SPECIAL GUEST: Sri Nithya Shanti - 27th August 2018
Saar (Essence)
Ananta teaches that instead of laboring toward a future enlightenment, one should assume it is already accomplished. By shifting from the 'monkey' effort to 'kitten' surrender, practice becomes an expression of gratitude rather than a burden.
Instead of practicing to get enlightened, how about you decide that enlightenment is already done?
To know even one thing is to know too much; don't even assume you know if you're enlightened.
Stop trying to manipulate your experience. Let the mind be like the last breaths of a twitching fish.
intimate
Transcript
This transcript is auto-generated and may contain errors.
Tell me, seeker, say a few words. It is so rare that he is here. Come, my dear, will you share something with us? Are you asking a question? Do you want to complain? How do you perceive each other? One for him is infinity. It is what? Timeless? If they are unchanging and Nithya Shanti, educator... Mr. Gurgon, that's what Joshua... the content of each is perpetual. So, we're doing satsang in English, infinitive.
So, I was meeting a friend recently in Riyadh and he's been in a really very intensive study of Ashtavakra Gita and Tripura Rahasya and some of these very central books of the non-dual tradition. And he has a really good mental map of how all of this works. I mean, really, like he's been avoiding socializing; he's just been spending all his free time—in fact, I think he even left a job now—he just felt this. He was showing me very detailed maps of how everything maps out. And he was coming to me saying that, you know, that this has become his prison. And he was so aware that even this clear mental mapping has become a prison, has become a burden for him.
It's very similar to what you're talking about that you noticed, because I noted this in myself as well. Like, I learn about something new, I want to know all about this research, then you get all the books of this, and then we get fascinated by something else, I want to know all about this. But then, do we really, really get to know it all? Or are we just filling our concepts?
So, in that conversation, one of my favorite things to do is just like it was saying, you know, that's of Atma... Nithya Shanti. One of my favorite things we do is open a random book and we look at a random page. And I love doing this because we all know that there's no real randomness. So, whenever you open a random book at a random page, it really speaks to us where we are. And this is a great example, and I invite you to try this: open the random in the middle and online and it'll speak to you. Start getting a taste of how intelligence is universal. And if it puzzles you, then that's even... that's like, then it stays with you longer. But when you get it, like, it's over. But when it puzzles you, it's really alive in you. It's like it's burning. I would do that a lot.
So, what came up in that... the page that we opened is: instead of thinking, practicing, and getting enlightened, what if you reverse the order? How about you decide that enlightenment is already done? You could see if you can assume that awakening is in the future, then we can just relievedly assume that awakening is in the past. And why? What stops you? It's either way, it's an imagination, right? So, if we can assume some... like, if I come for satsang long enough, if I really sit here long enough, by the intensity of focus, something's going to happen, something's going to drop, something's going to shift—which is actually an imagination, how we imagine it will be.
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Because if truly we are... I love this quote in Rosewall which says, you know, even one thing is to know too much. To know even one thing is to know too much. So, we have a mental concept of what awakening is supposed to be like. So, the great Zen Master Dogen Zenji said, don't even assume that you know whether you're enlightened or not. You may not even know it. Powerful teaching. Do you think about it? You may not even know. How are you so sure that you're unenlightened? What evidence do you have? Your behaviors? Then who has ever agreed on what enlightened behavior is supposed to look like?
There have been many great Avadhutas who behaved like total strange, crazy people. Many of you here are from Ramanashram, you know that where you live, Sheshadri Swami was this kind of a deranged madman kind of person. He was famous for going into shops and smashing things in the shop. And whenever he did that, the shopkeeper would step outside smiling. And people would see, 'What? This man is breaking up your shop, why are you smiling?' Because they all know from experience whenever he does this, it's like his way of blessing the shop. Because you think about it, it is like people who believe in masters and energy and all the bells. What he's doing is he's noticing all the, you can call, stuck energy in the shop and he's smashing this and he's abusing and he's smashing and he walks away. And in fact, the shopkeeper was very happy because they know that whatever they will take to fix that, they will get. What would consider enlightened behavior? I mean, if you didn't know this was a Swami, you would say this is a criminal behind bars.
So, what evidence do even we have that we know? What evidence do you have that you know that you're not enlightened? Whatever the evidence you'd come up with is more mind stuff. So, for me, this is the powerful teaching, right? So, instead of putting enlightenment—we don't even know what that is anyway—into the future, just get it done with, put it in the past. And now from that basic foundation that enlightenment is already done with, now he practices. And he still practices. It's very interesting. We still practice. You still keep coming back to whatever your practice is. The practice becomes a beautiful offering, right?
For example, I tell you, I was... when I was a monk, then I came to a point in my practice where I lost all my steam. Like, I had a lot of gas to... let me to invite him to leave corporate life and to become a monk. It takes a certain amount of gas to go get something, to achieve, right? Well, suppose achieved was, 'Gotta get it done.' So, I went to Thailand and I lived as a forest monk. I mean, once people in Thailand... and then that monastery was not good enough for me. If you don't practice enough, way too busy. Go to a real meditation monastery. So, I worked my way to Sri Lanka. This is the monastery where truly the teacher says, 'Go for it. Nothing has to be done. Don't worry about any duties, just meditate.' Mind you, even the kind of freedom he gave was amazing. I said, 'This is what I've come to, the perfect place. I have all the time. I can skip meals if I want to. I can do whatever I want. Just practice.' Much of the enlightenment.
When I went there to this dream monastery, within three months I lost all my steam. I couldn't do it. I was sitting to meditate, I couldn't meditate. I couldn't do it anymore. Completely out of steam. And at this point, like, I was just so helpless. I was like, you know, my... in my mind it said, 'If I just have that right condition,' because we're all going to calculate the right condition, right? The right place, the right condition. 'If I'm in the right place, all the conditions are right, then it will happen.' For that, what this mental model of what it takes to be enlightened... like the mental model in Buddhism is you purify your basic words and actions so that you are not hurting and harming others. That leads to a relatively calm mind, and then you practice concentration. So, things like basic one would be of the breath, breathing in, breathing out. Mind wanders, bring it back. With a concentrated mind, reality appears more clearly than to a very fluctuating mind. That's the mental model, right? So, your mind is clearer and then you can perceive the characteristics of reality.
And where the Buddha talks of... there are three characteristics. One is everything changes; that which arises passes away. It's unsatisfactory; no matter what, you can't hold on to it, it won't definitely satisfy you for long. So, it's unsatisfactory, it's called Dukkha. And the third one is it is essenceless; it is without an abiding central entity which we call self. So, I had my, again, I had my mental map that this is what it takes, what works. And I come to this monastery and I'm practicing and I'm completely out of steam and I really felt helpless. I said, 'What is it? Is something wrong with me?' Because I can't find anything wrong with the place anymore. And until now, it was this person or this situation. I mean, if you want to meditate all day, you meditate all day. If you want to walk all day, you walk all day. No one's telling me anything here. If that's a conducive place, I can't even find fault with anybody anymore.
So, at this point, life caught me in a corner where I just had to surrender everything. So, then I found in the library a book on a very unique form of Buddhism called Pure Land Buddhism. And Pure Land Buddhism is a Bhakti form of Buddhism. You know, normally when we think of the Buddha's teaching, it's a very positive approach and he's known to say that, you know, 'I can just point the way, you have to walk.' And normally, 'I can't walk for you, you have to walk.' Like, 'I point the way, you have to walk.' But in Pure Land Buddhism, it says Buddhahood is actually infinitely compassionate. And if you think of them, then there's one particular... Amitabha Buddha, he will liberate us. Now, in that place where nothing was working, I said, 'Okay.' So, I began... I began chanting. I felt guilty about it because this is Mahayana Buddhism. I was in the Theravada monastery and this is Mahayana teaching, the teaching which is supposed to be later Buddhism. But until then, I said, 'Oh, that all came up to the world of lights because people think the addition that people don't mean.' So, part of me is feeling guilty about doing it and a part of me is feeling relieved, like, 'Oh, somebody's taking care. Yeah, I can't do it anymore.'
And yet I began to see all of this relaxation happen because I think we have this wisdom path and we have this... people bother, 'I'm gonna do it.' What Krishna Paramatma said is like the monkey holding on—the baby monkey holding on to his mother's back. It has to hold on really tight because the mother monkey is jumping from place to place. And the other version is the kitten who just says 'meow' and the mother comes and picks it up from the nape of the neck and takes it. So, I began to shift from this monkey mind that 'I'm gonna do this' to realizing 'I can't do this.' And I came to the kitten mindset. But I found even within Pure Land, there are different subtleties. So, one says as long as you chant and chant and chant, you will be liberated. Which is still a sense that 'I've got to chant.' And the idea is at the end of your life, at the moment of death, if you remember Amitabha Buddha, then you're done. Yes, you're taken to the Pure Land and that's... that's like a manifest version of enlightenment. Basically, you are in an enlightened realm. But then, will you be able to do it at the time of your death?
So, I found another version of it called True Pure Land. The True Pure Land teaching says that the moment you hear Amitabha Buddha's name and there is connection—they call it Shinjin—it is done. And now for the rest of your life, you practice, but not practice to please him or to get into correspondence with him. You practice out of gratitude. So, now we're practicing automatically. We are still practicing, but no more to attain anything. You're practicing out of being so thankful. What a beautiful shift. This is exactly what you're talking about, right? So, instead of putting enlightenment into the future, put enlightenment into the past. It's done. And in the Zen tradition, we have this concept of the Buddha mind. We have this true nature, you would say, right? So, in Pure Land Buddhism, there is a beautiful, beautiful concept. It's called Bonbu. It's a body, body, body mind and Bonbu... Bonbu means a foolish person. So, I love to be foolish. So, don't try to... we have a mental concept of what a saint is supposed to be like or an enlightened being is supposed to be like, how aware they are, how everything they do is so clean and pure. And Bonbu is: no, accept how you're feeling, accept how vulnerable you are, accept how broken you are, accept it. So, instead of fixing this mess, this is it. This is that. I am this total broken mess. This is who I am. And that full acceptance of this, 'I can't do anything about it, this is the mess that I am,' in that moment, grace arises. So, like the kitten, when you completely surrender and say, 'I can't do this anymore,' that's what is expected. In that place, there will be grace. And so, what is it like to be done with it? Just like you have no evidence that you aren't already enlightened, you have no evidence... do you know what enlightenment is? When we ask these questions, the more confusing it gets.
Who I am and that full acceptance of this—I can't do anything about it. This is the mess that I am. In that moment, grace arises. So, like the kitten, when you completely surrender and say 'I can't do this anymore,' that's who would have expected in that place there will be grace. And so, what is it like to be done with it? Just like you have no evidence that you aren't already enlightened. You have no evidence. Do you know what enlightenment is? The more we ask these questions, the more confusing it gets. So, let's put it in the past and be done. And now, whatever we do, we do it because now, for the first time, we can call this... until now, we still do it, but now, 'Am I in the right direction? Is it, you know, help me, correct me.' Now it's gold dust, these practices.
So, in the Zen tradition, we also follow similar words. They call one of the words for meditation 'Shikantaza.' Shikantaza means 'just sitting.' So you ask the teacher, 'Okay, after I sit, what should I do?' 'You just sit.' 'What am I supposed to watch? The breath? Am I supposed to visualize something?' 'Just sit.' 'Okay, after I sit, what will happen?' 'You just sit.' And the most they'll say is, 'Sit in a dignified way.' Just dignified. So, when sitting, just sit. Even walking as well, and eating, just eat. So it's gold, this. Somebody in the West is really good at breaking things down, because the Zen master says 'just sit' and they are all confused. So, one person on YouTube put a nice video explaining what exactly happens, what does it mean. And he said—well, I love those reviews—he said, 'When you sit there, make a decision that you will not try to control your experience.' As simple as that.
So, if thoughts are coming, let thoughts come. Feelings are coming, let them come. Clarity is coming, let clarity come. Confusion is coming, let confusion come. Sleepiness is coming, let sleepiness come. Let everything come. This whole idea of 'What is a good meditation? What was a bad meditation? What was a good satsang? What was a bad satsang?' 'Oh, my mind was on track. Last few weeks have been very good.' Why? Because you've been getting certain feelings, and you imagine what those feelings are. 'Oh, this is taking me closer.' Why? This is the scent of my true nature. It's not the concept. How do you know?
So, Shikantaza, just sitting, or the Jodo Shinshu of the Pure Land tradition: it's done. Right? Put enlightenment first and then track. Before, now, whatever thoughts and actions, it'll come out of that. Just see what happens when one reverses. And it's not such a big mental thing to reverse it. It is literally: it is done. Done deal. And of course, all your old patterns say, 'No, it's not. Look at me, I'm a mess.' But what are you expecting? That you are going to clean this mess up? Usually, we think so. Isn't that more spiritual materialism? 'Look how shiny I've become.' Like one Zen monk looks at the other and says, 'Are you not thinking what I am?' Take a moment to tune in and just say, 'What are you doing to fit in there?' Embracing our bamboo nature, embracing our foolish nature. We come to learn fast; we come to admit this. Just be with yourself now.
And every one of us here, consider a fish that's been taken out of the ocean. Just taken out of the ocean. Watch it twitching, thirsting, breathing. That fish is out of its environment. And consider that the mind is that fish. You are already that. Each one of you here, it's no mistake that you're here this evening. The tossing and turning of the mind is just the last few breaths of this fish. Just be patient, relax, and even have compassion towards it. And let the mind do its thing. Let everything do its own thing for once in your life. Stop trying to manipulate your experience. Stop and direct your experience.
I'm going to give you my favorite mantra these days. I'm going to give you a partial mantra, so you're going to fill in the blanks for yourself. It goes like this: 'I'm not fooled, this is...' and then you fill in the blanks with your own favorite word. So, for example: 'I am not fooled, this is God.' 'I'm not fooled, this is a mystery.' 'I'm not fooled, this is magic.' 'I'm not fooled, this is beautiful.' 'I'm not fooled, this is temporary.' You can insert any word or concept, whatever is for you as close as possible to stepping out of the matrix. Whatever word or concept gets you as close as possible, just use that. And so, go ahead everyone, just choose one way to fill in the blanks with us: 'I am not fooled, this is...' and find your own one.
And now apply this mantra to any experience—outer sound, sight, event, inner memory, thought, experience, anything at all. Even doubts that arise, even questions that arise, anything. 'I'm not fooled, this is...' and fill in the blanks. And each time, pause for a moment. Really experience the change in perception. And of course, at some point, the mantra is not required anymore. It's required until it's not required. Let everything come to rest. Let everything just be the way it is. Let's just assume that every atom in the entire universe is in the right place, including the one that seems to be in the wrong place is also in the right place. Very nice. Now take a nice deep breath. Good fun.
And we have some examples, though? Have you filled in the blanks? What is yours?
I am not fooled, this is Allah Almighty. This is the truth. I'm not fooled, this is dynamite. My truth. It was like, it is my truth. I'm not fooled, this is my truth. Very distant. This is God. This is us, you and me. And this is the items which are not in order. I'm using... and there they are going to feel what way is perfect. This is we duplicate cable. The cable. Lovely. Yeah, yeah. You could see the magnetism on, right? The fun one will be: I'm not fooled, thank you.
Becoming... maybe a beautiful time together. We'll come every time you come. I'll stay a little more now. I have different deep affinities with Ramana Maharshi and Papaji. I haven't met Mooji, but definitely everything that I... I love one of your videos on YouTube. They say the best mantra is 'Thank you.' Keep saying 'Thank you' again and again. But that's what washes everything or something. Thank you. We'll have less... like you were saying, right? I'm not good at... 'Thank you, thank you, thank you.' This is given life. Byron Katie said, 'Life is not happening to me, it's happening for me.' Well, once you've made that deep intention that 'I really want to wake up,' life listens to that. Then everything is happening precisely. It's precisely sent to chip off some things on the block.
So now, don't say the word 'don't do this.' Now, door and welcome. 'Bring it on!' Right? This is the attitude of a spiritual warrior. Because whatever has to come from it, whatever the mind has to do... the dying fish, for example. The dying gives me the depth to refer to you. That's the answer to your question about what does it mean to put enlightenment in the past. Like, it's a done deal. Now, whatever is going to happen... as long as this is this last little remnant, let it work itself out. My father, I had built a model plane that had this, you know, the propeller had to be rotated. It has a rubber band, and as you rotate, rotate, rotate, it will gather some potential energy. You throw it, a little spin, and it will fly. But how long will it fly? It will fly for a few meters and it will stop. So, for centuries, for lifetimes, who knows, we've been rotating this. So now that you're letting it go, as convulsed... the vasanas are coming out very fast. I take that as evidence that now this is coming to an end. Take that reverence for it, not the evidence of the opposite, 'Oh, I'm getting messed up.' No, this is coming to the end. We first wake up to how unaware we are. Actually, that's the process. To be awake to our unawareness is not a weakness, right? The fact that you hear anything, 'Oh my goodness, how am I so messed up?' This is no weakness. So, it's the death throes of the fish. Thank you so much for being in satsang today. Satguru Sri Mooji Baba ki Jai. Pranam to everyone online as well. So many happy beings. What if we just show that? Hare Krishna. Each other, out we do. The longer, the more teeth you have.