Transcript:
Robert: Some of you look so serious. This is not a serious satsang, it’s a lot of fun, feel happy. Happiness is your real nature. You might as well get used to it, it’s going to overtake you whether you like it or not. I want you to ask yourself a question: Why am I here at satsang? Why did I come here? Did you come to observe the speaker? To compare him to other speakers? Most of you have gone to so many meetings, you’re totally confused. Going to meetings for some of you, is like going to the movies. You ask, “What’s playing this week?” The same way you ask, “Who’s speaking this week?” But, some of you never do anything about it. You listen to the message and then you go home and then you say, “Well wasn’t he or she an eloquent speaker, that was great! What are we going to do now? Lets go bowling. Let’s go watch TV” And you forget all about the meeting until next time. Some of you have been going to meetings for thirty years or more. What have you accomplished? You have read every book that has been written. Where are you? Are you happy? Are you liberated? Are you free? Ask yourself. What we offer here, is absolutely nothing, no thing. It’s all in the invisible. It all has to do with consciousness and consciousness is your real nature. It’s really what you are. When you identify with consciousness, you become your real Self. When you don’t, you’re a part of humanity, struggling, trying to become free. In order to understand the body-mind phenomena, that you are not the bodymind, you first have to understand what the mind is. What is the mind? It is merely a conglomeration of energy, of thoughts, thoughts about the past and the future. That’s all the mind is. The mind is not your friend. But you can use the mind to accomplish many things. We’ve all been programmed, brainwashed. It started, when you were in your mothers womb. All of her feelings, all of her negation or positiveness, all of her energy was transferred into you. Not only that, but you have samskaras, past life tendencies, fears, prejudices that also go into your subconscious before you were born. When you come out into the world, you’re put in your crib and you pick up the vibrations of your house. People fighting, parents hitting each other, loving each other, all that goes into your subconscious mind and makes up you. When you’re at the age when you walk you go outside and play with some friends and your environment soaks into your subconscious mind. Then you go to school, you go to church, temple, synagogue and all those teachings go into your subconscious. Then you grow up you get a job, have a family and here you are. You’re a product of preconceived ideas, of concepts. But is that really you? It’s you as long as you believe it’s you. When you get tired of playing games, something within you gives you a push. That’s called the inner guru. It pushes you from within and something outside leads you to the right person, to the right book, to the right environment that you have to be, because you have given up playing games. In other words you’ve become tired of the world and you want liberation. Wanting liberation is very funny to me. It’s like a person taking a shower saying, “I want to get wet.” Liberation is your very nature, you have to wake up to it, to realize it’s you. So you are a conglomeration of thoughts, of energy, that has programmed you since you were a baby. And here you are. So, now that you’re here and you know how you’ve been programmed, what are you going to do about it? But let’s talk a little bit about the mind a little more. If you know about the mind, you will know what you have to get rid of. The mind doesn’t really exist. But you’ve been programmed to believe that the mind is an entity, that it does exist. Therefore you have to play this game, getting rid of the mind. Let’s see again how the mind works. Let us compare the mind to the earth. A farmer has two seeds. One is of Nightshade, a deadly poison and the other is of corn. The seeds are thoughts. The farmer plants both seeds. And once the seeds are planted, the earth has no alternative but to grow in abundance, whatever has been planted. In the same way, when you accept certain thoughts, your mind grows those thoughts until they become your experience. And this is why you have the problems that you’ve got today. You have created them yourself. Take another example. Have you ever planted seeds? Sure you have, some of you have. Say a farmer plants a rose seed, a tulip seed, a carrot seed and let us imagine that these seeds are like us. They can think and talk like humans. And the rose seed says to itself, “look at that beautiful rose, they say that I will grow into a rose. I will become a rose. But that sounds impossible, how can I ever be a beautiful rose like that. It’s virtually impossible for me to do that.” By that very thought the seeds would stagnate and not grow. The carrot seed says the same thing, “I’m just a nothing, a nobody, how can I ever grow into a beautiful carrot?” By that very thought the seed would stagnate. In the same way I say to you, “You are absolute reality. You are Brahman, infinite awareness, consciousness.” But you say, “How can that be? That sounds impossible. I’m just a lowly person, I’m nobody important.” And you keep identifying with your body and your mind. As long as you identify with your body and your mind, the lord of karma, Ishvara, becomes your Master. And you’re under the jurisdiction of the Lord of Karma. Therefore you keep coming back again and again to this earth. And then you become sort of earth bound, until you become totally free. But you have to do this by yourself. You have to practice certain techniques. Somebody asked me just recently, “You say that consciousness, reality, is like a screen and the body, the world are all images on the screen.” And the question is “Since I believe I’m an image, can I change my image to a better one?” In other words, as long as you believe that you’re an image and you are not consciousness, can you improve your lot? Can you improve your lifestyle and change your image? Now, that is up to the lord of karma. As most of you know everything has been preordained, determined before you took up your body. But you have certain freedom, depending on your karma. And the question really is, “Can you make a sick body well? Can you make a poor person rich? Can you make a depressed person happy?” You’re working at a mind level when you do this. You’re not going to the ultimate truth, but you’re working from your mind. And you can never find freedom and liberation by working from your mind. As an example: Let’s say for instance, you manipulate you mind enough and you’ve got cancer. You’ve been working on yourself for fifteen years. You use imaging techniques, you use mind control. You imagine that the white blood corpuscles are attacking the cancer and you finally heal yourself of cancer. You get written up in the “National Inquirer.” You appear on “Phil Donahue.” And you feel great and proud of yourself, you’ve healed yourself of cancer. Next month you’re crossing the street, a truck hits you and you’re dead. That’s what happens through mind manipulation. Let’s take another case. You’re working on yourself to become rich. You take the proper real estate courses. You learn business administration. You use mind control. And after twenty years you become a multimillionaire. You get married and have three children. Then your wife and children get killed in an automobile accident. Somebody kidnaps you and holds you for ransom. And you have to pay out ten million dollars. And you’re back where you started from. What I’m trying to say is, working with the mind is not the answer. We bypass the mind. We realize the mind is not our friend. The idea is to annihilate the mind. To annihilate thought. How we do this? Through the method of Jnana Marga, through the method of vichara, self-inquiry, this is the fastest method to liberate you from confusion and ignorance. When you have a problem, when you have some sort of confusion. You simply ask yourself the question, “To whom does this come? Who has this problem? Or who has this karma?” And pretty soon the answer will come by itself, “I do.” Then you further ask, “From where does this I come from? What is the source of I?” You abide in the I, you hold onto the I. You start to use a meditation called, “I-I,” You simply abide in the I as long as you can. And you follow the I thread into your spiritual heart. You say to yourself, “I, I, I, I, I, I.” You remember that everything in the world is attached to I. Isn’t it? Think of all the times in your life you’ve said, “I. I feel sick. I feel depressed. I feel happy. I feel out of sorts.” Who is this I that you’re talking about? Is it your body? It can’t be your body. Because when you sleep and you wake up you say, “I slept.” When you dream, you wake up you say, “I dreamt.” And when you’re awake you say, “I’m awake.” To whom are you referring when you say, “I?” Find out, go within, ask yourself, “Who am I? Where did I come from?” But never answer, just pose the question, “What is this source of I?” and one day you will realize that I does not exist. When you follow I to the source, one day there will be like a big explosion and you will see myriads of light particles all around you. You will then realize that the whole universe is nothing but a bunch of light particles. Yet this is not the answer. For where did the light particles come from? They come from no thing, from nothing. And nothing is consciousness. Consciousness is like space. It has no shape. Yet it takes the shape of every creation. It appears to take the shape of the world, of people. Everything is consciousness. Consciousness is like a chalkboard. And the objects of the world are like images on the chalkboard. You can draw any image that you like. You can draw an Indian. You can draw two people fighting. Two people making love. And then you erase it and draw something else. But the chalkboard never changes. The chalkboard is always the same. So it is with you. You go through all kinds of experiences. But the realization is that you are not the experiences you’re going through. You are consciousness, that is your real nature. Think about that. My real nature to you. I am not a preacher, nor a philosopher. I am not a minister nor a lecturer. I can only share with you the way that I feel. When I use the word, “I-am,” I-am referring to all of you. I-am is another word for God, the first name of God. Another word for consciousness, omnipresence is I-am. I feel that I-am not the body nor the mind. I am absolute awareness. I am ultimate oneness. I-am infinite intelligence, nirvana, emptiness, I-am that I-am. I am sat-chit-ananda. I am parabrahman. I was never born and I can never die. I Am That I Am. The world is a product of my imagination. I see the world as consciousness. I see the reality, perfection, peace, love, happiness. This is the real Self and nothing else exists. (silence) Welcome to satsang. Satsang is where we sit around and rejoice in each other. And if there are any questions you wish to ask feel free to do so. If you wish to make a statement or say anything you like, this is the time to do it. For you don’t expect me to keep talking do you? Feel free to ask any question about the spiritual path, or about anything else. SL: Robert, I know that when we try to meditate or just clear our minds, you said that we could do it by asking the “I” question. Someone also mentioned before about clearing the mind by just trying to listen is that also another way? R: It makes no difference what method you use to clear your mind. The idea is to make your mind quiescent. To make your mind still and calm. When your mind is still and calm you solve the problem. All the methods, self-inquiry, breath control, yoga, everything is to quiet the mind. Use whatever method suits you. You can become the witness to your thoughts. You can watch your thoughts as they go by. When you become the witness and you do not interfere with the thought process, the thoughts automatically begin to weaken by themselves, until they dissipate entirely. You can ask yourself, “To whom comes these thoughts?” Whatever method you use is fine. But by all means do something to still the mind. And again when the mind is still and quiet, everything will take care of itself. The secret is to quiet the mind. Your real nature is self-realization. When the mind is stilled, you just return to your real nature, to what you always were. (SL: Earlier you said that, something was the fastest path to selfrealization? That versus what?) Versus anything. It has been proven that vichara is the fastest path to awaken. Vichara means self-inquiry. By inquiring within yourself and finding the source of your existence, your body-mind disappears. And you become your Self once again. But it’s not for everyone. Most people seem to have some kind of difficulty. Then you’ve got to do what you’ve got to do, and do whatever helps you. Breath control, mantras, japa, repetition of Gods name, everything brings you to the top. But by all means do something. This is why I share these various methods of meditation with you. If you get tired of one you can use another one. If you practice something will give eventually. Something will happen to the one who practices. SN: Robert, ultimately, is there a need for meditation? R: No, we meditate just to find out that we don’t have to. But if some of us do not meditate we go crazy. The world has a hold on us. Therefore meditation is good again to quiet the mind. But as I always say, “Does God have to meditate? On whom should God meditate on? Himself?” When you understand who you are, there will be no need for meditation. Until then do whatever you have to do. SN: Now when we say meditation, from the point of view from Jnana Marga, is what we’re referring to just abiding in our own awareness? R: Exactly, abiding in the Self, in the I. When you abide in the I, you automatically go to the ultimate truth. And you discover that you are consciousness and you become liberated. By all means abide in the I, always. (SN: So when we say meditation, we don’t mean something that will take us away from that?) Of course not. As I said before, “I – I” is meditation. When you repeat to yourself, “I – I” and do it with your breathing, you inhale and you say, “I” you exhale and you say, “I”, “I, I.” The reason it’s so powerful is because I is the first name of God. You’re therefore speaking of your Self. And as you continue with I-I ultimate reality will come to you. (SN: But not just plain repetition, on the level of the mind? But rather I as, I Am That I Am?) Plain repetition is better than nothing. It’s better than thinking of the world. Plain repetition will eventually lead you to realization. It will lead to the real I-I. Most people think about their bodies, their affairs and the world. When you start using I – I, you forget about the world for a while. And you will notice how better you feel when you’re finished. How more secure you feel, how happier you’ve become. And that proves to you it has some substance. The more you continue it, the greater will ensue the feeling of happiness within yourself. SK: Robert, what role does grace play in self-inquiry? R: Grace is always available, just like the sun is always available. But sometimes the clouds seem to block the sun and you no longer get its rays. But it’s always there. When the clouds dissipate, the sun shines once more. In the same way, the clouds of doubt, suspicion, apprehension, laziness keep the sun from shining or keep the grace from coming. But the grace is always there, you just have to recognize it, realize it’s there and take part in it. There’s no one to give grace. Grace is consciousness, it’s the same thing it’s always there, it never went away. SD: Then why is it said that the guru bestows grace in three different ways? This I read in the teachings of Maharshi. And it can be by look or thought or touch? Or what is this bestowing of grace and is that somehow different from the grace you’re talking about? R: It’s the same thing, this is for the benefit of ajnani. Of those who are in ignorance. It is said that the guru bestows grace by touch, by look, by feel and that does happen. For the person who is taking part in that kind of grace, actually feels it when it happens. But it’s always available for the mature student. It’s always there. You just have to awaken to it. But they’re both the same, there’s no difference. SL: How do you know when you’re awakened to it? R: Oh you’ll know. (laughter) You will feel a feeling of immortality, you will feel a peace, that you never dreamed existed. You will feel a bliss that’s unworldly. It cannot be described. But you will feel it yourself. (SL: Then what is grace?) Grace is love. Grace is realization. Grace is awakening. Grace is consciousness. SK: That’s all there is, isn’t it? (R: Yes, nothing else exists.) SM: But is it really necessary for Grace Robert? R: For some people, yes, for some people, no. It depends on your karma. You have an inner guru and if you trust the inner guru, the inner guru will lead you where you have to go. It may lead you to an outer guru or to a tree or to a river or to a book or to your Self. But you have to surrender to your inner guru for this to happen. When there is total surrender you will find you’re at the right place, doing the right thing. SL: What part does choice play in this? R: There is no choice. The only freedom you have is not reacting to conditions. The only freedom that exists is to turn within and transcend the whole bowl of wax. Transcend karma, the world and God and become totally free. So in a way you can say you have a choice. A choice whether you’re going to turn within and not react to circumstances or you’re going to react to circumstances and play the game all over again. That choice is yours. Everything else has been determined prior to your taking birth. Now that’s a tough statement to make to a Westerner who has a big ego, but I can assure it’s the truth. It is only when you’re not realized as it appears, that you get involved in the karma trip. SM: Is there any indication when one is coming near to realization, Robert? R: Sometimes there is and sometimes there’s not. Usually it’s like turning on the light. You’ve been in a room full of darkness for years and you turn on the light, the only indication is… (tape break as student continues) SL: If everyone got into that state in this lifetime it would not be so bad to come back and see what kind of a world that people who are realized can make. R: Everyone will never get into that state. It’s the way of this world. This planet is like a third grade planet, a planet of duality. The idea is to get off the planet and not come back. Let God take care of the world. Find your Self and become free and then see if you ask that question. We always get concerned about the world. But remember you are the world. The world comes from your mind, from your thoughts. You are the creator of the world by the very thoughts that you feel. When your thoughts go out, the world is created, when you pull your thoughts in, the world disappears. SD: So if theoretically we all became realized there would be no world to comeback to? R: Exactly, because the world never existed to begin with. The world is like an optical illusion, like a dream. It exists because you exist. But what happens to the world when you’re in deep sleep? It no longer exists, but you exist. Find out who you are. SL: So there really is no question is there? R: No there’s not. But as long as you feel that you are not the Self, then there will always be a question. For if you are the Self to whom will you ask a question? For your Self is omnipresence. (SL: It seems sad to leave this world like…) It seems sad to leave this world? (S: No, to leave this world in such an awful state without trying to make it a little better.) What have you got to do with the world. The world has always been here and will always be here. Set yourself free and then see if you’re concerned with the world. Now what I mean by that is this: The world does not exist as it appears. As long as you believe in the world you’re going to ask the question you just asked, because you think the world is an appearance of reality. But it does not exist. Let’s say for instance as an example: You have a dream and in that dream the world is a terrible mess. People are killing each other, there are earthquakes, cataclysms, man’s inhumanity to man, it’s just terrible. Then you wake up, what happened to the world? You forget about it, don’t you? You forget about your dream and you concentrate on this world. In the same way, when you wake up from reality, this world disappears in the same way the dream did. And only you exist as the Self or as consciousness. SK: And from there whatever happens, happens? R: There’s nothing to happen, “To whom shall it happen?” (SK: Yeah, or from a ajnani’s view, whatever happens, happens with that person. That’s how they affect other people.) Well to a ajnani all kinds of things are always happening. But to a Jnani nothing is happening. SK: But it’s interesting because I can view you and see how you’re affecting hundreds of people, benefiting hundreds of people and yet to you this world doesn’t exist per se. Yet from my viewpoint, as an ajnani, I can see what benefit you’re making by attaining realization. R: Well instead of seeing what I’m doing, why don’t you see what you’re doing? (SK: I’m not doing.) Find out who you are, never mind me. SK: Right, my own motivation, but I’m sort of hoping to shed some light on your question. SL: Maybe what you see of course, we really want to be taught something larger than what we are experiencing. We wouldn’t be here if we wanted to be more into the world and take a physical stand. But we’ve tried it and realized that it’s impossible to change the world. R: People have been trying to bring peace to this world from time immemorial. Remember our civilization is not the first one on this planet. This planet is billions of years old and we’ve had civilizations more advanced than we are today and they’ve all been wiped out, consequently don’t worry about the world. Find out who you are and let the world take care of itself. (SL: It seems like the world is like an obstacle path for the soul to be realized, if you don’t pass then you come back again or something like that.) That’s a nice way to put it. It seems like that but in reality there are no obstacle paths. “For whom is there an obstacle path?” Ask yourself. If you ask yourself that question and you follow the answer within yourself, you will realize there never was an obstacle path. That you’ve always been free. (SL: But in order for us to be free, it seems like we need to learn certain lessons. So we keep coming back to achieve that to be free.) It seems that way, but the only lesson you need to learn is that you are not the body-mind phenomena, that’s all. Everything else will take care of itself. (SL: That’s why we keep coming back, it’s too simple.) That’s right, we become attached to worldly things and the world pulls us back over and over again. It’s part of the dream which is called maya. It appears very strong for most people. That’s why most people can never get on a path like this because it’s too much for them. SU: It seems the natural world, the world that was here before people, it seems to me that’s a part of universal existence, just the trees, air and water. R: When you go to sleep, what happens to the trees and the air and the water? They no longer exist for you. They only exist when you wake up because they’re created by your mind. So ask yourself, “To whom is the trees and the water and air for?” And you realize it exists because of your ego. When your ego is disintegrated, everything else goes with it and you become free. See everything that exists in the world so-to-speak, must perish. The trees last for so long. The mountains last for so long. People last for so long. Everything has to perish. Everything that is born, must die. So find out for yourself, “Who is it that was born and who has to die?” Ask yourself. Inquire within yourself and see what happens. “For whom is their birth and death?” find out. Now when most of you leave here, you’re going to forget what I said in about ten minutes. And you’re going to say, “Now what should I do now. I think we’ll go to a restaurant and eat or I’ll go to a movie or worry about my future or I’ll get ready for work to- morrow?” It is only one in a thousand that thinks about these things all the time and does something about it. In the Bhagavad-Gita it says, “Out of a thousand, one searches for God, and out of a thousand that search, one finds him.” Find out where you stand as far as that’s concerned. Where do you fit in? Do you still have fears, frustrations, doubts, suspicions. Are you still worried about your job or worried about the world, or worried about your body or your life? This makes you earth bound. It keeps you from becoming liberated. To become liberated you’ve got to forget about your little self, about me, me, me, me all the time. And realize that you are the Self of the universe. Realize that everything, the whole universe is the Self and “I am that.” All is well. SU: Within the universe is there contained other stars and planets, is that part of the universe? (R: Yes.) That we’re part of? (R: Everything is part of the dream.) That’s part of the dream? R: The planets, the stars, the universe, everything, even God. It’s all part of your dream. When you wake up there’s no separation between you and reality. You become allpervading, ultimate oneness, pure consciousness and there’s no room for anything else because you are all there is as the Self. So the good news is, you can become a Jiva Mukta, liberated while in the body, in this life. But you’ve got to make it happen, it’s up to you. What I mean is, you’ve got to realize that you’re not the body or the mind. That’s making it happen. It always begins in the morning, as soon as you wake up and open your eyes. What is the first thing you think about? Try to catch yourself. When your mind starts to wonder and you start to think about your work or your dishes or your breakfast or whatever. As soon as you open your eyes realize, I exist, I exist. Not as a body or a mind, but I exist as consciousness. And then ask yourself, “Then for whom is the body-mind?” And the answer will be for me, I feel it. Hold on to the me, follow the me to its origin, to its source. And you will find that me never existed. That’s a beautiful way to start off the morning. But catch yourself. That’s how it begins. When your mind starts thinking catch yourself. Keep your mind from thinking, go back to the Self. Go back to self-inquiry. It will become easier and easier as you do it. Every week we have a reading from one of the great spiritual traditional books. And Nerada picked out something today that confirms what we’ve been talking about. So feel free to do it, Nerada. If you want to make some announcements first, go ahead. Nerada: “The man who is pure at heart is bound to fulfill himself in whatever way he is taught. The worldly man seeks all his life but is still bewildered. Detached from the senses you are free. Attached you are bound. When this is understood, you may live as you please. When this is understood, the man who is bright and busy and full of fine words, falls silent. He does nothing, he is still. No wonder those who wish to enjoy the world, shun this understanding. You are not the body, your body is not you. You are not the doer, you are not the enjoyer. You are pure awareness, the witness of all things. You are without expectation, free wherever you go. Be happy. Desire in a aversion are of the mind. The mind is never yours. You are free of its turmoil. You are awareness itself, never changing. Wherever you go be happy. Foresee, the Self in all beings and all beings are in the Self. Know you are free, free of I, free of mind, be happy. In you the world arises like waves in the sea. It is true, you are awareness itself. So free yourself from the fever of the world. Have faith my child, have faith. Do not be bewildered for you are beyond all things. The heart of all knowing. You are the Self, you are God. The body is confined by its natural properties. It comes, it lingers a while, it goes. But the Self neither comes nor goes. So why grieve for the body. If the body lasts till the end of time or vanished today what would you win or lose? You are pure awareness. You are the endless sea in whom all the worlds like waves naturally rise and fall. You have nothing to win, nothing to lose. Child you are pure awareness, nothing less. You and the world are one. So who are you to think you can hold onto it or let it go? How could you? You are the clear space of awareness. Pure and still. In whom there is no birth, no activity. No I. You are the one and the same. You cannot change or die. You are in whatever you seek. You alone. Just as bracelets and bangles and dancing anklets are all of the same gold. I am not this, I am He. Give up such distinctions. Know that everything is the Self. Rid yourself of all purpose and be happy. The world only arises from ignorance. You alone are real. There is no one not even God, separate from yourself. You are pure awareness. The world is an illusion nothing more. When you understand this fully, desire falls away. You find peace. For indeed there is nothing. In the ocean of being there is only one. There was and there will be only one. You are already fulfilled. How can you be bound or free. Wherever you go, be happy. Never upset your mind with yes and no. Be quiet, you are awareness itself. Live in happiness of your own awareness, which is happiness itself. What is the use of thinking. Once and for all give up meditation, hold nothing in your mind. You are the Self and you are free.” R: Go Henry. Henry: “When the virtuous people die, they move towards and live in heaven. The period of their sojourn in heaven may extend 80 to 240 years, it is popularly believed. They are, after the termination of their period of stay in heaven, again reborn on earth. After death, the virtuous people enjoy the pleasures in heaven as a reward for their merits, their virtuous deeds, their services and their sacrifices. When their merits are exhausted they return to earth. What Krishna says in the Bhagavad-Gita, they having enjoyed the spacious heaven world, their holiness withered, come back to this world of death. Following the virtues enjoying by the scriptures, desiring desires, they attain the transitory. But when a virtuous person comes back from heaven to the physical world, he takes birth in noble and virtuous families. This is the advantage of virtuous deeds. There is a double retribution or reward for man’s virtuous actions. He gets after his sojourn in heaven and return to earth, a good birth, with good surroundings, environments and opportunities, for his good actions and inner evolution.” SH: And so we have justified cast. (R: Yes, as far as that goes.) SK: Yeah but if cast is maintained, purely it’s really karmic. But nowadays the cast are so mingled and all that and it doesn’t hold true any more per se. R: That’s true. I wrote this in 1962. Reality has nothing to do with this. But this is the appearance. That’s how it looks. (SL: Oh but the caste system is still operating in India?) The caste system is all over India. (SL: If you’re born a poor Indian there’s nothing you can do about it.) If you’re born a poor american you’re homeless. SK: It doesn’t work with karma anymore. If the caste system’s intact like it was a long time back then it works with karma. R: Things have changed with the caste system. But karmically nothing ever changes. Go ahead. Henry: “Retrogression into animal births: Hindu scriptures say that a man may become a deva, or a beast, or a bird, or vegetable, or a stone. According to his merit or demerit. The Upanishads also corroborate this statement. The Karbala also agrees with this point. But Buddhism and some Western philosophies teach, there is no more retrogression for a man when once he takes human birth. There is no necessity for him to be born as an animal for the sake of demerit. He can be punished in a variety of ways in the human birth itself. When a man takes the form of the deva, all human samskaras, habits and tendencies will remain dormant. When a man takes the form of a dog, animal tendencies, habits and samskaras only will manifest. Human tendencies will remain suppressed. Some dogs get royal treatment in the palaces of kings and aristocratic people. They move in cars, eat good food and sleep in cushions. These are all degenerated human beings.” (laughter) R: Do you want to read Mary? (SM: Oh no, I just said I’d like to have a copy of this.) Have we got anymore copies? Anybody like to continue reading. (SM: I’ll read if you like Robert.) Okay good. Henry: At the bottom of the first column, first page. Start at the top of the second column. Mary: “Philosophy of death.” Occasionally in moments of calm contemplation, when we are thrown in the introspective mood. We sometimes wonder why God who is such a kind, compassionate and merciful Father could have included death in the scheme of life. The fact is, death comes as a necessity to egg us on in our evolution. Could you just imagine of a world where there would be no death? Over population even today poses as a difficult problem with all the deaths that are taking place in normal course. So imagine the extent of chaos and confusion that would result if there would be no death. Life would no longer be worth living. It would become a dull, drab, drudgery. Living in the same body we cannot grow beyond our bounds and ties of attachments. Complete separation is necessary to make us cautious of our attachments. During our brief sojourn in this world, we get so much attached to this terra firma, that when death knocks at our door, we feel too reluctant to be torn from our family surroundings and leave our material possessions, so painstakingly created. Therefore to completely snap the tie of attachment, death is the only solution. Death is not only a necessity for those who die. But it is also necessary for the evolution of those who are left behind. Death helps dissolve responsibilities on our unused shoulders. They accept the challenge of life and grow in experience. Father suddenly passes away, son takes up the new responsibility, bares it and enriches his treasure house of experience. When a child dies in his infancy, it may not be much of an assimilation of an experience for him except for certain karmic progation. But it means all the more for those who are left behind. We have to grow beyond attachment, ego and desire, to enjoy immunity from sufferings. Thus by helping us transcend our world attachments, death plays an indispensable role. In fact, individual soul could never grow without death. The evolutionary process is a long one. It requires various types of experiences of poverty and riches, of purity and pollution, of ignorance and education, of every country, clime, culture, race and religion. It requires experiences of both the sexes as well. In a single body all this is not possible to assimilate. Therefore by virtue of necessity we die and are born again under different circumstances for a different set of experiences. R: You’re a good reader Mary, would you like to read more? Mary: I’m done for fifteen years, (laughs) thank you Robert. Mary continues: Assimilation of experiences also not possible without death. In the post mortem states, the consciousness widens. The deeds of the past lifetime have a reaction. And we learn many new lessons. We often notice monkeys devouring edibles rapidly and then masticating them at leisure. Similarly we masticate our experiences in a higher and wider light, which shines after death. During our stay in the astral plane, the scenes of our past life flip past our eyes one after another. We begin to relive our lives with the difference that now we are identified with all the actors in every situation. We feel as we did when we tortured someone as also like the one who was tortured by us, we experience the pain of the latter. This process exhausts our karma to a degree and provides us a useable lesson. Karmic progation occurs when both the oppressor and also the oppressed have been able to excuse each other. Retaliation only augments karmic bondage. Death comes as a necessary drop scene between two births. It is a drop scene in as much as the activities go on behind the curtain. Thus after the assimilation of one set of experiences of one life, the individual soul is provided again with a new set of mental, emotional and pranic body, eminently suitable for his next reincarnation. In this manner from life to life, he travels assimilating his diverse experiences. In normal course the period that intervenes between two births is about 4 to 5 hundred years in occult parlance. Our one year is equal to one day of tetris…” (tape ends)