Forget about the past. Forget about people who have hurt you before.

-Robert Adams, from Transcript 248: The Silence Of The Heart, March 21, 1993 ☀️

Forget about the past. Forget about people who have hurt you before. Drop everything, let it go. Let go of everything, everything. Hold on to nothing. Stand naked in the world without a foundation, with nothing to take refuge in. Then you'll be cleansed completely, then you'll become the ascended Master. But when you take refuge in this and you take refuge in that, this keeps you from your real Self.

As an example: In buddhism you learn to take refuge in the Buddha, take refuge in the sangha and so forth. Yet when you do this you become an idiot, for you're holding on to something. You become dull, insensitive. Hold on to nothing. Yet most of us have fear. We're afraid to do this because we won't know what will happen to us. We feel secure when we take refuge in something. The security is your downfall. As long as you feel secure you will never grow. It's like having money in the bank. You're afraid to spend it. You're afraid to be without an account. For you think this is your nest egg, you hoard it. You always look at the balance to see what you have. This keeps you from advancing spiritually.

Remember the Israelites of old. When they were in the desert for forty years they were told not to save any manna. So they would throw away the extra manna they had, not to save anything, and new manna was provided for them daily. This is the meaning. As long as you have something to hold onto, something to save you from something, you will never become free and realized. Most of us are afraid of having nothing. Yet nothing is absolute reality. Nothing is your savior. Nothing is reality. Something on the other hand, is your enemy. Something will always hold you back.

I'm not saying you have to give your possessions away; I'm saying possess all you will but don't be possessed by your possessions. Do not believe that what you earn will be your security, it never works out this way. Your security is your Self, the faith that you have, the power that you have, the love that you have, this is your security, nothing else. Yet most of us never live this way for we have been brought up to believe that we have to have something. For if we feel that we have nothing, we haven't made it in this world and we become depressed, we compare ourselves with others.

Yet every great spiritual Master has lived from day to day, never caring at all what is going to happen the next day. But you say, "How can we do such a thing in the West?" You say, "This is for monks, nuns. For people who have given up this world." On the contrary, you'll be happier than you have ever been in your life when you stop worrying about your possessions, what you should have, what you shouldn't have, for you are not your possessions nor are you your body. It is only the mind that thinks these things.

Why not surrender right now to the power which knows the way. Make up your mind this night that you're going to give up everything, mentally. You're going to let go of the past, the future, the present, you're doing this right now this minute. You're letting go of all your fears, all of your frustrations, all of your thinking. You are no longer concerned what's going to happen to you tomorrow, where you will be, where you won't be. You're not worried about a job, income, people places and things, you have found freedom, absolute freedom.

This freedom will take care of you, will guide you, listen to it closely it'll tell you what to do at every turn. This freedom is really you.

--Robert Adams, from Transcript 248: The Silence Of The Heart, March 21, 1993

Listen to Your Heart

Robert Adams
Excerpt from: Silence of the Heart
“Listen to Your Heart”

We don't have to wait until the body 'dies' for this to happen. It can happen to us now.You can become totally Free and Liberated Now, if you will. All you have to do, is to let go. You let go of everything that has been keeping you in bondage mentally.

Listen to your heart. Observe, observe yourself. Become cognizant of your feelings, your emotions. Is this really you? Are you really your emotions? Are you really your feelings that you observe? Where do these feelings come from? Ask yourself, "Who am I? Where do my feelings come from Where do my thoughts come from? Where does my life come from? Who is playing the game? Who is being alive? Who is 'growing up', becoming 'old', and 'dying'? Who is playing this game? Who is the 'I' that is playing this game? Who am I?

Something And Nothing

Many of you come here because you think I know something, and you want a piece of the something that I know.

 You believe the something will make you become self-realized, perhaps. 

But in truth I know nothing. 

Then you come to me because you want a piece of the nothing.

 And you think if you know nothing you'll become self-realized. 

But in truth you have to know something to know nothing. 

It is the something that we'll talk about tonight. 

What do you have to be to become nothing?

 What do you have to know to be nothing? 

To be nothing is a misnomer, for you make the nothing into something. 

If you're trying to be nothing, then you're trying to be something, aren't you? 

Because the nothing is something, that you're trying to become. 

Consequently, you should never strive to be nothing and you should never strive to be something, for they're both erroneous concepts. 

None of them really exist.

 The question therefore is, "If something doesn't exist, and nothing doesn't exist, well what is?" 

And the answer is silence.

 Absolute silence. 

For the human mind and the human thinking, the human thoughts, can never comprehend what silence is. 

You try to put it into words, and you spoil it. 

There are no words that can interpret the silence, for when you go into the true silence, you go beyond nothing and something. Yet everyone has experienced this true silence who has gone beyond nothing and something, and appeared to have to first become something and nothing, in order to be silent.

.

There's something you have to know:

Number 1:

Nothing is as it appears. 

You have to feel this deep in your heart. 

Nothing in this whole universe is as it appears.

 So do not be fooled by appearances. 

You do not allow the appearance to get to you, to make you feel this way or that way, no matter what the appearance may be. 

You are to look at the appearance as you would look at a mirage. 

And this is scientific, for the appearance will change sooner or later anyway. 

Therefore when you feel something from an experience, it is subject to change. 

You'll not be the same again. 

This is why the average person keeps going up and down like a yo-yo. 

They respond to a condition, then the condition changes and they respond in a different way to the same condition, and this changes and you respond again to the condition. 

They keep responding again and again to what they see as a condition.

Number 2:

Do not say that the world is maya, for if you say the world is maya, that's a concept you have. And this is a non-duality concept, but nevertheless it's a concept, for you're holding on to the fact that the world is maya. In reality maya does not exist. There is no maya. Therefore everything that appears to come from maya, must also not exist. Do you follow this? Whatever you think does not exist, is a concept. It becomes a thing, something to hold on to. You go around saying, "Everything is maya, everything is maya, the universe does not exist." But then maya exists to you and this is the big mistake you're making, for you think maya exists. What is maya? An illusion. To whom comes the illusion? To the one who believes maya as a concept, maya as a thing, a belief. In other words, everything that you believe up to this point is erroneous, and it should be dropped. The same is true with the words of absolute reality, pure awareness, Brahman, sat-chit-ananda.

These things become a safe haven for you, and they keep you back from your full realization, for you are holding on to these beliefs that there is absolute reality, there is sat-chit-ananda, there is nirvana. Where would these things come from except from your own mind? It is you who gave these things names. We have given names to something we do not understand. We call it reality. What is reality? Something that never changes. And the something that never changes, becomes a concept and you hold on to that. Is it any wonder such few people are self-realized? Is it any wonder that certain people only are liberated, very few people liberated? For we have simply exchanged terms. We say the world does not exist but maya exists. We say everything comes from consciousness, everything comes from the absolute reality. We merely change words, change terms.

There is no absolute reality. There is no sat-chit-ananda. There is no Brahman. It is we who made these terms up, and we feel safe and secure by holding on to them. At one time we used to say, "God is with me." Now we say, "Consciousness is with me," or, "I am the absolute reality." We've just changed the names. That's all we've done.

Number 3:

You are not even the silence, for as long as you can express the word silence, that's not it. 

You have to get to the place where you have absolutely nothing to hold on to, nothing to lean against. 

Even when Buddha said to take refuge in the Buddha, take refuge in the sangha, take refuge in the eight fold path, this again is a mistake. 

I'm not saying the Buddha made a mistake. 

What I'm saying is the reason he said this, is because he was speaking to ignorant people who had to hold on to something. 

But the Buddha realized there's nothing to hold on to. 

There never was anything to hold on to. 

Even when you're told you're total freedom, the word freedom becomes a concept for you. 

As long as you can lean in to it, as long as you can hold on to it, and you feel good in it, it's a mistake.

 Again, this is the reason so few people are self-realized. 

You're holding on to something. 

You're attached to something. 

Whether it's a teaching, or a person, or a satsang, or a sangha, you can never become free while you're attached to something.

-- Robert Adam, T187: Something And Nothing

Whatever you do is preordained.

Robert Adams
Excerpt from: Satsang
“Illusion”

Now you cannot intellectually say, "I do not believe I am the body, therefore the world doesn't exist for me, I can do anything I like." 

This will never work. 
As long as you feel you are alive as a human being then no matter how intellectual you will say to yourself, "This world does not exist," it will exist. 
Do not make that mistake.

 Believing that the world does not exist.
 For some people tell me if the world does not exist they can do anything they like. I can rob a bank. I can kill people. It doesn't matter nothing exists. 

Of course the answer is, if nothing exists you wouldn't be talking like this.

 If you really were aware that nothing exists, the world does not exist, you would be silent. 
There would be absolutely nothing for you to say because you do not exist either.

Therefore who is asking this question?
 As far as preordination is concerned this is a truth for the ajnani. 

For a human being who is steeped in ignorance of the world. 

And you can tell yourself if you are or you're not by the way the world affects you. 

If you become depressed, discouraged, angry, upset. 
You think there is something wrong somewhere. 

You look at the world situation, you worry, you're upset over it. This means that you believe you are the body and you are going through experiences on this earth. Therefore this world does exist for you. It is very real never think it's not. 

And everything in your life is preordained, predestined. 
Therefore do not believe that you can do anything you like. 
Whatever you do is preordained.

Do not concern yourself whether you're going to do anything wrong or right. 

You are just one of the many actors on the stage of life.

 Everybody has come here to play a role, so-to-speak. 

Some people have to be the good guys, some people have to be the bad guys. 

This is the reason we never judge anybody. 

This is the reason you should never call anybody evil or bad. 

It is really a role that they're playing. 

And a person on the path of Jnana does not judge anybody or anything. 

They leave everything alone. 
They observe it, they watch it. 

Come to no conclusions. 
Good and bad is out of their vocabulary. 
Right and wrong has been transcended. 
This happens before you become fully enlightened. 

There is absolutely nothing wrong in this whole universe least of all yourself. 
You no longer worry about yourself. 
For even though you still feel you are a piece of the body you understand that there is a grand bliss, a joy, an absolute reality that you can call God that takes care of you completely and totally when you surrender completely and totally to the source.

So you see you do not have to look after your life. 
You do not have to watch what you eat or watch where you go or watch what you do. 

For whatever you eat, wherever you go, whatever you do is the right thing for you at the moment. 
It is where you're supposed to be. 
You are where you're supposed to reap. 
Everything is in its right place. 
If you learn to have faith like this you will grow. 

But if you keep believing I am the doer and I have to make things happen, otherwise nothing will happen and I will fall apart, then you will be making things happen all of your life. 

There will always be something to make happen. It will never end. 

Yet this is also your role that you have to play here on this earth. 
This is the destiny that's yours. 
To do what you're doing right now.

The best thing you can do in the morning when you wake up is to ask yourself, " Who am I?

The worst thing you can do in the morning is turn on the TV and read the newspaper. That is the worst thing you can do.

The best thing you can do in the morning when you wake up is to ask yourself, " Who am I? " and "What am I doing here?"

The worst thing you can do at night before you go to sleep is to think about your job or your family or your finances or your sicknesses or your...all the other things that have been going on in your life.

The best thing you can do before you go to sleep or when you're sleeping, going to sleep is to inquire, "To whom do these activities come? 

To whom has the days activities come? 

Who has experienced these days activities".

So you see it's up to you to do the right thing. 

Wherever you go in this world you still have to take yourself and no-one can transcend your mind but you. 

No-one can cause self-realization but you. 

No-one can awaken you but you. 

You are the one. 

The world really has nothing to offer you. 

Your dreams have nothing to offer you. 

Look to yourself. 

Look to eternity within yourself.

 Learn to love yourself. 

When you're loving your self you're loving the universe for the Self is the whole universe.

Robert Adams

Such is the power of true understanding.

Ramana Maharshi says,

‘The ‘I’ removes the ‘I’ yet remains the ‘I’.’
It means the I-consciousness-presence
removes the I-person belief and thereafter remains
the unmixed and impersonal I-consciousness.

This is the paradox of Self-realisation. 

This ‘I’ that removes the I-person
does not even have to touch the I-ego.

When a lion enters a room, he doesn't ask those there
to pack their things and leave.

There is only emptiness remaining.
Such is the power of true understanding.

~ Mooji

The fastest and best way to awaken

The fastest and best way to awaken is not self-inquiry, not observation, or being the witness. Those things are for the disciples or for seekers but for the devotee the fastest and best way is the silence. Keeping the mind quiet, keeping the mind peaceful. Not fighting the mind. When you fight the mind it's like beating a cow with a stick to take the cow where you want him to go. 

Looking at the mind in quietness without troubling to change any thought is like coaxing the cow with some grass, so the cow will follow you wherever you want him to go. When you learn to sit in the silence, in the quietness, everything will happen by itself, everything will take care of itself, everything will happen by itself. 

There are those of you disciples or seekers who say, "Robert, I've tried this for years. I cannot sit in the silence. For as soon as I sit in the silence the thoughts come, feelings come, I've got to move, I got to get up, I've practiced self-inquiry — it doesn't work. I've tried being the witness and it doesn't work." 

The idea is not to care or be concerned about your thoughts whatsoever. It does not matter what type of thoughts come into your mind. It makes no difference what thoughts come into your mind.

 Do not try to observe them or be the witness to them or try to change them or even to ask, "To whom do they come?" 

Merely sit with a smile on your face and allow what to happen to happen.

 Allow what is going to happen to take place.

 Without your interference. 

Just to be still.

 So that is the fastest and best way to awaken in this lifetime. 

— Robert Adams, from Three Commonly Asked Questions , 23rd January, 1992 

Silence

I participated in a Sound workshop with James'd'Angelo this weekend.
We did chants and exercises and at the end of each there was a pause..in the pause I noticed exquisite Silence.

Everything in the world is a result of something inside of you.

Most people in the west strive to be something outside of themselves.
The outside world affects them.
They believe what they see.
The outside world includes their body and their thoughts.
Naturally they believe that they are a body and a thought.
They also believe what the world shows them is correct.
This is not true. 

Everything in the world is a result of something inside of you.
The whole universe is a manifestation of your thoughts.

No thing exists without your permission. 

I know this sounds strange to some of you, but it's the truth.
The things that you hate and the things that you love in this world
are your own projections, your own Self. 

When a being begins to realize that they are the world,
they are the universe, they then become very careful
of what they think about, of how they perceive things.

~Robert Adams - Transcript 86 - On the Path
(Getting Rid Of Negative Habits) -11th August, 1991

How Jnani help others

Once you are inwardly integrated, outer knowledge comes to you spontaneously. 
At every moment of your life you know what you need to know.
 In the ocean of the universal mind all knowledge is contained; it is yours on demand. 

Most of it you may never need to know -- but it is yours all the same.
As with knowledge, so it is with power.

Whatever you feel needs be done happens unfailingly. 

No doubt, God attends to this business of managing the universe; but He is glad to have some help.
 When the helper is selfless and intelligent, all the powers of the universe are for him to command.

Q: Even the blind powers of nature?
M: There are no blind powers.
 Consciousness is power. 
Just be aware of what needs be done and it will be done. 
Only keep alert -- and quiet. 

Once you reach your destination and Know your real nature, your existence becomes a blessing to all. 
You may not know, nor will the world know, yet the help radiates. 

There are people in the world who do more good than all the statesmen and philanthropists put together.

 They radiate light and peace with no intention or knowledge. 
When others tell them about the miracles they worked, they also are wonder struck. 
Yet, taking nothing as their own, they are neither proud, nor do they crave for reputation.
They are just unable to desire anything for themselves, not even the joy of helping others knowing that God is good they are at peace.
Ch. 76, I Am That by Shree Nisargadatta Maharaj

That Divine Moment Is Now!

Some of you are still afraid that if you become liberated,
you will fall out of love with someone
or you will not care about your job
or you will believe that you don't care about anything,
you will become cynical, this is untrue. 

You become more of a loving person,
compassionate, filled with joy. 

You give your love to your mate in a free way.
Expecting nothing in return. 

Your love increases a thousand times.
Because you're free.
You can love someone without any need,
unconditioned and you don't have to think about it.

Therefore I concluded talking to this gentleman on the phone, turn within.
Your past is dead we both know this, you've become
a new person as you say but the I still lives in you. 

If the I is still alive in you your samskaras are still active.
You may be inclined to rob a bank again. 

You have no idea what's going to happen tomorrow
when you allow the personal I to exist. 

Therefore begin to understand that this I, this ego,
this mind is only a thought, an idea. It has no reality.

You must inquire within yourself,
"To whom does the mind come?
To whom does the I come?
To whom does the ego come?" 

When thoughts about your past come up.
When you think about your ten years in prison.
When you think about the evil acts you've committed.
Immediately do anything you can to halt those thoughts. 

You can ask, "To whom do these thoughts come?"
Or you can just remain perfectly silent and become
the witness to the thoughts, not reacting to them. 

Not trying to stop them at all.
If you do not react to your thoughts
they will burn themselves out.
They only become more powerful when you react to them.

As an example if you're trying to fight an illness,
if you react to your illness by imagining
and believing in your mind that it doesn't exist,
that you're having a terrible time.
Why did this happen to me?
I can't take it any longer. 

This is what's keeping you back not the illness.
But as your illness continues upon you,
if you would simply observe it without thinking,
become the witness to it without trying to do anything else,
or inquiring, "To whom does it come?" 

In other words do what you have to do to stop the thought process.
You use the same method with any other problem
or with any other goodness that comes to you.

Remember all the human goodness is also an illusion. 

So if you have a good life, it is only temporary. 

If you do not find yourself you will have to come back to this earth
again and again and again and have other experiences. 

You may come back again when the earth is in the dark ages once more
and they're having the Spanish inquisition
and you're hanging by your thumbs
while your eyes are being gorged out. 

And then you may come back in a different life
when you are a multimillionaire and you live in a castle
and you're in control of thousands of people.

They are two sides of the same coin. 

Therefore wake up.
Do not try to exchange bad for good. 

Do not believe that if I become a multimillionaire
I'll be happy or if I get rid of my disease I'll be happier
or if I live in a better home I'll be happier
or if I have a new mate I'll be happier
or if I have no mate I'll be happier,
or if I have this I'll be happier.
It's all illusion.

Happiness is your real nature.
Happiness is what you are. 

You are that now, if you live in the moment.
In that moment you are absolute reality. 

In that moment you are pure awareness.
You are Brahman in that moment. 

You are sat-chit-ananda, ultimate oneness, emptiness. 

That is your true nature. Identify with that.
Focus on that.
Become that and you will be ever free.

-Robert Adams - T.74 - That Divine Moment Is Now! - 30th June, 1991

Where do the thoughts come from? From nowhere.

Practice this right now.

Allow the thoughts to come, whatever they are.
Do absolutely nothing. 

It makes no difference what the thoughts are. 
Let them come, no matter how much they seem to frighten you,
no matter how powerful they appear to be, let them come.

Where do the thoughts come from to begin with?
They come from nowhere. 

They do not come from consciousness.
They do not come from pure awareness.
They do not come from the Self. 

Where do the thoughts come from? From nowhere. 

They're an optical illusion. They do not exist.
They're like the appearance of the sky on top of the mountain.
The sky appears to be resting on top of the mountain,
but it's an optical illusion. 

Thoughts do not exist, whatsoever.

Therefore you ask yourself: "Who's thinking?"
and you will find out, the ego is thinking. 

So here's another point.
When the thoughts slow down, so does the ego. 

The thoughts and the ego are synonymous.
As the thoughts slow down, the ego slows down,
and begins to also disappear with the thoughts.
When there are no thoughts, there's no ego.
When there's no ego, there's nobody left to think.

Then the question you will ask is:
"How do I function without thinking?" 

As I mentioned in the beginning,
the sage's thoughts are like a burnt rope. 

They appear to be real, but they're not.
In other words, your thoughts are not real. They are false. 

How do you function without thoughts? Very well, thank you. 

Many of you still believe you have to have thoughts to function.
You think you'll become a vegetable,
but you will be spontaneous without thoughts. 

You'll be motivated by the Self.
You will know what to do, where to go,
whom to speak to, whom not to speak to,
much better than you do now, much, much better.
Things will happen to you spontaneously.

~ Robert Adams

You are immortal, you are nirvana.

Nobody lives forever. No situation remains the same forever. 
Everything ends in this world so it appears. 
Everything has a beginning a middle and an end.
 But you are not that, you have nothing to do with that picture.
 You are immortal, you are nirvana. 

You must begin today to stop judging by appearances. 
The more you begin to feel this the less you talk. For what is talking all about. Except to talk about the world and people and things. 
Think how long you've been talking since you were born. 
You started with dada, mama and you expanded your vocabulary. 
You thought you were doing something great, you've wasted your time. 
The more words you know the larger the ego. 
The less words you know the closer you are to the Self. 

What has the Self to say, to whom shall it talk to, itself? 
The Self is self-contained consciousness. 
Aware of itself, itself is omnipresence. 
So to whom shall it talk to, itself? 
It is perfect bliss consciousness. 
There need be no words, just a look, a touch, a glance is all you have to do. 

Yet you say, "How can I do this? I work for a living, I have to eat, I have to earn my bread and butter, I have to talk." 
Don't worry about details. If you dive within yourself and you spend most of your time thinking about the I am, practicing self-inquiry, the details will work themselves out. 
You must not believe that it is up to you to work out all the details of life.

There is a higher power that knows where the appearance of your body is supposed to be and what work it's supposed to do. 
Trust that power. 
You will find out one day that the power is none other ... is you. 
That power is your Self. But until then trust the power.
 I like to call this power, "The current that knows the way." 
It's a beautiful power, it only knows love.
 It wants you to become a living embodiment of love. 
It wants you to merge with itself. 

Yet as long as you identify with the world you can never know reality. 
As long as you identify with your personal I, by always voicing what I feel, I feel hurt, I feel angry, I feel sick, I feel depressed, I feel happy because somebody gave me something, I feel good because I'm getting my own way.

That I has got to go. The whole world, the whole universe, people places and things are attached to the I. 
If you follow the I to the source the whole universe will disappear.

And the question arises, "Then what?
 If the universe disappears will I be in outer space? Will I be in a fog?" 

It's a paradox. The universe disappears, yet you exist in the universe.
 Your body will continue going about its business but you will not be identifying with your body any longer. 
You will not even feel that you are in the body.
 But you will feel the body is in you. You will feel like a gigantic screen. Where all the items of this earth, trees, plants, flowers, bugs, murderers, lovers are all superimposed on the screen. They are on the screen and you are the screen. The screen is not in them.
- Robert Adams

Everything just is. Just the way it is. Just the way it is.

Everything just is. Just the way it is. Just the way it is.
You do not have to do anything about anything.
You do not have to change anything
or fix anything or improve anything.
Everything just is.

If you can only understand this great truth
you would become the happiest being on earth.
For when you realize that everything just is,
you are living spontaneously. 

There is no past, there is no future,
there is no birth, there is no death.
Everything thing just is the way it is.

Look at your life.

How many things you try to change or fix or remedy.
Things that you're looking for.
Trying to become something.
Trying to be somebody.
Trying to achieve a purpose.

When you do all these things then you're not living up
to the principle of everything just is.
If everything just is, what is there for you to do?
You didn't come to this earth to do anything.
You didn't even come to this earth.
But you appear as if you did.
You appear real.
You appear as if you're somebody.

And you've been trained to go after something in this world,
to become something great, to be somebody.
Yet this is what causes suffering.
The belief that you have to be somebody that you're not.
The belief that you have to have something that you don't have.
Look at your life.

The so-called problems you believe you have.
Something only becomes a problem
when you want to change something
or you want something to go your way.
Then it's a problem because
it isn't going the way you think it should go.
But in truth nothing has to go any way.
Everything is perfect just the way it is.
Everything is total perfection.

~Robert Adams

Deeper Still

Existence is like Sunlight

Sujok Hand Diagram

Four Principles

How can we tell if we're on the path correctly? 
I gave four principles, which I really never do in the waking state. I never have a teaching. 
 But I was giving a teaching, so I'll share it with you. 
I explained four principles, where you know that you're close to self-realization.
 Of course, we're all self- realized already.

Principle number 1:
 You have a feeling, complete understanding that everything you see, everything in the universe, in the world, emanates from your mind. 
In other words, you feel this. You do not have to think about it, or try to bring it on. 
It comes by itself. It becomes a part of you. 
The realization that everything that you see, the universe, people, worms, insects, the mineral kingdom, the vegetable kingdom, your body, your mind, everything that appears, is a manifestation of your mind. 
You have to have that feeling, that deep understanding, without trying to.
So you ask yourself, "What do I think about all day long?" 
Of course, if you fear something, if you worry, if you believe something is wrong somewhere, if you think you're suffering from lack, or limitation, or sickness, anything, then you're out of it completely, because you're not understanding that all these things are simply a manifestation of your own mind. 
And if you worry about these things you become attached to false imagination. 
That's called false imagination. 
You've been attached to habit energy for many years, and all these attachments and beliefs come from habit energy.
It's like watching a TV show and becoming one of the characters, when you know that you're not even in the TV. 
But you believe you're one of the characters in the TV show. So it is with the world. Do not get involved. 
I don't mean you become passive.
 I mean your body does what it's supposed to do. Remember, your body came to this earth to do something. 
It will do something without your knowledge. It'll take care of itself. Don't worry. But do not identify your body with yourself. They're different. 
Your body is not yourself. And I'll prove this.

When you refer to your body what do you say? Don't you say "my body?" 
Who is this "my" you're referring to? You say "my finger,” "my eye.” 
Who are you referring to? You couldn't be talking about your body, because you’re saying it's my body, like you own it. 
 Who owns it? This proves to yourself that you're not your body. So do not identify yourself with the body and the world.

Therefore the first principle, to see how close you are to self-realization is: 
You are not feeling that you are identified with the world. 
You're separate. 
 And you're feeling happiness, because your natural state is pure happiness.
 Once you identify with worldly things, you spoil it. 
The happiness disappears, it dissipates. 
But when you're separate from worldly things happiness is automatic. 
Beautiful, pure happiness. It comes by itself. 
So that's the first principle.

Principle number 2 
 I explained to the bodhisattvas was this: You have to have a strong feeling, a deep realization, that you are unborn. 
You are not born, you do not experience a life, and you do not disappear, you do not die. 
You are not born, you have no life, and you do not die. You have to feel this, that you are of the unborn.
 Do you realize what this means? 
There is no cause for your existence. 
There is no cause for your suffering. 
 There is no cause for your problems.

Some of you still believe in cause and effect. 
This is true in the relative world, but in the world of reality there is no cause. 
Nothing has ever been made. 
Nothing has ever been created. 
There is no creation. I know it's hard to comprehend. How do I exist if I was not born, I have no life and I do not disappear in old age? 
You exist as I Am. 
You have always existed and you will always exist. 
You exist as pure intelligence, as absolute reality. 
That is your true nature. 
You exist as sat-chit-ananda.
 You exist as bliss consciousness, but you do exist. 
You exist as emptiness, as nirvana, but you do exist. 

So don't worry about being non-existent. 
But you do not exist as the body. 
You do not exist as person, place or thing.
 Do you feel that? 
If you have a strong feeling about that, then you're close to self- realization.

Principle number 3: 

You are aware and you have a deep understanding of the egolessness of all things; that everything has no ego. I'm not only speaking of sentient beings. 
I'm speaking of the mineral kingdom, the vegetable kingdom, the animal kingdom, the human kingdom. Nothing has an ego. 
There is no ego. 
And do you realize what this means?
 It means that everything is sacred. 
 Everything is God.
 Only when the ego comes, does God disappear, what we call "God.” 
Everything becomes God. 
You have reverence for everything.
 When there is no ego, you have reverence for everybody and everything.

So you have to be aware of the egolessness of all things. Animals have no ego, minerals have no ego, vegetables have no ego, and humans have no ego. 
There is no cause, so there cannot be an effect. 
There is only divine consciousness, and everything becomes divine consciousness. 
So if you look at your fellow man and animals and everything else as being egolessness, you will see them as yourself. Can't you see that?

It's the ego that causes separation. 
When I am full of ego, I become strong within myself.
 I become totally separate. 
So the more you like yourself as a person, the bigger your ego is. 
You say, "Well, I'm not supposed to like myself?” You're supposed to love yourself, but what self are we talking about? 
We're not talking about your body self, because that comes and goes. 
We're talking about your permanent self that has always been here. 
And your permanent self is me, is you, is the world, is the universe, is everything. 
That's your permanent self.
Egolessness. 
That's the only time that you can love your fellow human beings, when you have no ego. 
That's how you can tell where you're at, if you're close to self-realization. That's principle number three.

Principle number 4: 
You understand the Self Realization of Noble Wisdom. You have a deep conviction, a deep understanding, a deep feeling of what self-realization of noble wisdom really is. 

What is Self Realization of Noble Wisdom to you? 
You can never know by trying to find out what it is, because it's absolute reality. 
You can only know by finding out what it is not.

So you say, “It is not my body, it is not my mind, it is not my organs, it is not my thoughts, it is not my world, it is not my universe, it is not the animals, or the trees, or the moon, or the sun, or the stars, it is not any of those things.” 
When you've gone through everything and there's nothing left, that's what it is. Nothing. Emptiness. Nirvana. Ultimate oneness.
Robert Adams
Aug 19, 1990