Spiritual Teachings With Shunyamurti

Student Question: I once heard a psychologist use the term catastrophic fantasy and I am not sure if that is a common term or not, but I was hoping you could explain this a bit more for me?

Student Question: Can you please explain a little bit about the difference between the Divine Love that we teach here in Sat Yoga and the love concept that we have in our society and in movies?

Student Question: Is it possible to be in a state of open heart without being vulnerable?

Excerpt: “In our modern world we have lost the joy of living with nature. We have become so alienated in these cities with their pollution and there artificiality and now even more so with the internet and the media we are several steps removed from the real of life... So an Ashram is a chance to get back to our real values…. Soon enough people will come to realize that food doesn't grow in the supermarkets and they will be surprised to find that there is nothing on the shelves… Only then we will remember that food comes from farms and from people getting their hands dirty in the soil and from milking cows and from living in harmony with nature and following the laws of nature… It is because we have arrogantly tried to deny those and control those - and even genetically modify the products of nature - that we are suffering the karmic blow-back of that arrogance…. So an ashram is a humble effort to come back to our roots…. You have to be very humble to get down on your knees and dig in the garden, and yet that is where the power comes from - and that is where life comes from… So by being willing to be humble and to live humble lives we are becoming empowered again…. Yoga is a science of consciousness, but it is also the art, and the art requires skill to silence the false consciousness of the ego mind in order to receive the energy and the power of the True Self… The Real Self is there, it is within you now it is always there, but we don’t have access to it because the ego mind clouds it over…. So an Ashram is a place to recover that peace - that deep peace which resolves all of the questions and confusions and depressions and anxieties that everyone is plagued with today…” Recorded on the evening of Saturday, September 10, 2011.”

Student Question: I have something that I would like you to clarify please. When you are being silent is it that there is no such thing as silent awareness? Is it rather that when you are in silence you experience awareness. Is that a good way to think about it? This came up because I was contemplating if there is a difference between being silent and being aware, i.e. silent awareness versus just silent nothing.

Student Question: I have noticed that after having spent days at a time in Maya, I become so disgusted with it and am totally exhausted by it, that I don’t even want to bring it up in a session as I am sick of thinking about it. I understand that this is the censor repressing the problem and it is similar to what I experienced in tonight’s class. I have been in Maya for a couple of days and I came to class thinking that I am going to speak to you about it, but then I come and hear an incredible teaching and have a very meaningful meditation and then that Maya kind of dissolves as you realize how ridiculous it was. Now I know that the problem has not been processed and I wonder if it is even real. What should I do?

Student Question: What is character and how is it formed?

Student Question: Is there a distinction between raising levels of consciousness and expanding awareness?

Student Question: I am in a situation where my parents want me to do a certain thing and they believe I have to do it. I don’t want to do it just because it is their expectation, although I do believe that it is something worth doing. If I choose not to do it in order to pursue something else, then I am left feeling bad about not doing both something worthwhile and what my parents wanted me to do. In this case the feeling of guilt is created by doing something that I think is more important. What should I do?

Student Question: What is stubbornness, and when it becomes too intense, does the ego then crack?

In the postulant preparation class we studied the Seven Virtual Matriculations. The last one was to realize that we are the oneness which dreams the cosmic dream and that that in itself is a dream, and needs be let go of. I was thinking that if all of these habit’s that we are developing are part of the same cosmic dream, then are these all ways of enjoying it?

Student Question: What is inverse narcissism and how does it work?

Excerpt: "In childhood a process begins that the psychologists call socialization… what it really consists of is the stapling together of the pure awareness that is the self with the belief enforced upon you that you are the body (the identification with the body)… that is controlled by the third element which is language… you are given a name and the name sutures consciousness to the body and from then on people can call you and tell you what to do and that is in societies interest… once you buy into that through your affirmation of that socialization process, you no longer have access to the pure awareness that is your eternal self…." Recorded on the evening of Thursday, September 08, 2011.

Student Question: I was wondering if everything outside of awareness like fears for example, are forms of intelligence or entities that are seeking expression through awareness, or even us as that awareness?

Student Question: How can I be loyal to myself while the ego’s agendas are still running? How can I make good decisions when it’s coming from an egoic state?

Student Question: Why is it so hard to keep ourselves from thinking when meditating, and what can we do to maintain these small gaps of silence? Is there a practice that can accelerate the process?

Student Question: What is worry?

Student Question: Is suffering always accompanied by pain, or can you suffer without pain? Do they necessarily go together?

Student Question: In the study group we have been talking about desires as part of a must be logic and I wanted to know if you could expand on that? I found myself using it recently and it feels like you say “no it’s not that it must be; you must want it”. Take for example the case of Liberation: you must want liberation, but it’s not that it must happen.

Excerpt: “Buddhists say that there are three types of desire. The first one, the lowest one, is the desire for pleasure. Then they say that more refined minds realize that what the desire for pleasure really was, is the desire to be, and that that’s the real underlying intention of all the various particular desires and objects of demand and lust… All of those objects that we think cause us pleasure actually do not, but they give us a sense that we are. They give us a sense that we can control something out there “therefore I am”… But of course the object is always a disappointment because you don’t really want that object. It’s not it, and it doesn’t give you the truth of your being, and therefore it is always something that turns into pain rather than pleasure. And so the ego eventually settles for the equation “I am suffering therefore I am”… But that doesn’t do it either because it [the ego] realizes that it is actually suffering because it is not, but it wants to get out of it suffering so the third kind of desire is the desire not to be… This creates a paradox of who is desiring not to be. The very fact of having the desire makes it seem that you are something, and therefore the desire necessarily fails in its effect… All of this is the logic of Buddhism that attempts to provide a way out of the trap of desire, which is ultimately the trap of an illusory sort of being trying to make itself feel real and failing again and again repetitively, but because this being is unreal to start with there is really no reason to find a way out of a trap which is also an illusion…" Recorded on the evening of Thursday, September 01, 2011.

Student Question: Recently someone told me that chilies are just pain, or rather that what’s in the chili is not flavor it’s just pain. I have done some study on this and I started tonight’s meditation in a lot of physical pain in one little area of body and then it went away. I know that obviously it’s not really a pain in the body and I even feel that it’s not a pain in the mind, but for whatever it’s not, I don’t understand what pain is?

Student Question: I was wondering if at this center, in regards to the running of it, if it is based upon some kind of divine ethics or some kind of divine ethical framework? What is the logic of the ethical framework for a spiritual community?

Student Question: You said, from what I understand, that cosmic consciousness was not the same as liberation. I used to think that it was the same, but then in the book we read by Walter Russell it said that only Jesus attained cosmic consciousness and oneness with God. It doesn’t seem like that really makes sense because then what about examples like Buddha and Sri Aurobindo?

Student Question: It seems like mathematics, image and language are interdependent. I was thinking of an image which could have a mathematical expression. You can’t talk about mathematics, however, if you don’t have language. I imagine it would be meaningless. I now feel, nevertheless, there is another question: is there a pure mathematics?

Student Question: In your article in Reality Sandwich you talked about how the cutting edge should be ridden in astonishment or something to that effect. I am wondering what the secret is to being in astonishment and having it not be a distraction or some kind of thing in itself that you get wrapped up in. What is the secret to being detached from astonishment and yet still be able to call it astonishment or amazement?

Student Question: Can you please talk about what I would call the "art of replacing yourself?" There is a book that you gave me a long time ago which talks about creating community and it spoke of this. It specifically mentioned the necessity of replacing oneself as one of the final steps of sustainability. Usually the ego wants to be special and hold on to its specialness and be the only one that can do something, which gives it some sort of power. So I was thinking about this and was hoping you could talk about this?

Student Question: Can you say something about the fall of patriarchy. I was under the impression that we are in a capitalist patriarchy right now, but in the study group Radha was speaking of the fall of it?

Student Question: If there is a particular situation or work that the ego dislikes, do you recommend doing that work for purification purposes?

Excerpt: “It’s the mind of the ego that creates all the problems with its chaotic thoughts based on false premises of misunderstanding of reality, producing anxiety and depression and all the other negative emotions and symptoms of suffering…All of that can be cut simply through silencing the mind, but to do that we have to realize that “I am not the mind”…. Silent awareness contains the mind; it contains everything in the universe which is actually mind. All there is, is mind…. But there is a difference between the ego’s little mind and the cosmic mind of God, and then the source of the cosmos - The ultimate noumenon…." Recorded on the evening of Thursday, August 25, 2011.

Student Question: What do you think about dementia? What is happening to that soul that suddenly doesn’t know who he or she is or where they are? What has happened to that spirit?

Student Question: I am finding that I have an inner conflict when writing emails. For example, my friend just got married and I wrote "I hope you had a nice wedding" or a friend of mine’s father is sick and I write "I hope he gets better," or "I hope you enjoy these photos," or whatever; it is it feels like I am giving them a command. What if they were not supposed to have a nice wedding? What if his father is not supposed to get better? I feel this conflict very strongly and I don’t know what to write or how to approach this?

Student Question: You mentioned that our consciousness constructs our reality and I have been thinking about that lately, but I have been wondering as to the extent of that. For example if I walk by and there are people being disrespectful and causing problems, is that like a reflection? Is every single thing just a projection?

Student Question: What is the relationship between mathematics and logic? Is it that one is a subset of the other? I tend to think that mathematics is more fundamental, or is it that they are just two sides of the same coin? It just seems like mathematics is logic at a very codified and more universal level.

Student Question: Does devotion require total surrendering, because I can see people who are devoted but not totally surrendered to God?

Excerpt: “When we are sitting in silence we are in Holy Communion with the Self within that is recognized as Being reflected as the entire manifest cosmos. And so there is nothing to do just be…. This is a dream and you are the dreamer and so everyone you meet in the dream is an aspect of your Self and so each of us here are reflections of different facets of our own Self…. And so by coming together as a community we discover all those aspects of the inner shadow that we can’t find because it’s repressed but our unconscious turns out to be the world itself and so it is not hidden at all…. And so when we come together in a spiritual community we are doing it in order to learn unconditional love of the Self. Not the individual self but the one Self…. The worship of God is not the worship of an other it is the worship of the Self…” Recorded on the evening of Thursday, August 18, 2011.

Student Question: I believe that the path to enlightenment must start with a personal individual choice. In today’s world it is very difficult to follow that path because even though you have the purpose and the intention if you’re in an environment that is unsupportive, like for example ones family who may ignore the path, it takes you a lot of effort and it is very difficult to get there. So the importance of being in a community like this is that you find like minded people that can reinforce that path. Even though I can understand that we all have geniuses in all of us the challenge is to really believe it. I think about how much other people’s thoughts can influence that, like I could fly but nobody believes I can so I can not. So the question is how much can other people’s beliefs affect us?

Student Question: Do thoughts really become things and how fast is the outcome? Does it depend on how intense the thought is?

Student Question: Does the way that we think of others even when not expressed, have any effect on them?

Student Question: We were talking about the lotus position and you mentioned that sitting in that position can activate sanskaras. I have experienced this kind of thing in meditation and realized that even though my whole body would be still, I would continue to move my eyes when they are closed. When I am able to keep my eyes still it seems to be a whole different thing. Could you speak about that because it seems like there is a connection between eyes moving and a chattering mind?

Student Question: I have these beautiful images coming up in meditation and although I feel peaceful, I wonder if these images are appearing as a distraction to pull me away from the stillness?

Student Question: In your teaching you mentioned that the ego had characteristics such as greed, hatred and selfishness embedded in it. When I think of the word embedded it makes me think of something that is set in stone; it’s not moving. So then I thought, “what’s the point of wasting any time trying to fix the ego?” Is it even possible to fix? I know it’s kind of a literal thing. It kind of makes sense to steer around it and go straight for the Self. So is the idea of fixing the ego even worth the time?

Student Question: What is pain and its purpose or meaning, and is pain always the same as suffering? What is the difference?

Student Question: Do you have any advice to help me mediate longer when my mind wanders off?

Excerpt: “The idea of Christian perfection was the perfection of one’s love for God….We don’t care whether you believe in duality or nonduality here, the point is let the love which ultimately is nonduality isn’t it, isn’t love union? Whether it achieves an actual ontological dissolution on the boundaries between the soul and God is irrelevant, but the experience that you will have if you allow yourself to sit with that intention of dissolving in love with God and it’s sincere, as the first commandment in the old testament says, ‘love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, all thy soul and all thy might’. If you will do that and with that consistency of attention that is focused within, not on an imaginary God on a cloud somewhere, but within as the Self, you will break through the duality and enter into a state of grace...” Recorded on the evening of Thursday, August 11, 2011.

Student Question: I had a question about projections. We talk about projections a lot. In thinking about the question I came to some conclusions but I wanted to run if by you just for validation. Let’s say for example we have a new employee at work and this guy drinks and cusses and swears and everything else, but it is not necessarily projecting if you can see this behavior happening. It seems that this is all feedback information for you, which you kind of have to accept. The other night in one of the lessons you said that people change everyday so you don’t have to store anything. The next day when you see him you treat him the same way without any projections and just respond in whatever is appropriate for that person on that day. So the conclusion was that fine they can act however they want to but you are just holding your space and not projecting and that is all you have to do?

Student Question: Do you think that once we leave this experience on earth that we will ever have any recollection of it or when our soul moves to other realms will this just be another lost layer in the unconscious that we won’t be able to remember?

Student Question: What do you think the significance is of the world being able to observe the death of societies in different places versus in times when there wasn’t technology and people in different countries and continents who were unaware on this physical level of what was happening in other places?

Student Question: What is the Unconscious?

Student Question: You mentioned that often a lot of people’s unconscious urges manifest themselves in close relationships and families and what not. It makes me think of a friend that I guess I would say is caught up in his egoic existence and around a lot of family issues and a lot of family pressure to do certain things and to be a certain way. Now just for the background this individual was raised with Buddhist beliefs so he has some leanings that way but still is totally immersed in the egoic existence right now. Now my question is, to what extent can a friend help someone like that out of the spiral and the problems he is in. Are there really ways to help someone who is not ready to make that move?

Student Question: What is the connection between the soul and awareness?