"Now, you take yourself to be a ‘Supreme Self.’ Go right ahead, if you can know clearly that the unmanifested consciousness has none of the attributes associated with ‘self-ness’...."
F.: “Realization is marked by the abandoning of all concepts. On this seven-step ‘journey,’ we’ve used many concepts to remove concepts, not unlike the proverbial thorn used to remove a thorn. If you have something within you like a thorn, and you use a thorn to get rid of that which was within, that which was causing your misery, what effort need remain after the removal? The work is done; the tools required for the task—the thorns needed to remove the thorn—are no longer required. What further exercises could be indicated? Realized, You will not know any concern about any thorns from ‘the past.’ You will not long for any thorn to return. You will not save spare thorns just in case they might be needed in ‘the future.’ You will not work to maintain Your 'state of non-thorn-ness.' It’s all gone, all dissolved. It just happened automatically when the last concept dis-appeared.”
Q.: “So there’s not even one concept you believe in any longer?”
F.: “Until the final concept is released, realization will not happen. If you have nine thorns in your hand, would you be free of all misery and pain if you removed only eight? All must go.”
Q.: “But how can anyone work a job, pay bills, meet responsibilities without some ideas?”
F.: “We’ll be discussing ‘As If’ living soon. For now, let’s focus on one of the last concepts that persons love to cling to: the 'Supreme Self.' My teacher Maharaj made clear that the ideas of self and even not-self also eventually dissolve. Even those concepts, ultimately, are useless. Let’s review the ‘selves’ that are discussed in the teaching: first, there’s the ‘personal self’ that believes ‘I am this’ or ‘I am that.’ Via programming, the list of all the personas becomes very long: boy or girl, son or daughter, Christian or Hindu or Muslim or Jew, student, graduate, employee, young adult, friend, acquaintance, lover, spouse, enemy, mortal enemy, owner of this or that, adult, senior citizen, grandmother or grandfather, and finally ‘the deceased,’ ‘the dearly-departed,’ or ‘the saint.’ [Laughter] Again, you laugh. How many a few months ago were buying into one or more of those roles? [A few hands are raised; eventually, all are raised.] So that’s 'the self,' the false self, the personality/personalities, the false roles being played. Shakespeare said that ‘all the world’s a stage and all the men and women, merely players.’ If you complete all seven steps of the journey from that false ‘I’ to the reality of seeing all of the false and thus the truth, along the way you come to know the 'True Self.' You understand that Pure Witness, the consciousness freed of all the limiting contaminants that resulted in an existence that was dominated by beliefs in myths and lies and misperceptions. Some might call that ‘the super-personal I Am’—beyond any identity with a person/persona. Some call it the ‘I Amness.’ Actually, we saw that the 'True Self step' was merely the platform from which we could see above all the illusions and glimpse what some call the ‘Impersonal Absolute—The Unmanifested—The Supreme Self—The Infinite Self—That.’ The problem is, when many perceive ‘That’ and begin describing themselves as 'Supreme Selves,' most have simply added another label, another concept, another thorn.”
Q.2: “How could it be a thorn to know the Ultimate Self? I thought that was the final goal.”
F.: “Tell me what your relative existence would be like if you know you are that 'Ultimate Self'?”
Q.2: [Pausing] “I’m giving that some thought. I know it’s a trick question. Ha.” [Laughter]
F.: “You’ve already failed. [Laughter] Who is thinking? Who wants to answer the right way? Who thinks she is now 'Supreme”? [More laughs] Let me answer for you. You imagine that if you know that you’re a ‘Supreme Self,’ the remainder of the relative existence will be marked by your being much more…more loving in the awareness of the At-one-ment, a ‘much better person,’ a ‘more helpful person.’ In fact, I'll bet that you even become 'noble.' [Laughter] From that position, you would imagine that the world is a 'better place' as a result of your improving and that you could then change the world and eventually have a huge impact on the entire globe. You'll think that you can 'help people' and can guide them to become 'good' and 'better,' like you.” [Laughter]
Q.2: “That's not really the way that…. [F. frowns, smiles] Okay, it might be that way to some degree.” [Laughter. F. stares, smiles] Okay, to a large degree.” [Laughter]
F.: “To realize is to know that the world was only in you, in your mind, and that you've never been in the world. It's to know that you can't be 'in the world,' for the world is an imagining in the mind of a person. As many worlds exist as there are persons to imagine the way things are. That Which You Are, and which all is, is that most basic ‘building block’ that cycles and recycles, or not. You’re that invisible, infinitesimal, infinite, sub-atomic, sub-molecular speck of energy-consciousness that happened to find its way into a plant that was consumed and relayed via friction to an egg that evolved automatically into a food-body. That manifested speck of consciousness, once contaminated, believed itself to be a body-mind that has since experienced experiences for ‘x’ number of years. In truth, that speck is nothing more than the light in which everything seemed to appear. And the contaminated consciousness subsequently took every appearance to be real. Now, you want to take yourself to be a ‘Supreme Self.’ That's another want, another desire. Who is wanting? I've witnessed persons fighting for their 'Supreme Self' label as much as he [pointing at a participant] fought for his 'husband' label. Go right ahead with that identity, if you can know clearly that the unmanifested consciousness has none of the attributes associated with ‘self-ness,’ such as, form, a mind, an eternal beingness as a being, longing, desiring, or ideas about ‘better than’ or ‘good.' Stop seeking more; know the bliss of 'less.' Persons seek everything; the Realized know the bliss of the nothing. The Void is all." Please enter the silence of contemplation. [To be continued 15 August 2005]
Q.: “So there’s not even one concept you believe in any longer?”
F.: “Until the final concept is released, realization will not happen. If you have nine thorns in your hand, would you be free of all misery and pain if you removed only eight? All must go.”
Q.: “But how can anyone work a job, pay bills, meet responsibilities without some ideas?”
F.: “We’ll be discussing ‘As If’ living soon. For now, let’s focus on one of the last concepts that persons love to cling to: the 'Supreme Self.' My teacher Maharaj made clear that the ideas of self and even not-self also eventually dissolve. Even those concepts, ultimately, are useless. Let’s review the ‘selves’ that are discussed in the teaching: first, there’s the ‘personal self’ that believes ‘I am this’ or ‘I am that.’ Via programming, the list of all the personas becomes very long: boy or girl, son or daughter, Christian or Hindu or Muslim or Jew, student, graduate, employee, young adult, friend, acquaintance, lover, spouse, enemy, mortal enemy, owner of this or that, adult, senior citizen, grandmother or grandfather, and finally ‘the deceased,’ ‘the dearly-departed,’ or ‘the saint.’ [Laughter] Again, you laugh. How many a few months ago were buying into one or more of those roles? [A few hands are raised; eventually, all are raised.] So that’s 'the self,' the false self, the personality/personalities, the false roles being played. Shakespeare said that ‘all the world’s a stage and all the men and women, merely players.’ If you complete all seven steps of the journey from that false ‘I’ to the reality of seeing all of the false and thus the truth, along the way you come to know the 'True Self.' You understand that Pure Witness, the consciousness freed of all the limiting contaminants that resulted in an existence that was dominated by beliefs in myths and lies and misperceptions. Some might call that ‘the super-personal I Am’—beyond any identity with a person/persona. Some call it the ‘I Amness.’ Actually, we saw that the 'True Self step' was merely the platform from which we could see above all the illusions and glimpse what some call the ‘Impersonal Absolute—The Unmanifested—The Supreme Self—The Infinite Self—That.’ The problem is, when many perceive ‘That’ and begin describing themselves as 'Supreme Selves,' most have simply added another label, another concept, another thorn.”
Q.2: “How could it be a thorn to know the Ultimate Self? I thought that was the final goal.”
F.: “Tell me what your relative existence would be like if you know you are that 'Ultimate Self'?”
Q.2: [Pausing] “I’m giving that some thought. I know it’s a trick question. Ha.” [Laughter]
F.: “You’ve already failed. [Laughter] Who is thinking? Who wants to answer the right way? Who thinks she is now 'Supreme”? [More laughs] Let me answer for you. You imagine that if you know that you’re a ‘Supreme Self,’ the remainder of the relative existence will be marked by your being much more…more loving in the awareness of the At-one-ment, a ‘much better person,’ a ‘more helpful person.’ In fact, I'll bet that you even become 'noble.' [Laughter] From that position, you would imagine that the world is a 'better place' as a result of your improving and that you could then change the world and eventually have a huge impact on the entire globe. You'll think that you can 'help people' and can guide them to become 'good' and 'better,' like you.” [Laughter]
Q.2: “That's not really the way that…. [F. frowns, smiles] Okay, it might be that way to some degree.” [Laughter. F. stares, smiles] Okay, to a large degree.” [Laughter]
F.: “To realize is to know that the world was only in you, in your mind, and that you've never been in the world. It's to know that you can't be 'in the world,' for the world is an imagining in the mind of a person. As many worlds exist as there are persons to imagine the way things are. That Which You Are, and which all is, is that most basic ‘building block’ that cycles and recycles, or not. You’re that invisible, infinitesimal, infinite, sub-atomic, sub-molecular speck of energy-consciousness that happened to find its way into a plant that was consumed and relayed via friction to an egg that evolved automatically into a food-body. That manifested speck of consciousness, once contaminated, believed itself to be a body-mind that has since experienced experiences for ‘x’ number of years. In truth, that speck is nothing more than the light in which everything seemed to appear. And the contaminated consciousness subsequently took every appearance to be real. Now, you want to take yourself to be a ‘Supreme Self.’ That's another want, another desire. Who is wanting? I've witnessed persons fighting for their 'Supreme Self' label as much as he [pointing at a participant] fought for his 'husband' label. Go right ahead with that identity, if you can know clearly that the unmanifested consciousness has none of the attributes associated with ‘self-ness,’ such as, form, a mind, an eternal beingness as a being, longing, desiring, or ideas about ‘better than’ or ‘good.' Stop seeking more; know the bliss of 'less.' Persons seek everything; the Realized know the bliss of the nothing. The Void is all." Please enter the silence of contemplation. [To be continued 15 August 2005]
