've got specific problems let us say you have depression or you are insane or you've got other peculiar problems, we're prepared to delete that also.
Our hope is in course of time many such universities will emerge across the globe to cater to the needs of people all over the globe. It is to make you into a human being.
Like we have youth programs here. Why? Because the schools do not focus on making children into human beings. They only prepare them to qualify for some exams or acquire some specialized skills and in fact in the process destroy the children. Otherwise the world would not be such a bad place unless schools were doing a bad job. How could it be so terribly bad.
We can't set up schools for everybody. So what we have done is children from other schools, from other colleges or universities, they can come here. We will remove the defects that school has put into them and also give them abilities which the school should have given and has not done, and make them fully flower into human beings.
The full flowering of the human being is nothing but the flowering of the heart. Society must be so structured that the heart of the child does not wither away. But the way parents conceive children, bring them up in the womb, the way they deliver them, the hospitals and then the way they bring up the children in the schools, the colleges, societies, everything is there only to murder the child. So there are no human beings. You can use the word human beings but there are no human beings.
There was a great saint once in Madras city a century ago who used to sit in front of his house and he used to go by. He used to say, "here goes a dog, here goes a fox, here goes a pig, here goes a donkey," throughout his life. Only on one occasion he said, "here goes man," and that was for Ramalinga Swami who disappeared into light. Only that man qualified to be called Man by him. All the others were animals.
You see the barbarity in the world. How barbarous we are, how primitive we are. We have divided ourselves on the basis of race, on the basis of nations, cults, what not, on the basis of wealth. All kinds of division and we keep fighting.
In the name of God we divide ourselves and we keep fighting. We see wars. How many wars have we fought. Tribal wars, national wars, world wars. Finally the species has become completely mad who can behave the way we are behaving.
How could you kill a fellow human being brutally and take away his things, and the silent torture that goes on in homes: a man nagging his wife, a woman nagging her husband. Everybody exploiting wanting to dominate the other. The wife wants to dominate the husband, he wants to dominate her. Children want to dominate their parents, they want to dominate their children. Employee or employer, employer or employee.
Everywhere you turn the self is at play. What is hell? There is no other hell. So the question is a simply transformation. Make the heart flower and we'll have heaven here. There will be actually Heaven on Earth. Only then you are a human being not otherwise.
CHAPTER 3
ONENESS PHENOMENON
“When judgment stops of its own accord, there is oneness with all that is.”
The central understanding of Oneness is that inner transformation and awakening into higher states of consciousness is not an outcome of a mere intellectual understanding but through a shift in consciousness whereby one’s experience of life is redefined at its core. This is achieved by the process of the Oneness Blessing which is a phenomenon sourced in the deep passion and the intent of Sri Amma & Sri Bhagavan.
Oneness Blessing is an energy transfer that brings about growth in consciousness. The level of consciousness of a person determines his/her quality of life experience. For instance, one’s experience of the ongoing recession, the ability to handle misunderstanding in relationship or a daughter’s rebellious nature, what emotions surge through when diagnosed with a health problem, the level of connection with people around and the joy experienced, the intensity of passion at work etc., depend on one’s level of consciousness. As consciousness rises, there is greater awareness, joy, love, togetherness, and focus in everything that you do and experience.
The Oneness Blessing neither requires practicing a particular way of living nor is an initiation into following a new path. It does not bind one to any philosophy or ideology. It transcends religious and cultural barriers from the fact that it only chooses to awaken each to his/her own spiritual tradition by facilitating a neurobiological shift, thus making religion a matter of personal choice and convenience. Hence people belonging to any faith or age group can receive the Blessing.
HOW IS THE ONENESS BLESSING TRANSFERRED
The Oneness Blessing is given by the laying hands on the recipient’s head or sometimes through intent. In this case, the giver holds the receiver in his or her awareness for a few minutes and allows the Oneness Blessing to flow. In this way, the Oneness Blessing can be given at a distance of thousands of miles or to a large group of people all at the same time. Oneness Blessing unfolds differently in every individual as it depends on what the receiver may need it most.
BENEFITS OF THE ONENESS BLESSING
Evolution in one’s consciousness manifests as changes in all spheres of our life – health, wealth, relationships & spiritual growth. The Oneness Blessing brings about a growth in consciousness, thus heightening your life experience. The Oneness Blessing changes emotions and perceptions or helps one be free of perceptions. This shift changes one’s approach to challenges and opportunities since when perceptions change one no more perceives a problem as a problem. When perceptions change reality may also change because the external world is merely a reflection of the inner world. Higher perceptions and positive emotions create a more successful and fulfilling life.
Effort does have a role in the Oneness Blessing. While effort in the form of introspection, contemplation, asking the right question, having an intent, external doing etc. is also essential. The role of effort in this context is analogous to a plane speeding on a runway to take off, but the actual take-off also demands an appropriate wind current. The Oneness Blessing is like the current that finally lifts the plane off the ground.
These are some of the common benefits in receiving a Oneness Blessing as reported by the recipients. One can experience greater effects of it with prolonged exposure.
· Awakens creative potentials, abilities and intelligence
· Increases ability to learn
· Resolves inner conflict leading to inner peace and harmony
· Brings love to relationships
· Heals emotional hurts and reduces thought burden
· Evokes affection, friendship and a sense of connectedness with the other.
· Awakens compassion
· Infuses vitality
· Heals the body by healing the mind
· Relaxes the body and relieves stress
· Helps build love and appreciation for the body
· Invokes auspicious energies
· Removes blocks that hinder success
· Makes possible a mental frame for abundance
· Initiates a journey into experiencing unconditional love and joy
· Initiates a journey into Awakening and God-Realization
SCIENCE
What does science say?
Scientists in Germany, Sweden, Denmark, Russia and the U.S.A. have measured the affect of Oneness Blessing on the balance of electromagnetic impulses emitted by the brain. They have determined that within thirty seconds of a Oneness Blessing transmission the activity of the parietal lobes, as well as the brain stem and limbic system, becomes quieter and more balanced, while the activity of the frontal lobes increases. These findings are identical to measurements of long term Tibetan meditators conducted at the University of Pennsylvania. Furthermore, the effects of Oneness Blessing are cumulative; the more Oneness Blessing a person receives, the more balanced the brain becomes. A group from Princeton University is establishing a laboratory on the Oneness University campus to study and observe the Oneness Blessing process.
These kinds of changes in the brain’s activity, especially when they are cumulative, affects every area of a person’s life; physical health, personal relationships, creativity and business, as well as an individual’s relationship to religion, society and the planet as a whole.
WHAT IS THE ONENESS BLESSING
What is Deeksha (Oneness Blessing)?
Deeksha is a transference of divine energy from the divine to the human.
Deeksha is the phenomenon where the divine reaches out to man and the person who is giving deeksha is making himself or herself available to the divine and he becomes an instrument. It looks like in the last two years there is been greater divine intervention in human lives and that is the phenomenon of the deeksha. Probably the best word used to be other word phenomenon. It is a phenomenon.
Now, you also said, deeksha itself a kind of intelligence. It knows where it has to go. There are three things occurring. The intelligence of the deeksha, where it wants to go, also the intent of the deeksha receiver, intent of deeksha giver. What happens if all these don’t match up? Deeksha intelligence going one way and intent in another way which one will be senior?
Deeksha would be senior. But, the effect is reduced up. Let us say you are a doctor and you know that the heart has got to be opened up. That is your intent. Now, How to open up the heart is you have no idea. But, deeksha’s intelligence knows how to open up the heart. So, it works. Suppose in case you do not know still it is there open up, may not be fully you know. Your strong intent whole this heart is open up. So, deeksha goes in exactly that. How it does that; it has intelligence.
Could explain significance subjective experience during the deeksha?
Bhagavan: I think there are basically three factors involved. One is the person receiving the deeksha. Another is the person giving the deeksha. Third is divine itself.
We have noticed sometimes people who we thought would make very little progress making dramatic progress. We heard instances of people sleeping through courses and become enlightened. So we really cannot comment on the person you know. It is also depends upon the person who is giving deeksha and then there is of course divine which is the ultimate source of all this and whatever the divine decides it happens. We have had people who might call immoral people, people who are not right kind people to receive deeksha. But, they ended up as the most transformed people. So, we really could not judge on those matters. But, we can as a rule say that it depends upon how receptive you are, what your beliefs are, what your conditions and the quality of the person giving deeksha and the above what divine chooses for the day and for the person.
CHAPTER 4
SUFFERING
“The Awakened One suffers, therefore there is no suffering. The unawakened one moves away from the suffering, therefore there is suffering.”
The root cause of all suffering is a sense of separate existence. We have a divisive consciousness that perceives things as the me and the not me, the mine and the not mine, as my people and yours, as my nation and yours. Having divided all things we feel threatened by the other. Fear in turn breeds war, conflict and further forms of violence. Are we then beyond redemption? Are we to remain a bunch of pessimistic philosophers or apathetic onlookers bemoaning our collective doom? Not necessarily.
We as a race are on the brink of a colossal transition from one of separation to that of oneness. We would awaken from darkness to light, from untruth to truth. We would realize the oneness of all living things. Though each of us made lead different lives, located away from each other in space and time, we are biologically, emotionally and spiritually one.
There is only one body. What happens to the animals in the seas happens to us, men and women. What happens to forests happens to us in our bodies. Since our bodies and the trees are made of the same earth, are not our bodies moving clay forms endowed with intelligence?
A conscientious effort at healing the earth would manifest as the ultimate healing of our own bodies. There is only one mind. This is the mind that has flowed through our forefathers, us, and would in turn continue to live through our children and their progeny.
The collective torment or fear suffered by our own brethren in one part of the world would manifest as sleeping or waking nightmares to someone elsewhere in the world. Our pleasures and pains are interminably interlinked.
We are one and cannot continue to live any further in an illusion of separation. There is only one consciousness. We live in a holographic universe. Every individual awakening to oneness is automatically affecting a few thousand people, pushing them towards the only sane, alternative way of experiencing reality.
Our experience of reality having changed, we would go on to discovering newer ways of living and loving
WHEN YOU SAY I'M SUFFERING
Whenever you say I am suffering, it means that you are running away from suffering. Because if you could turn around and confront the suffering, soak in it, embrace it, fall in love with it, be with it, accept it, do all these things.
Then see for yourself what happens!
The best thing is to embrace it and the strangest part is you will find sooner or later you will develop this art and every time suffering comes, you would embrace it and it becomes joy.
The first thing is seeing. When it comes to inner problems or inner growth or spiritual progress, you have to learn the art of seeing. What is there is not important for us, but you must ‘see' what is there.
The key thing here is you have to get into a state where seeing is occurring all the time. When seeing happens, all suffering ceases because to see is to be free. There is no effort involved, there is no time involved.
Confronting your self-centeredness, though the word is misleading, it simply means that you just become aware that this is what you really are and you never thought that you are that. It is so and it is there, that is all. The mere seeing is sufficient.
MISERY OF SELF
What is there to your life? As far as God is concerned you are merely existing, you are not living.
You exist because you are afraid to die. What is there to your life, other than the terrible struggles?
Because you are there, in your being there is unhappiness. Not that you are unhappy. No. You = unhappiness. That is your condition. So, what is enlightenment? It is wiping out the ‘you'. You receive Oneness Blessing= Diksha and wipe the you out. If you are gone, you will still be very functional. The memory is there, you can do everything you are doing, only much better. Since you are not there, what is there is joy, is happiness, is love. We want people to be happy. What should we do? We should erase you. Once ‘you' are gone, it does not matter who you are, what you are, what is there is only joy and happiness.
Please get the whole thing straight. We are not asking you to be free of the self. We are only asking you to be conscious of the self. Helping you to be free of the self is God’s business. You couldn't do that.
What the Divine is trying to give you is the Oneness state. In that state, there is no sense of separateness, there is only connectedness. The whole problem with mankind is, people do not feel connected. Basically there is no transformation in man, there is tremendous misery and all this is out of a sense of separateness. You are destroying yourself because you are not able to handle this misery in you. So, this is the condition.
You have to lose the sense of separation and you have to feel connected. First you start with your own family, then the world, the you, extend it to the animals, the plants and then finally to God. That is why we use the word oneness. When we speak of oneness with God, we mean actually becoming one with God.
QUESTIONS
The outer life is getting more and more difficult. The difficulties seem to accelerate. What does help us, what do we need, when there are doubts and disbelief?
Outer life is going to become more and more difficult, as also inner life. The easiest way out is to have the Divine in your life. If the Divine becomes your friend, you will be able to face the crises very, very easily. What is now most important is to get the Divine into your life.
You teach us that “this body is not mine,” but then who is suffering and experiencing the pain in the body. This physical pain doesn’t let one concentrate on the prayer or meditation. The pain wears me out, it limits my abilities, obscures my consciousness and impedes the awakening; that is that’s me who is suffering, isn’t it. If I am not this body, if this body is not mine, then why do I suffer from this physical pain in the body? Please dear Bhagavan, could you tell me what I am doing wrong and what is the right way? And if it is possible, please bless me to be healed. I am grateful to You for everything, my beloved Bhagavan.
If you clearly realize your body is not your body, then there is no physical suffering for you. But for you that is not the truth. For you the truth is your body is your body. That being the case, when the body suffers you suffer because you identified yourself with the body. But when you realize your body is not your body, your mind is not your mind, your thoughts are not your thoughts then there is no suffering. You cannot get there through any effort. It has to happen to you. When it happens to you, you discover who you are. You will discover that you are the Universe itself; that you are everything that you call yourself; that is the Oneness we are talking about.
SUFFERING IS IN PERCEPTION NOT IN FACT
Can you give us more clarity of “suffering is not in the fact but the perception”.
See do animals have suffering at all? They do not have suffering except for a very, very short while. They have physical pain. If you beat an animal it has got physical pain and for a short term it may be very angry with you. Now after sometime it’s no more angry with you because animals have only short term memory. They don’t have long term memory. Whereas we have long term memory and therefore, we go on thinking about an incident. Thinking about that incident is what gives you suffering.
Suppose somebody comes and gives you a fine slap. Now, what has happened? The hand has hit this side. It’s hot here for a few minutes. That’s all. So where is the problem? You can think of it as some kind of good exercise for your cheeks, for your head and then go about it. But then you are thinking, who is that rogue who hit you, why did he hit you, how to get back at him, how to punch him, all the things that happened.
That’s what we call suffering. The fact is simple. Just one hand came and hit your cheeks or somebody kicked you in the back. That’s all. So many times you’ve fallen down. So what? But why are you making such a big fuss out of it. Because that memory is there and what is memory? Memory is a flow of thought and thought is the culprit. Thought always makes mischief. It always creates trouble. It survives by comparing. So thought is the root cause of all trouble and therefore it creates suffering by converting that fact into a perception. But then if you live a life of inner integrity you could stop it.
If you lead the life of inner integrity thought itself may stop. It may come only when required or even if it comes it would only be formal functional thought: this light is burning, switch it there, switch it off like this, put it this way. That kind of thought would be there, not going on thinking about what has happened either in the past or what is going to happen in the future. You would just be in the present. In the present you cannot think. Conversely, you can think of the past or the future. The present is a living experience. There is no thought at all. But, you’ve got into this habit. Like lying, this thinking has become a habit. Non-stop you’re thinking. So all the time thinking, thinking, thinking, which is a waste of energy. That’s why very often you feel tired, you can’t enjoy life because of non-stop thinking. So what’s the point of that thinking? So if all this must stop, you have to go back to inner integrity.
Similarly, I told you, all the time you are speaking lies and if you speak the truth, you would destroy society. But if you don’t speak the truth you will lead a life of lies which has its own harmful effects. So how do we handle the situation? Well at first we have to move into inner integrity. If you move into inner integrity you can be honest as well as not disturb society. That’s why we’re trying to teach you inner integrity. So that is the truth if you want to speak lies. If you want to stop speaking lies you have to practice inner integrity. And as lies reduce there is no need for thoughts to go on working like this.
The thoughts are so full of lies from the ego going on thinking, continuously covering up things because if it does not go on thinking, the truth will be exposed and you do not want to see the truth about yourself. You do not realize that while you know so much about the other person you know very little about yourself. You know very little about yourself, but you seem to know so much about others and the fact is if you look into yourself you know what you’ll find there? Everybody wants to think nicely about themselves, to think good about themselves. You don’t like the feeling of feeling guilty, feeling bad. So everything is nicely decorated. All that rubbish in you is nicely decorated. It’s all hiding inside. That is your problem. You’ve never seen yourself.
Speaking lies to somebody is ok, but speaking lies to yourself destroys you. And then you’ll come out a liberated being. You’ll be as free as the bird that is flying in the skies, so totally free you’ll become. But you have to practice inner integrity. The only tool is inner integrity.
ALL SUFFERING IS A STORY
When we experience suffering is it that our perception undergo a change or will we land up in a state where there is no perception? What exactly happens?
See first thing you’ve got to understand is that all suffering is only a story. A story is what is causing the suffering. So by merely understanding it’s a story is not sufficient.
You must know what is the story. So you must take the suffering to the next stage. When you stay with the suffering, the suffering will tell you its own story, which would be very surprising to you. You would not have expected that.
For example, many years ago I knew a young man who was studying at IAT. He later on became a very big scientist. IAT as you all know has the cream of India. So while doing his physics there he developed a tremendous amount of lust. So he began to do yoga. Lust would not go. Then he began to do many other things but lust would not come under control. This was the condition in which he was. So whatever he was trying he could not control this lust and that was affecting his academics. That was his suffering.
So when he was made to experience that suffering, first by making him stay with it, what happened was the story came out. The story was this person hated experimental physics. He was all in love with theoretical physics but he was dead against experimental physics. He just had no inclination.
He had love for mathematics and all the abstract concepts of physics. That was his fascination and he would not like to waste his time on experimental physics. This dislike motivated by hatred for experimental physics manifested as lust. Whenever you are involved in some work which you do not like, which you hate, then lust becomes too much. Because then you are doing if for survival sake and you always have a fear of survival.
Because he knew that he might fail in experimental physics, which means he would fail in his MSc, which means he might not become that scientist he wants to be, which means his survival is at stake. His whole survival is in becoming a great scientist. That was shaken. So when survival is threatened, lust would automatically go up. They have a close link. Lust, survival and security are closely linked. When that is threatened, it will automatically go up.
Suppose you are playing in the share market and your shares are coming down, you will see the lust is going up. Suppose you engage in business and your business is failing, your lust will go up. Always failure which leads to a threat of survival, lust would automatically go up.
So this became very, very clear to him. Then he had the courage to stay with the suffering and then also experience it. So it began to reveal itself—the story—and then he knew, “this is it, is it?” So then what happened? He suddenly developed a love for experimental physics because he knew this lust was connected to his dislike for experimental physics and he said, “OK, I’ll put a little more effort”, and then he did that and the lust disappeared. It came down to normal proportions and of course later on he became a world famous scientist also.
So the story gets revealed. That’s why we talk in terms of created problem and real problem. So whenever you tell us “this is our problem”, we know that it is a created problem. The real problem is something else. So how to get there, stay with it. First, understand everything is only a story. In reality there can be no suffering, because when you experience reality as it is there is only joy, there is only bliss, there is only love, no matter what it is. But you do not experience reality because your mind is all the time interfering and what is the mind? It is all the time judging, it is commenting. Why? Mind is nothing but the flow of thought. What is thought? Thought is measurement. It compares yesterday with today, today with tomorrow, him with somebody else. All the time it is comparing. It is measurement.
Thought is an instrument of measurement. Constantly measuring, it is. So when you are measuring of course—there this vase. You must look at this vase not be measuring it in terms of its color or size, or shape. But the mind is nothing but the flow of thought and thought is from the past, and past is memory, and memory is dead.
So death is flowing through you and if you have truly died to the past and to the future—psychologically if you have died to them—then you would live in the present. There is great joy and bliss there. That is what we are trying to do to you. So now what happens is if you are going to stay with the suffering, mostly the story will be revealed. If that also does not reveal then you can move into experiencing suffering. Then the story will definitely be revealed and not only that, there could a charge. Now the staying with it may give you the story but it might not remove the charge.
Now in this boy’s case what happened was in the staying with it he came to know the story and hating experimental physics, and all these things. But that was not the end of the story. Still there was a discomfort. So as he began to experience suffering it became very clear to him that there was a remark by an uncle of his who was a big professor of physics in an American university, who when he was a small boy made a comment: “only fools would do experimental physics. The greater your brains you would move into theoretical physics.” So there started the bias against experimental physics, the actual dislike of it. So he experienced the suffering there and the charge went away. So to remove the charge you have got to experience suffering.
Whenever anything is re-experienced, the charge goes away. Clearly you must reexperience it. Like two people cannot stay on the same spot, isn’t it? You have to knock down one and put the other in. So in a similar way what happens is when you re-experience it that charge is removed. It’s gone. With the charge gone, entire perception changes because it comes from your story or it comes from the charge, the perception.Once perception is changed, everything changes. You’re experiencing of reality depends on your perception. If that changes, the experience changes and then the suffering is gone. But the ultimate suffering is there should be no perception at all.
So this is the first level. This is like normal suffering. But if you want to go a level where you’ll experience things as they are then thought itself must stop, and that is possible. When you are drinking coffee you should be drinking coffee. Why should you think about the cricket commentary or the score? You should be drinking coffee. That’s when completely all suffering ends. There’s nothing but joy and love in your life. What joy? Unconditional joy. Unconditional love.
You could be a beggar. You could be a leper, but you’ll have unconditional joy. This joy does not depend on whatever you are gaining or whatever you are losing. It is just there. You could be anybody. You might be the world’s most powerful man, the world’s most richest man, but you would not have this joy unless you experience reality as it is, and unconditional love. There would be love towards the king as well as the beggar because there is no thought. So all this is possible to achieve.
I feel blessed for having met You and Amma and for all the help I've received from both of You, Bhagavan, but sometimes I despair and wonder will the suffering every end. Will there be a point in our lives where suffering will ever stop, and can we be awakened without so much suffering, Bhagavan? Can we be in joy to reach awakening?
Suffering could definitely end. We have thousands of men in surrounding villages who no more have suffering. It's a fact of life. And suffering is not necessary to become awakened; people could joyously also become awakened. It depends on the life situation.
Most of us are tired battling with life. We often wonder if life is conspiring against our joy and peace. The more we try to elude pain, the more challenging it becomes. Is it simply bad luck or the fruit of my past deeds or an irrevocable destiny that is forcing its way into my life?
Life is like a cricket match. It is like a bowler throwing various kinds of balls at you – ball of pain, ball of pleasure, ball of hatred, ball of jealousy, ball of crisis. You are the batsman. Your life depends on how you play these balls.
In a cricket match if the bowler knows you are afraid of leg-breaks, he’ll constantly bowl leg- breaks at you. So is life. If you do not accept the balls it bowls, it will bowl only such balls since that is your weakness. Being a batsman you are expected to face every kind of ball. You cannot afford to say I would not face a particular kind of a ball or a bowler. If you say that then the opposing team captain would only make that bowler bowl. Life knows what you are afraid of and only such kinds of balls would come. Therefore, if you learn to play all the balls, your problems would get solved.
Learning to play all the balls is nothing but Recognizing, Accepting and Experiencing events and incidents as they occur without trying to run away from them. You should not think life would be nice and kind. It would bowl all kinds of balls. A good batsman would not run away from the field saying it is a tough ball.
If you are fighting jealousy then life would keep giving you situations where you would feel more jealous. But if you learn to play the balls of jealousy by experience it then the opposing captain would declare that you have won. He would concede because you are now hitting every ball for a six.
And what is it to hit every ball for a six - To experience everything in life. The art of experiencing is the art of batting. If you could experience every thing, what ever be the situation you have won. If you can do that here, you are fully enlightened. An enlightened man is one who can hit every ball for a six.
How does Mukthi (attaining enlightenment) act as a solution for all problems?
If we analyze the cause and effect of all the problems, the final cause is the sense of separation. I'm different and the rest are different. That is the reason. That separateness is the "Self". That Self is the cause of all problems! If the self is not there, there are no problems. How do you remove the Self? That is Awakening. When you get awakened, the Self dissolves. Basically, if the Self goes, all problems should go. But the car has to stop. There is a past momentum, a karmic momentum. So for some time, there might be some problems. But all that would eventually dissolve because no fresh karma would be accumulated.
Mind chattering would reduce significantly. So the solution for all problems is Awakening. The Self should be dissolved. The Self is responsible for personal problems, individual problems, problems in the family, problems in the society, problems in the world, problems between countries, problems with our environment and for all other problems. If we take it off, we can destroy the Self. That is Awakening.
The mind keeps us trapped in suffering and does not give any space for gratitude, humility and devotion. This experience makes me very sad and hopeless. It feels like a new imprisonment. My heart is weeping. What can we do in our unawakened state, to get our permanent awakening?
The unawakened person can do only one thing. That is stay with "The What Is". There is nothing else you can do. The staying with "The What Is" is the process for the unawakened.
SECTION 1
7 TRUTHS TO BE FREE FROM SUFFERING.
Nobody in this world is free from suffering. To be free of suffering, what should be done?
That’s very simple. Please follow 7 truths to be free from suffering.
1. Everything comes from a single source. It could be God or energy. There is no beginning and end to life.
2. If you identify this source, you’ll not differentiate between good, bad, right or wrong. All these things are our views. Everything came from one source.
3. Life is nothing but your search for ‘self’. In your life,things that happen to you, people you see, everything reflects your ‘self’. If you are suffering from poverty, it means there is something wrong with yourself. You have to correct this to get out of poverty. If you have hatred, then whoever you see will exhibit the same quality. If you have evil thoughts, people you meet will also have evil thoughts. Try to understand yourself first.
4. Realize that anything that you experience in this life is by God’s grace. Supposing you slip while walking, try to realize that as God’s grace too. If you see God in everything, your life will become wonderful.
5. Realize that anything you experience in this life is just a ‘test’ for you by God. It is not a bad experience. If it were considered as a bad experience then it would mean that God is not compassionate. If you experience a problem, consider it an opportunity for you to face it and come out of it. You‘ve been given people, wealth and confidence to face challenges, If you understand this, your confidence will improve, just to test your confidence, God give you a test.
6. If you realize that anything you experience is a test for you by God, then you’ll be able to think deep about the problem and handle it in a better way. You’ll understand its result. Then you’ll have no fear.
7. If you understand the above 6 truths, then there will be an enormous transformation in your body. From then on, you’ll not only have compassion, but you’ll become that ‘compassion’. If you follow this, your relationships would improve. You’ll have no fear or sorrow – you’ll have only joy – don’t try to analyze this logically. If you follow these truths for even 21 days, you’ll be joyful. The problem with us is we spread just the sorrow and sufferings. That’s why the earth is dying. After you experience joy and happiness you’ll be able to spread only joy and happiness to others
CHAPTER 5
AWAKENING
“Awakening is a process where you wake up from the dream to reality. Life this way is so ordinary that it is extraordinary. One feels that is how one has always been.”
What is awakening?
Most of humanity is in a state of daydreaming. It is essential that they become free of daydreaming, which we call awakening.
Why does humanity need to be awakened?
Most of humanity's problems arise from the fact that they are not awakened. An awakened humanity will enter the Golden Age.
And what are the benefits if we are awakened?
If we are awakened, we experience unconditional love and limitless joy.
Right now there are over 170,000 people awakened in the world. What is its impact on the future of the Earth and on our lives? What kind of a future can we expect Bhagavan? [Asked December 2012]
Because so many people are getting awakened, more and more people will get awakened naturally and spontaneously till all the mankind is awakened. When that happens, we will enter the Golden Age.
For a person who has never been in contact with Oneness or any spiritual course, and does not know what awakening is, nor does he have any intent for getting awakened, can such a person be awakened? If so, how does it happen?
Such a person too will be awakened, and it happens because so many others are awakened.
I am very happy that so many people are getting awakened. I would like you to help me understand how those of us who are not yet awakened can benefit from the new state of consciousness of the awakened ones.
When you receive Deeksha from the awakened ones, you would easily become awakened.
4 STAGES OF AWAKENING
Can you please explain the difference between awakened states and being awakened?
They are very different. Awakened states come and go, like waves in the ocean they keep coming and they keep going. And in the awakened state you could still get hurt, still there could be pain and you are very much there, even though you are in an awakened state.
To be awakened is to be in a permanent state, a state where you are no longer there. You have clearly realized that there is nobody there to become awakened and you are gone. And you do not get hurt, you do not get pain, it's a very different state. So the awakened state is very different from what we call the Awakened One.
How can one remain in an awakened state at work? When I am with others, I find it difficult to keep the peace I can feel at home when I am by myself.
When you are truly in an awakened state, it does not matter where you are, whether you are alone or in a crowd, whether you are at work or at home. But if the awakened state is very weak, then certainly you would be more comfortable staying at home.
Would there be a sense of separation even after awakening?
It depends on the level of awakening. When there is a change in your brain, we say you are awakened. That is the first level of awakening. The brain is neuroplastic in nature. When the brain changes, your perception changes. When your perception changes, the brain changes. When this happens, we declare that you are awakened. You may or may not be aware of this. That is why we tell you, you are awakened or not. We also give you a number which indicates the amount of brain change. After this has happened, you will be able to stay with ‘the what is’ without effort. This we call awakening level 2.