Ramakant Maharaj USA Talk of September 12th Part I

Video Download Link

Audio Only MP3 Download

Transcript September 12, 2016 Part I

Ramakant Maharaj USA Talk of September 12th Part I

Ramakant Maharaj: Have you read Ramana Maharshi and all?

Q: Yes, all the books.

Maharaj: So you have a good background. Everybody is having spiritual knowledge. Everybody knows ‘Atman’, ‘Paramatman’.  But practical knowledge is most important.  Because what happens?  We’ve accepted the body as our identity.  Prior to beingness there was no body, no shape. But because of long association with the body we’ve accepted the body as our identity, forgotten our identity. As a matter of fact, Reality is there.  Your Spontaneous Invisible Presence is Reality.   

What is the importance of spirituality? Because of long association with the body we are considering ourself in body-form.  What are we requiring?  Everybody wants happiness, peacefulness, tension-free life, fearless life, the four things required in one’s life.  We’ve accepted the body as identity and therefore we’ve forgotten our identity.  

So the purpose of spirituality is just to identity oneself in a real sense.  We’re identifying ourselves in body-form. As a matter of fact, you’re shapeless, there’s no birth, there’s no body at all.  Prior to beingness there’s no body, after leaving the body nothing remains.

The purpose behind this is just to identify yourself in a real sense.  We’re identifying ourselves in body-form and that is illusion.   To dissolve all these illusions spirituality is most important. What is spirituality?  Just to identify oneself.  We’re identifying ourself in this form, and that is illusion, as I told you.  So the same simple question is ‘how were you prior to beingness? After leaving the body?’.

We have so many concepts. We’ve got literal knowledge, a lot of literal knowledge, “I am somebody else”.  We are knowing ‘karma’, ‘dharma’, so many religions are there, so many concepts are there.  We’ve wrapped all these concepts around us and are trying to live within the concepts. We have to dissolve all concepts.  Your Spontaneous Invisible Presence is Ultimate Truth, that you are not knowing.  Your Invisible Listener is Master.  But because we are measuring ourself in body form, we forgot our Master.

Except your Selfless Self, nothing is there. God, Brahman, Atman, Paramatman, God, this is your name – not in body form. Therefore I am inviting the attention of the Invisible Listener within you that you are Ultimate Truth.  But we’re not accepting this because of the impact of the body.  It’s a fact, even if you think intellectually. Prior to beingness there is no body, no concept, no ‘I am’ also.  The moment the Presence clicked with the body you say “I am somebody else”.You are nobody, you are everybody.  Your Presence is just like space or sky – you’re everywhere.  Therefore not to measure yourself in body-form, that is the most important thing.  And for which the only source is meditation.  I’m telling you, meditation is also illusion at the advanced stage.  

What is the purpose of meditation?  Through meditation you are identifying yourself in a real sense. Through meditation you are inviting the attention of the Invisible Meditator within you that you are Brahman, Atman, Paramatman, God.  Through meditation you are hammering yourself all the time.  It’s  open fact: we start as a small child, then grow up to a young man, then an old man.  These are the stages of the body.  Who is acting with the body? Who is watching the dream?

It is a fact that the entire world is projected out of your Presence.  Your Presence is Invisible Presence, Anonymous Presence, Unidentified Presence.  And therefore, first thing I’ll tell you is not to measure yourself in body-form.  When you measure yourself in body-form you’re underestimating your Selfless Self.

Literal knowledge will not help you, bookish knowledge will not help you.  Be practical.  You’ve got a lot of knowledge.  Will that knowledge help you at the time of leaving the body? No.  So how are you prior to beingness and after leaving the body?  Ask the question.  It is beyond imagination. It is called Ultimate Truth, Brahman, Atman, Paramatman, God, Master – that you are.  

We understand this intellectually: “Yes I am Brahman, Atman, Paramatman”, but are not accepting it in Reality, practical Reality.  What is practical?  So all concepts are supposed to be dissolved, all concepts related to body-knowledge.  It is a very simple thing, for which your strong involvement is most important.  I was not the body, I’m not the body, I’m not going to remain the body. The body was not my identity, the body is not going to remain my identity at all, it’s open fact.

The Invisible Presence within you is Final Truth.  It has a strong power, strong energy.  And therefore not to measure oneself in body form, that is most important.  Because you are shapeless, there’s no body.  Though you’re holding the body, there should  be Spontaneous Conviction: “I am not the body, I am not going to remain the body”.  So mind, ego, intellect came along with the body and dissolve along with the body. All concepts, so many concepts are there.  All needs, all requirements came along with the body.  Concepts like ‘God’: to say ‘God’ your Presence is required.  To say ‘Master’ your Presence is required.  You are Master of your own!  But because of long association with the body you forgot your identity. And to identify yourself in a real sense, meditation is most important.  

Everybody’s asking regarding the Naam Mantra, Mantra – these are the words!  There are so many words. ‘Aham Brahmasmi’ is a word, ‘I am Brahman’ is a word, ‘Soham’ is a word.  This is the media, it is an indication. Through meditation you are inviting the attention of the Invisible Meditator that you are Brahman. You’ll forget your body-identity. 

I’m not saying neglect your body identity. There aren’t any conditions or any restrictions. Since you’re holding the body you can take care of the body. But it is open fact that the body is not your identity, the body was not your identity, the body is not going to remain your identity. So literal knowledge, bookish knowledge will not help you. You might have visited so many Masters, read so many books. Just ask the question to your Selfless Self: “Will all this knowledge be helpful at the time of leaving the body? Whether after reading so many books do I have complete peacefulness? I’m happy? I’m tension free? Fearless?” Ask the question to yourself. Directly or indirectly we are having the subtle ego: “I am somebody else”. That ‘somebody else’ is supposed to be dissolved totally. It is not impossible, it is not difficult at all. You can do it, you have tremendous power, you have tremendous energy. We are neglecting that. You pray “Oh God bless me, Oh God bless me”.  Where is God? If your Presence is not there who will talk about the God? It’s a simple thing. To say ‘God’ your Presence is required. If your Presence is not there who will talk about God? Where are the Masters?  You approach your own Master! – through which you say ‘I’. To say ‘I’ your Presence is required. I’m inviting the attention of the Invisible Presence within you that you are Ultimate Truth. It’s a very simple thing. But, it needs some involvement. Everybody knows you are Brahman, Atman, Paramatman, God, Master. But it should be absorbed, “Yes, so that I!”. Just like this body is called man, this is called female, man or woman, when you are neither man nor woman, you are Brahman. It’s fact. It is very easy to understand but a little bit difficult to absorb because we’re lacking involvement, for which nothing is required.

What is the purpose of the human life? Everybody wants happiness, peacefulness, tension-free life, fearless life. The moment you identify yourself in a real sense, spontaneous peacefulness will be there. Who wants peacefulness? Prior to beingness do you know what is peacefulness? Any happiness? The moment the Spirit clicked with the body we say “I want everything”. We want happiness, peacefulness, tension-free life, fearless life.

Everyone wants to know about death. What is death? There’s no birth, no death. Birth and death are connected with the body only, and as you know, you are unborn. It’s a fact! You may not believe, but you are unborn. Because we are measuring ourselves in body-form therefore we are saying “I am born” and counting age, “I am somebody else”. We’ve got lots of attachment, related to the body. Mind you, I’m not saying to neglect your body-knowledge, just to identify it. Except your Selfless Self there is no God, no Brahman, no Atman, no Paramatman, no Master. You are Master, you are Brahman, you are Paramatman. It’s a fact. For which, at the initial stage, you are to undergo the discipline of meditation until you have Spontaneous Conviction. Why is medication required? To develop Spontaneous Conviction. “This body is called man, I am somebody else, my name is something-something given to me”, and I have accepted it. If a thousand people ask “Oh, John” you say “Oh, I am John”.

Does anybody want to ask any questions? Ask freely!

Q2: Well, not so much a question, but more of an observation. I started using the ‘I am Brahman, Brahman I am’ mantra. And it’s interesting that it seems to just dissolve the questions. Any questions that are there, it seems to just dissolve them…

Maharaj: See, at the initial stage you have to say “I am Brahman, Brahman I am”, because by that you are hammering your Selfless Self. To forget body-identity, to dissolve all concepts, body related concepts, you have to recite this mantra “Aham Brahmasmi”, ”I am Brahman”, like that. These are the words, I’m telling you, it is language. Language is just to understand, but who has given language? We have given the name of God, donkey means something else. We have given the meaning. Through this language you are trying to identify yourself in a real sense. It is open fact! It is not going to remain. Open fact. Prior to a hundred years how were you? You say “I don’t know”. If anybody ask you the question: “How are you prior to a hundred years?”, you say “I don’t know”, “After leaving the body?” “I don’t know”. ‘I don’t know’ means I am not in any form. In a negative answer there is a positive concept. I am telling everybody, if you are alone in your house and somebody knocks on the door, “is anybody there?”, you say “nobody’s there”. The person who says “nobody’s there”, is there. Similarly, ‘I don’t know’ means I am not in any form, I am formless. It’s fact. But Conviction is required, Spontaneous Conviction is required.

And therefore I am saying meditation means anti-virus software. It is cleaning. And you can do it, nothing is required, no expenses, it is free of charge.  Free of charge. In our lineage it is the discipline not to demand anything from devotees, strictly. No expense is required. This is your knowledge! Not the knowledge of Brahman, Atman, Parmatman, God. These are the names that are given to Brahman, Atman, Paramatman, God, to identify your Ultimate Truth. You’ve got supernatural power! You’ve got supernatural power that is unknown to you. Your inner Master is very strong. These are also concepts, internal Master, external Master. The Invisible Listener within you is Internal Master, it is Brahman, Paramatman, but you are neglecting it.  

Your total involvement is most important. Casual spirituality will not help you. “Oh, I’ve seen a good lecture, a Master is giving good lectures”, no. Who is listening to those lectures? Try to concentrate on the Invisible Concentrator within you. It is called Brahman, Atman. Therefore I have told you, besides your Selfless Self there is no Brahman, Atman. You are having so many concepts: ‘last birth’, ‘future birth’, ‘last destiny’, ‘karma’, ‘dharma’. What is ‘karma’? Who’s karma? Who’s birth? No birth, you are unborn. Forget about last birth, do you know anything about this birth, present birth? No.

So many illusory concepts are wrapped up on us. Be free. This human body is an opportunity for you. And therefore, not to depend upon literal knowledge. Okay, literal knowledge is okay, bookish knowledge is okay. I’m not saying don’t approach any Masters, approach so many Masters, but approach your own Master within you. You are neglecting your own Master. “Oh, this Master, that Master, that Master”,why? Approach your own Master. Because you are Ultimate Truth, there’s nothing ultimate except your Selfless Self.

You’re strong involvement is required. Not to sit like this “Oh…” (Maharaj pretends to meditate). It’s okay, in the beginning we are advising you sit like this. Just like we say “a-b-c-d” when we are learning a language, using some alphabets.

So, not to depend upon anybody else, you can stand on your own feet. The purpose of spirituality is to stand on your own feet. In the beginning, it’s okay, the Master is there. Until you identify your own Master. Bodies are different, Presence is one. Houses are different, sky is one. Why is all this required, again I am repeating. You’ve got a lot of fear of the death, always living under tension. No peacefulness. Everything is there, because we are neglecting our own identity. In some way or another we are depending upon somebody else.  Directly or indirectly we are protecting our illusory concepts. Forget about it.

The body is only the media through which you can identify yourself. Everything came out of nothing, everything dissolves into nothing. It’s a fact. Spiritual knowledge is also an illusion. Why do you want spiritual knowledge? Because you forgot your identity. Where is that spiritual knowledge prior to beingness? After leaving your body any spiritual knowledge is there? When did you come across with spirituality? The main purpose is just to identify yourself in a real sense, which leads to the Spontaneous Conviction: I was not the body, I ‘m not the body, I ‘m not going to remain the body. So the moment there is Conviction, everything will dissolve. You have to bow down to your Selfless Self. We are always depending on God to do something: “Oh God do something, oh Master do something”, why? Okay, at the  initial stage it’s okay, but you are no longer a child. Child depends upon it’s parent, but you are grown up, you are spiritually grown up. I am placing before you your facts, the Invisible Listener’s fact.

There is no binding, no conditions. Nothing is required, it is free of charge. Presence is free of charge and you are neglecting that Presence. If there is the Conviction ‘except myself nothing is there’, and ‘myself’ is not an egoistic statement, ‘except Selfless Self nothing is there’, you will get exceptional spiritual intoxication. I call it spiritual intoxication. Though you are living in the world, you remain unconcerned with the world. The entire world is projected out of your Presence. To say ‘world’, your Presence is required. In a dream you see sky, space, everything, even god, etc.  Although you are acting in the dream, who is watching that dream, who is taking the video-shooting of that dream?  After awakening you say “Oh, I’ve seen this thing, that thing, good dream, bad dream”. How was that dream-world projected? Similarly, this world is projected out of your Presence. But Presence does not know ‘I am Presence’, just like sky does not know ‘I am sky’. We say “This is sky”. The five elements do not know ‘I am the five elements, water does not know ‘I am water. Your Presence is beyond that. But we are neglecting all this. So be with you always.

Any questions from anybody? Yes?

Q3: So, for the past eight years I’ve read so much, I’ve done so many practices that people have shown me and things like that, and I just feel more confused and more lost than ever before, and I’m just tired of it and I need it all to stop. And I understand it intellectually, a lot of it, but there’s no conviction at all. It still seems like a fantasy and a good idea. I just don’t know what to do anymore to get…

Maharaj: You must accept this, that you are not the body at all. It is fact, open fact, forget about spirituality for a time. You are knowing intellectually that this body is not your identity at all. You were a small child, you have become a young man, after you will become an old man, and after, willingly or unwillingly, you will have to leave this body. That means the body is not your identity, open fact. Forget about spirituality, these are intellectual things. The concept ‘I am somebody else’ is supposed to dissolve. The concept ‘I am somebody else’ is supposed to be dissolved. There is no karma, no dharma, no destiny, nothing is there. You are totally unborn, it is fact! So many concepts are there after reading so many books. We are depending upon bookish knowledge, literal knowledge. Last birth, future birth, who’s birth? Is the sky taking any birth?  Is the sky having any destiny? You’re Spontaneous, Invisible Presence is beyond that.