1. U S 80 - 22 WHAT PREVENTS US FROM UNFOLDING? VOICE: Is there a basic characteristic in the makeup of the human being which produces an aura that is insufficient for the most effective spiritual unfoldment of our species? GURURAJ: Is there a basic characteristic in the human being which would stop him from gaining total unfoldment? Now, here we have to examine what we mean by basic characteristic, and what do we mean by unfoldment? Now, as far as basic characteristic is concerned that would stand in the way as an obstacle to unfoldment would be th e person's mind. Now the other question that would arise, what is the person's mind? Is there any reality to the mind? And if there is a mind, what is the mind composed of? Now I would like to tell you this, that mind has no existence whatsoever. Mind doesn't matter, matter doesn't mind. Mind has no existence whatsoever. But what exists is thought. And a whole collection of thoughts is that which composes the mind. It is like drawing a whole lot of criss cross lines, and by drawing the crisscross l ines, you create a point. In reality the point does not exist, but it is the criss crossing, the more the line, the bigger the point. So as these thoughts accumulate in the mind, the bigger the point becomes. And it is the very act of the crisscrossing of the thoughts which gives impetus and power to the mind and it functions as an individual mind, because those thoughts have created a center point. Now, this center point that has been created by the collection of all these thoughts is the real obstacle to one's total unfoldment. Total unfoldment to what? Total unfoldment to reality. So, here we find that a nonentity which we call mind becomes an obstacle. This would sound very paradoxical. And yet in truth there is no obstacle at all. We call our m ovement the Foundation for Spiritual Unfoldment, but the spirit itself, the reality within man, requires no unfoldment, for i t is forever unfolded. So, because of the superimposed mind, we cover up and veil that which is real. So here unreality covers up reality. And yet behind reality there is another factor actuality. There is a difference between that which is real and that which is actual. So, what is the actual factor within man that projects forth the realities known by man, and that too is the mind, for that very actuality, that very spiritual force within man is interpreted through the unreality of the mind, and thereby the actual ity assumes a form of an interpreted, limited reality created by the mind. And this mind feeling the inner force, t he force of that which is actual, feeling that force, activating it, starts thinking that it is all that really exists. And when it thin ks it is all that really exists it starts identifying itself with existence. So here non existence is assumed to be ex istence. And when it assumes itself to be existence, in spite of it being unreal, it assumes this individuality, and we say this one's mind and th at

2. U S 80 - 22 one's mind and that one's mind. And yet it is just the crisscrossing of thoughts, the manifestation of the se thoughts which scope is the entire universe. So even the individual mind is unreal as is the universal mind, for only one mind can assume the existence, and in this assumption of that existence empowered by the spiritual force and through various other processes that goes on, for these very thoughts have the ability of duplicating itself and replicating itself and becoming an admixture of these various forces, it assumes individuality, and that we call man's ego. So if the mind is false and just a creat ion of thought, then the ego in man is also false. For this very assertion of the ego brings about the quality of clinging. Now, this very sense of clinging to the ego is or one can call it the real obstacle of knowing your actual self. For you a re Div ine! You are the actual self, you are the spirit, and the rest is just name and form that the very mind which I call the cunning animal superimposes itself upon that which is actual, and the seed is hidden in the ground, and what you see above the ground is just the sprouting created by the thought functionings of the so called mind. What does one do? All philosophies and metaphysics are of no value if it is not brought to a daily practical level. What do I do? Now, who asks this question, what do I do? That self created ego asks that question. And why should it ask this question, because it has learned to identify itself to be al l. And in this identification and through the crisscrossing of all these thoughts, he starts suffering. He falls into all k inds of false traps and miseries. He becomes miserable. Now, man wants to escape from suffering and misery. He wants to escape from it, and yet on the other hand, he clings to that ego self of his. So if the ego is false, then the miseries are also fals e. Misery has no existence for the actual self of man. Misery has only existence, an assumed existence, because of the thoughts gathered within the mind of man, and the thoughts itself, to repeat again, is the mind. So the entire universe is nothing else but thought. So in order to get rid of misery, we come to the realization that thoughts are to be eliminated. Now, people try to eliminate thought, which is an impossibility. It cannot be annihilated, it can never be annihilated. For every thought th at is thought is a thing. And because every thought is so powerful and every thought has the ability to materialize itself that gives us a greater sense of the individuality of the mind. So what is the answer? The answer is to go beyond thought, in othe r words, to go beyond the mind. How do we do that? Through meditation and spiritual practices. For thoughts are so powerful that when a person can recognize that the thought has no reality of its own but has a reflected energy, one can use that very ref lected energy for a great purpose. The moon has no light of its own, but yet we see it lit up, which is just a reflection, as we all know, of the sun. So therefore we are giving validity to the moo n thinking. It is only now that we know, some hundreds years ago that it is reflected light. But before that man thought the moon actually gives light. Likewise, we think that our thoughts are giving light.

3. U S 80 - 22 But yet this very reflected light can be used to overcome its power. So here we can use thought as an instrument. Now here, one thing to be really remembered is this: that thoughts cannot be controlled, but they can be governed. They can be channeled. Now, how do we do this? Because the more we try to control thought or push thoughts away, the more tho se thoughts will come stronger will then come. I gave an analogy last night, that if there are a bunch of monkeys jumping on the tree, if you shake the tree, you can't keep them quiet. You've got to leave them alone and they will settle down by themselv es. But we always try and control the thoughts. I was saying the other day, mentioning Norman Vincent Peale, he says if you have a negative thought, substitute it with a positive thought. If your thoughts are black, substitute them with white. Totally wr ong. I challenge Norman Vincent Peale anytime. Because the more you try to substitute the negative thought with a positive thought, you are strengthening the negative thought by driving the seed of the negative thought deeper. You are not dissolving it. For where are you pushing the negative thought out to? It has to be dissolved and sent back to where it came from. How does one do that? So when a negative thought comes up in the mind, one, by meditation and spiritual practices, learns to observe the thought, and in the very act of observation, that thought loses its power. You are shifting the center of those crisscross lines. You are rejuggling it. And when the mind through meditation is brought to a neutral state for meditation dissolves those t houghts so when the mind is brought to a neutral state, then you bring in the positive thoughts. Then you bring in the positive thoughts. You have a toothache, it's painful. You start thinking of some other thought that does not think of pain. Try it . It does not work. Use an anesthetic, get the pain away by spiritual practices. It is so simple. Yes. In other words, the mind has to be turned away. A child has a toothache and his mind is so engrossed in a toy, and he will momentarily forget the t oothache. But the child is not thinking of the opposite of pain, because the more if the child could think of pleasure instead of the pain he will make the pain stronger. But his action is such, not by thought that gives him the pleasure of th e toy so tha t the pain is only momentarily gone. But with us we don't want negative thoughts to momentarily go away, we want to dissolve it. And there is only one sorry, two ways. The one way is to knock the head with a big hammer. The other way is with spiritual practices. So the greatest obstacle to realize what I actually am, to really know the meaning of Yahweh, I am that I am, one has to go beyond the mind. Now, coming back to thoughts. You don't think. No person in the world I'm putting some new thoughts to you, there might be some scientists in this audience. It's a field for research. No man is ever capable of thinking an original though t. You can't think! You are only a passage through which these thoughts pass. The bird flies into the room from the window and flies out through the other window. That is thought. It is not original, it does not belong to you. So, why should you

4. U S 80 - 22 be bothered by a thought that causes so much misery. No, if you can develop the power of observation of the thought, then the bird will fly in from the one window and fly out the other window without leaving any droppings. [LAUGHTER] You know, Fasladin went to the doctor, and the doctor asked him, "What's your problem?" He says, "My wife speaks a lot in her sleep, and speak ing is thinking. Speaking is verbalizing thought. My wife speaks in her sleep and what can one do about it?" So the doctor says, "You should not have come, you should have sent your wife, because I could have treated her." So Fasladin says, "No, I want you to treat me because in her sleep when she starts talking, I fall asleep and in her sleep when she talks, she says the most wonderful things. And because me falling asleep, I miss it all. So do something for me." Thought processes, thought processes. So, the mind is nothing else but a process, a process of thought. The mind is nothing else but a process of thought, and this very process of thought is stopping you from realizing yourself, who you really are. So w hat should we do with the process? What should we do with the process, because they just come and come and come and come. Many people think [plane noises] see like the airplane, it comes and goes. It is a thought, that sound wave passing through. Wha t shall we do with the process? Another point to remember is this, that in this process two thoughts cannot exist simultaneously. Thoughts follow one after the other, and yet we think with a third thought that they are there together. Thoughts follow on e another. Two thoughts can never be in that little sphere of ours, the so called individual mind can never exist together. They follow consecutively. It is like a motion picture film where it is made up of different frames, but running through the proj ector it seems continuous. Now, most of you must have seen a film and you will find a frame with a thick line in between each and every frame there is a gap. There is a gap. Now, when we start observing those thoughts, and as I said by observing it, it w ill lose its strength and validity. And then you will come to recognize the gap between two thoughts. And that very gap is you. That very gap is your real Self where thoughts do not exist, for the very existence of thought is non existence. You see. T he very existence of thought is non existence, and if that is non existent, the process too, must be non existent. And therefore, the mind is non existent. Now, you will ask, where does this process come from? Where do these thoughts come from going thro ugh my mind, in and out, up and down, where do they come from? I said a moment ago that you can't think, you don't own the thoughts. Where do they come from? Good. Now, we do know that there is this one Divinity, and that Kingdom of Heaven within each o ne of us is the same Kingdom of Heaven, one Kingdom of Heaven. The totality of the entire Kingdom of Heaven within is the entirety of it, although you might feel it is encapsuled within you. It is like a broadcast. A transmitting s tation broadcasts a sy mphony and there are five or ten million radios. Now, this very broadcast one radio does not pick up a fraction of that symphony and another radio another fraction. No. Each radio picks up the entire symphony. Each radio

5. U S 80 - 22 picks up the entire symphony, s o therefore, in that way the entirety of Divinity is within you, the Kingdom of Heaven is within you. Now, if this is so, and if we can observe the fleeting thoughts, then where have these thoughts come from? They have come from this kingdom itself. A reflection, a distortion of the Kingdom of Heaven within. Now, in other words, thoughts are the manifestation of the Manifestor. As the nature of fire is to give heat, as the nature of the flower is to give fragrance, so the Manifestor or that Heaven, or God, or whatever name you want to call it, it, by its very nature, emanates this manifestation, and this very manifestation is thought. So the process is to not be stuck in manifestation, but to recognize the Manifestor. And that is how you can say "I a nd my Father are one." That is how one can say "I and my Father are one." And when we say "I and my Father are one," what we are actually doing is allowing the manifestation to merge back into the Manifestor. So here you are taking all the thoughts and m erging it back to the source. Merging it back to the source. For only the source, or the Manifestor can exist, nothing else. For if the Manifestor is omnipresent, then it has to be present in everything. So with this manifestation, say from the fire, t he heat emanates. The fire does not create heat, it is the nature of the fire to give off heat. Now, this very heat, going through the various processes, can be converted into so many different kinds of energies. And these energies combine and recombine and reproduce seemingly different products. Yet the essence is the same. Like I said, you can take a lump of clay and you mold an elephant with the clay, and with the same clay you mold a mouse, or whatever. You look at it and you say, "Ah, that's an e lephant, that's a mouse, that's a man, that's a woman. But in essence what is it? Clay. So that thought force, that energy which is emanated or manifested from the Manifestor, that very force is but one. So in reality what do we find? Only one thought force, one manifested energy. But by it manipulating itself like wind, you blow the same wind through different instruments and produce different sounds. One through a saxophone, different sound, same wind; one through the clarinet and a different soun d; and so many scores of other instruments. And then we say ahh, this is a clarinet, this is a saxophone. But what is it in reality? The same wind, the same air. So there is only one thought. But by its various forms of manipulation, it is thought to be different. We think it is different because we look at surface values, and not its essence. So what happens is this, that through meditation and spiritual practices we come to realize the essence of it all, and the essence of all thought is but one. And when we bring the outer manifestation to that oneness, then can we merge it into the Manifestor. And once it is merged into the Manifestor, then thought does not exist, mind does not exist, the obstacle is gone. So the spirit is there forever pure. The manifestation in its primal form, the one thought or call it the Word first was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word is God. That primal manifestation or one thought, being converted into vibration, and vibration reverberating becomes sound,

6. U S 80 - 22 sound congealing itself; and having motion creates these various forms we call table, chair, flowers, roof, ceiling, light. But the essence is one. Now, with meditational practices we reach the essence, and by essence we mean the subtlest level of what we know as mind. Now for clarification purposes, we can divide it up. We have the surface conscious mind, then we have the subconscious mind which psychologists talk about. They've touched the surface, good. But beyond that we have the superconscious mind. All three categories in reality are non existent. But we face this in the sense, in the relative sense. So through meditation, what happens is this: we go beyond the conscious mind where those thought forms are brought to the surface from the subc onscious mind. For the subconscious mind is the area where all the thoughts are clashing, clashing all the time, creating a center called the ego. So through meditation we go beyond the conscious level, surface level, of thought and go to the subconsciou s level where a great clearing up, spring cleaning through meditation takes place. A channel is formed from the conscious surface level through the subconscious mind and to the superconscious mind. The subtlest level of thought form is the superconscious mind. The subtlest level of relativity. Now, at the subtlest level, we are approaching or reaching the area of primal manifestation. And primal manifestation is at its purest observable level. And being at its purest level, the spirit within shines. S o when we do that, allow the spirit within to shine and we cognize that light, we very spontaneously bring it to the conscious level. So we don't control thought, but we govern thought by drawing upon those powerful subtle energies of the superconscious m ind. And this helps us in daily life. For we are mixed up in this crisscross. And it is only by drawing energies from the superconscious level that we start cognizing in the sense of knowingness that all these thought forms going through my mind have no validity whatsoever. And when we can do that is when we become observers of the conscious level of the mind. So here, the subtler level of the mind is now observing the grosser level, and by the subtler level observing the grosser level of the mind, it is automatically allowing those energies the subtler a thing, the more powerful it is we're allowing that subtle energy which is so much more powerful to permeate the subconscious and the conscious mind, and misery starts ceasing, becomes less and less and less. We are not destroying thoughts. How can you destroy something which has no real existence? For even the manifestation does not really exist. It is a superimposition. You see a film projected on the screen. It seems so real, all the actions are happening there. But is it real? Go near and touch it, it is not real, it is just a white sheet. So upon the white sheet of the spirit, by its own nature, by its own manifestation, all these pictures appear. Now, when this realization dawns, we all ow the pictures to play, we allow the drama of life to unfold on that screen, which is the actuality. The pictures are real in the relative sense, but in the Absol ute sense, the screen is action.

7. U S 80 - 22 So what do we have to do is jump off the bus, I said last ni ght. I said last night, the only thing we can do is to jump off the bus, jump off this crisscrossing, this whirlpool which is the mind and reach the bottom. For the currents of the whirlpool are only on top. At the bottom it is quiet, it is quiet. And that bottom top whirlpool is big it narrows down to a fine point when it reaches the bottom of the ocean, and that fine point is the superconscious mind. And going through that you reach the bottom level which is silent, still, unmoving. So here we have all this assumed change based upon total changelessness. All this instability upon that which is totally stable. So we don't try to remove obstacles. We cannot push it away from ourselves. By meditation we start activating the right hemisphere of the brain. Twelve billion cells and only one millionth part of this little organ is used. One millionth part. So by meditation, more and more cells are awakened, cells of this organ are awakened, and as they become more and more awakened, the greater and gre ater and subtler and subtler thought forces can be portrayed through it. [END SIDE ONE] [TAPE MUST BE REWOUND TO BEGIN SIDE TWO] GURURAJ: With the help of the five sense, then life becomes beautiful... [TAPE GLITCH] the lack of spiritual energy that m akes life miserable. So when we meditation and spiritual practices, we are drawing from a far deeper source than what we are now aware of. And not only that, we are also activating this physical organ called the brain. We are awakening all those dormant cells so that more and more of those energies could shine forth, come through. That's the only difference between you and Einstein. And yet Einstein could only use a little portion of the brain. Very small portion , eight percent, ten percent. So now, finding the ability to be in touch with your actual self, the spirit within, you develop greater and greater awareness, helped by the greater and greater activation of brain cells. Good. Greater and greater activation of brain cells. For the brain beco mes more and more nourished, it becomes more and more efficient, and you develop a greater and greater awareness. And the limit of your awareness is as vast as the universe. For then you reach the stage of one thought, and that one thought is the universe . So with the help of the physical organs, you reach the entirety of the mind. And when you reach the entirety of the mind, you transcend that which we know as time and space. And time and space, too, is a creation of thought. Time and space exists for us because we are governed in this process of thought. And if the process of thought has no reality of its own, then time and space has no reality too. We are then in a different dimension. Man has the ability, not only to operate in a three dimensional world, but he has the ability to operate in various greater and greater dimensions, until all the dimensions are brought together in the palm of your hand. The universe is just there.

8. U S 80 - 22 Time and space ceases, as Blake would say, eternity in an hour. I say in a moment. And man can experience the entirety of the eternal reality, the eternal actuality in a moment! One flash. For do you know how old this universe is? Our scientists say millions of years and this that. That is thinking only from the relati ve aspect and measuring it in a linear fashion. But from the other dimension, where meditation and spiritual practices can take you, this universe is just a flicke r of an eye. That is the duration of this universe. And even those very scientists will te ll you today I speak as a mystic those very scientists will tell you today that there are so many stars and universes and galaxies exploding even at this very moment. Exploding and recreating itself. For all this is a process, the universe is nothing e lse but process. And we are mixed up in this process and overpowered by these thought forms. And these very thoughts give things name and form. So once we transcend all name and form, we reach the essence. We reach the essence of that primal manifestat ion; and then the primal manifestation is merged away into the Manifestor, and then you say Brahmasmi, I am God. You can't say it now, but at that stage when you merge away you say, "I am God." There is a lovely Persian poem which I am very fond of. I th ink I have repeated it at least a thousand times. A lover went to his beloved and he knocked on the door. She asks, "Who is it?" And he replies, "I'm so and so." The door was not opened. Next day he went again and he knocked on the door and she asks ag ain and he says, "I'm John Johnson," and the door was not opened. Then on the third day he went again and when she asked who is it and he says, "I am thee, my beloved." The door was immediately opened. So to find that oneness and that oneness can only be found when we realize that this entire universe is nothing but a process. And by assuming this individuality, we have created an ego, and this ego, too, is false. And yet in its falsity it has developed the attitude of clinging: you cling to life all the time. Why do you have to cling to life? Because the ego identifies itself with Divinity and does not want to lose itself. False identification. But when it loses itself, then Divin ity shines through. For all is Divine, all is Divine. False values are created. It's like a woman who is so faithful to the husband, but the husband's mind is perverted and he's so jealous of her and accuses her of all kinds of unfaithfulnesses. Thought processes, thought, and yet this very thought hurts the man so much , gives him so much misery and pain. Based on what? Based on total falsity. Likewise, all the suffering of mankind is based on total falsity. If man assumes to himself even using the process of thought by saying to himself that I am Divine, I am Divine, for if God is omnipresent then everything that is me is Divine, every cell in my body or brain is Divinity itself. And when that is realized, not by thinking, because the false you never think of the real or understand it. It will think that it thinks on borrowed thought, like a man opening a big business on a bank overdraft, it's not his money, so how can he call it his business? He's just manipulating, he's just a clearinghouse, he's just an instrument in the circulation of money. It's not his shop o r his business, it's the bank's business, the bank's

9. U S 80 - 22 money. Likewise, thoughts, they are not ours. We can govern them and let them pass by, like on the cinema screen. Let them pass. And when we allow them to pass we can stand aside as the eternal witne ss. And when we stand aside as the eternal witness, then those thoughts do not affect us. They do not leave an impression. For once impressions are created in the so called mind, they start mixing around. That's what all your dreams are made of, impress ions through so many lifetimes being compounded in various forms. And then if dreams are that and when we wake up we say "Ah, that was a dream." But while we are dreaming it was so real, so real. And so is this life but a dream. Why cling? Why cling, w hy cling? It's about an hour and a half. Oh, I'm a chatterbox. I'm not thinking. I never do, really. I just sit and allow something inside to flow through. Tomorrow you ask me, Guruji, what did you speak about last night? I wouldn't know. Neverthe less, clinging, we become so attached and if we become attached to our actual self, ah, joy, joy, joy. But when we become attached to our false ego self, misery, misery, misery. Huh? This talk of tonight, there is one reason for speaking longer than usu al on the first night. Think! What a thing to say after saying all thoughts are false. [laughter] Think. We're using this process, get mixed up in the process. Fine. And from tonight's talk you could have a thousand questions. I've left purposely a lot of gaps in between. Why? To make you think. So think a bit tonight. But don't think too hard, you might not be able to sleep. Think tonight, create more questions, and tomorrow we'll continue, because it was a special request from our president th at we're going to have a series on a particular subject. So, if it is possible, okay. Good. It is so nice to see you all. A lot of new faces, some faces I do know, and some visitors from England. You have introduced them. They are so kind to come from England, especially to visit us on these courses. And... VOICE: We think a lot of t hem, and they talk funny so we like to have them speak. GURURAJ: Then fine. I shall say namaste to you all. See you in the morning. Sleep well. By the way, [?????] VOICE: ...for the first night it was very good. ***END***