1. U S 81 - 19 ABIDING IN CHRIST VOICE: This is a satsang with Gururaj Ananda Yogi. U.S.A., 1981, number 19. Recorded at the Brethren Center in New Windsor, Maryland. GUR URAJ: Once I was a guest in a home and they gave me a lovely bedroom upstairs to sleep in. And the lady of the house early in the morning, you know, I heard this beautiful voice chanting, aim hrim krim chamunda ye ve che che, aim hrim krim chamunda ye ve che che, aim hrim krim chamunda ye ve che che. Just so beautiful the sound floating upstairs. And then when I came down I said to the lady of the house, "This is something very beautiful starting your day off like this with the chant." And so she says, "Guruji," she hummed and hawed a bit but she said, "Guruji, I'll have to tell you the truth, I use three rounds of chanting for soft boiled eggs, and five rounds for hard boiled eggs." [LAUGHTER] Good. What shall we speak about this evening? VIDYA: Gu ruji, Paul said in Romans, "Have this mind in you, which was in Christ Jesus." What is this mind which was in Christ Jesus? Jesus said, "As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me." Wha t is the nature of this abiding? GURURAJ: Um hm. Beautiful. The mind of Christ. He had no mind. He was devoid of mind, Christ was. But Jesus had a mind. And as we have said in other talks, that mind is none else but a collection of your impressions and experiences. So when one abides in mind or talks of the mind, what is meant here is not the mind that we normally know of, but that means consciousness. So abide in that consciousness, then only shall you know me. How else can you know me if you do not abide in my consciousness, for my consciousness is universal. It is made of the stuff the entire universe is made of. And when you abide in that consciousness, you become that consciousness. And so it is said in all theologies, and even Jesus too, Christ said that you come to me. Through me you reach the Father. In other words, man must reach the stage of Christhood or reach that consciousness, or as we term it, reach that state of awareness where you start abiding spontaneously in that consciousne ss. Right. Now, the question would rise, "How do we become aware of that consciousness?" What is that consciousness? Is it a physical entity? Is it composed of any matter? What is that consciousness? Is that consciousness definable? At its highest level it is indefinable, indescribable, ineffable. But there are stages to consciousness. There are stages. And

2. U S 81 - 19 certain stages can be defined where you are aware of the consciousness. And that is what some people term "cosmic consciousness," where you still remain apart. Where the true abiding has not yet taken place, but a form of knowingness has taken place. Where you know of that consciousness. Your rational mind is pleased. You are using the left hemisphere of your brain that would analyze that there is something far greater than me. And what I am experiencing with my mind, [or?] trade through the left hemisphere of the brain is just not enough, for the left hemisphere of the brain i s forever in turbulence. So the brain is the physiological co unterpart of that mind. While the right hemisphere, the non analytical side of our brain is the one that is connected to that superconsiousness. So here we could, for the sake of analysis, divide up consciousness into various parts: the consciousness that we are conscious of, and the consciousness that is conscious of itself. And you are not aware, you have no recognition of that consciousness, the refore can you abide in it. That means a total oneness, where you do not know the abode but you live in it as we do every day. You have a staircase in your home going upstairs. How many of you know how many steps there are going upstairs? How many of yo u have really counted? Very few, I'm sure. You live in your home. How many of you have ever wondered how many bricks have made up this home? No, it is your abode. You are just there. And that is what exactly happens when you abide in that mind called consciousness. When Christ refers to mind, he refers there also to manifestation, the manifestation of the Father in the form of mind. Now, mind has always been equated with the analytical side of oneself, and that is a fallacy. For you can approach and reach that state of mind which knows no analysis. So the mind has these two major parts: one analyzes, one rationalizes and the other doesn't. Because the part of the mind that analyzes only for one reason because it is patterned, it is programed; there fore, analysis takes place. While the other portion of the mind is totally unpatterned, it is free as the wind. It is as open as the sky. No patterning, no conditioning. So to reach that abode one has to go beyond patternings. In Sanskrit we say one rises above samskaras. So from bondage one reaches freedom. And freedom can only be reached when there are no patternings, when there are no conditions. And that is the mind that man reaches. That is the mind man is capable of at any given moment, with proper spiritual practices. So when one reaches that unconditioned level of the mind, one becomes at one ment. Atonement: at one ment with that level where no analysis is required, but just a sublime experience of joy exists. And yet you are conscious o f experiencing the joy. And that is the highest level man can reach as long as he is in this process of evolution. There is still a stage further, which we will talk about as we go on. So what Jesus showed was the potentiality of man. Showed what man is capable of and is able to do: to go beyond the patternings that causes all the miseries in this world. And miseries are none else but the various patterns: names, shapes, forms. So that is why we try and modulate, regulate, and change the analytical min d by listening to the words of

3. U S 81 - 19 wise men, by reading good books. And thereby we do some form of repatterning. But that is not enough. That is not enough. That can only lead you to a certain stage, a necessary stage. And then we make that jump. Through s piritual practices we make that jump from the left hemisphere of the brain to the right hemisphere. And that is the hemisphere where billions and billions of cells are lying dormant, as I mentioned the other day. It is totally awake, bu t dormant in the s ense that it cannot communicate with the left hemisphere. That is why we call it dormant. The true awakening only comes in man when he can make that jump into the unknown. So the spiritual path is the path of the one that is brave, and prepared to jump i nto the unknown to take that leap. For all your karma yoga, all your actions in life, which are normally termed "right action," all the thinking processes we go through, which is normally termed "right thinking," is but a preparation only. It is the p reparation to give you the courage to make that jump into the unknown. For Divinity, to your analytical mind, is an unknown quantity. So many religions tell you to believe. Believe this and believe that and believe this. And you accept it in good faith. And yet you know nothing of it. I never tell a person to believe. That was good at certain times, in certain periods of history. When Jesus taught he taught mostly to the peasant classes, the ordinary layman, the fisherman. He taught to them. And for t hem that path was totally necessary for them to believe. And all beliefs if strong enough can be materialized. But today man's mind has changed a lot. He has succeeded in developing a lot of the left hemisphere of the brain. He has become more analyti cal. When I get initiation forms from America, for example, there are very few initiates, or those that want to be initiated, that has not a degree behind his name. So people have become very education conscious, and by that their minds have started enqu iring and probing. So if I tell you "believe in this," it will not be accepted. So the teaching for today and for the next centuries to come, perhaps, for generations and generations to come, is not to say "believe," but to say "experience." Experience it! Don't believe in it, but know it! For experiencing is knowing. Now, when I say experiencing, I do not mean these flash experiences one gets. You see stars and you see lights and you see colors and things like that. It only means one thing, that you are experiencing certain layers of your mind at deeper levels. You are perceiving substances, matter, for that matter, substances which the normal eyes cannot see; and which you have now started seeing with the inner eye, the third eye, as they would commo nly call it. Or the ajna chakra is being opened. But this is no true sign of spirituality. It is good to have that, it is good to have those experiences. They coul d be encouraging for the most. But true spirituality can be had without any of the flash iness that's involved. It is not necessary. Fine. So here we enter into that unknown area which we call the divine, and we start experiencing or bringing back to our conscious mind in a limited quality or a limited quantity that which is divine. And by bringing that to our conscious mind, to the analytical mind, we spontaneously start practicing it. And that means not believing in God, but living God. That means living God. But that is not the totality.

4. U S 81 - 19 The totality only comes when all experience ceas es, for who is there to experience. You have to do it on your own. A teacher only guides, shows you the way, shows you the path. That is what gurus do, that's all they do. But you have to go solo. You have to walk on your own feet, and you need help. A child needs help when he starts walking. You hold his hand until he gets used to walking, finds the balance, and the feet... the legs becomes stronger, and the child starts walking on his own. But you have to walk yourself. Many of you might have hear d of that great Polish musician Paderewski. Good. So one day Paderewski meets a young man, a society man, very rich, who was a polo player. They met together. They sat down for a cup to tea together, and they started discussing their work. So the polo player asked Paderewski what he does. So he said that, "I am a poor... you are a dear soul that plays polo, and I am a poor Pole that plays solo." [LAUGHTER] So you see we need to go on this path playing solo. Yes. But Paderewski, the Pole, also had to have a teacher until he could play solo himself. So these teachings that are contained in all the theologies and the scriptures are just but guidelines. You do not need to adhere to them to the "t." But all these guidelines have to be adapted to your personal needs. And that is the role of a guru. He knows how to adapt practices or whatever to your personal needs. Because having traveled the path, having known the path, he could take you to the place where you have to be without you stumbling around. So this is what is meant by "abide in me." To abide in that consciousness, that vast consciousness that comprises the relative universe. Therefore he was the son of the Father. Therefore he is regarded to be the personal god. And this applies to Krish na and Buddha and Mahavir and all of them. The impersonal God personalized for a purpose. Now, how is this done? How is this done? We have said in other talks that this universe is but a manifestation of the impersonal, like the heat giving off fire. And not creating the heat... the fire giving off the heat and yet not creating the heat. It is its nature. So the impersonal has to be personalized so that your mind could have some perception, could have some conception. For how could you conceive of D ivinity which is abstract, the unknown, without having something to focus upon? So these great masters have become points of focus. So through the concrete we reach the abstract. Huh? Now, what does Christ's consciousness represent? What does Krishna's or Buddha's consciousness represent? They represent the totality of the universal emanation. Everything emanates something. You, as you are sit there, are emanating a certain energy. Occultists would call it an aura, because it could be seen by the thi rd eye. They call it an aura. Psychics call it something else. I call it an energy which flows from you. As you take in energy, as you take in the prana through food and breathing, so you also let off energy. And this has been found through Kirlian ph otography and through various other methods. And this, to the person that has psychic ability, that word too I don't like, the person that has the ability and that has opened up certain things within himself, is able to perceive these things. Not with the naked eye, but with the inner eye. Right. Now, as each and everything emanates something... this table is emanating all the

5. U S 81 - 19 time a certain form of energy, this chair is emanating all the time a certain form of energy, and so is everything else. Jung call ed it the collective consciousness. Good. So the totality of all these energies that are emanated from this universe: the world emanates a certain energy, the solar system, all these millions of galaxies that make up the totality of this universe combin es itself, and that is what we know as consciousness. So, it works two ways. Here in the first place it is the automatic manifestation in a personalized, tangible energy from the impersonal, and that in turn is combined with the emanation of the universe . So, therefore, from one side a totally impersonal, divine source. From the other side a material source, the emanation of this material universe combines and condenses itself. So, therefore, there is no difference, as scientists have now discovered, b etween matter and energy. Energy is matter and matter is energy. Now, the greatest suffering that these avataras or incarnations go through is from that universal state. They have to condense themselves into these little bodies. That is their greatest s uffering. It's like a funnel, so wide on top and so narrow at the bottom. So why should this happen? Why should this happen? For two reasons. There are two. For two reasons. Firstly, the universe with its emanation also has a magnetic force. So when imbalances increase, so when imbalances increase, this magnetic force, because of the imbalance, this magnetic force is magnified or accelerated to draw upon this consciousness to bring about a balance. That's the one side of it. The other side is this, that this consciousness by its very nature obeys the demands of what the universe requires. It cannot refuse it. Therefore, in Eastern mythologies you would find it being said that you can bring the gods to your knees if your tapas is strong enough. And that is what is meant that faith can move mountains. So you can bring the gods down to earth if you are established within yourself. So it works two ways. And the entire universe functions in this way attraction and repulsion, expansion and contracti on will forever be there. So this vast consciousness is also subjected to that law of attraction and repulsion, expansion and contraction. It too is subjected just as you are subjected to it. So because of the imbalances caused, this consciousness becom es embodied. So "abide in me" means become one with this consciousness that I bring to you in tangible form. But you are the one that has to recognize it. If Buddha or Jesus or Krishna or Christ would come walking down the road, and I've said this very o ften, you'd just bypass him. You would not recognize him, because the quality of recognition is in you, not in Jesus or in Buddha or in Krishna. It is you that's important. You are the solo player. So you have this recognition. You have the powers of c ognition inbuilt just to be unfolded. And then you would know what consciousness is, what Christ is. Then you could see through the body of Jesus that used to wine and dine with Pharisees and moneylenders, that used to be great friends with prostitutes. Then you can see through that embodied being, that consciousness that exhibited or portrayed or poured itself as love and compassion. You see.

6. U S 81 - 19 This is abiding in that consciousness. For in the first place you have never been away from home. You have always been at home. There is nowhere to go. In the Father's mansion there are many rooms. Yes. And you have moved from one room to the other. That's all you have been doing, running around in circles chasing your tail. That's all. That's all you hav e been doing. And that's all we need to do. You do not need to go out. For if all existence comprises this universe, where can you go to? Nowhere. Nowhere. Just now, here. But that recognition must dawn. You must become conscious of consciousness. Then the appreciation comes. And when we abode in that consciousness, and make that consciousness our abide, then automatically we assume the qualities of that consciousness, which are but love and compassion, kindness; where you feel the pain of your br other man if he is pained; where you feel the joy of your friend who is joyous. For are you really apart? You are not your brother's keeper. That is said in a totally different sense. That is said in the sense of helping. That i s said in the sense of separation that you are your brother's keeper. In reality you are your brother. You are not apart from him. Like you know that old song, "I'm my own grandpa." Huh, you know that one? Very true. You are. You see. You see. So where is my abode? Is i t not in that consciousness? Is it not in that consciousness? And then you can put on labels: Christ, Krishna, anything. Those are labels, names. Only the one consciousness exists. And you as the manifested can only reach the finest level of manifesta tion. And that can be made known to you. When you go in that communion, you are totally aware of the entire universe. You are totally aware. You are totally aware of awareness itself. And then after that, after that you reach the stage which becomes a spontaneous act where you just merge away. Into what? Into that nothingness which is everything. Then the light, then the light does not need to shine any more, for you are the electricity . You don't need the bulb. You are the electricity, that unknow n quantity. So, how can Divinity be recognized? How can electricity be recognized? There's not been a scientist yet that could define electricity. And yet we use it all the time in everything we do. Everything is electrified by that energy. And like th at everything existent in this universe is empowered and electrified by that unknown quantity X. You see. So you abide in Christ. "You cannot reach the Father but through me," that is very true. How you interpret it depends upon your understanding and your awareness. In reality it is this, that you become one with the totality of consciousness. You reach the highest level of relativity, but to merge away into the Absolute, into the source of all things. You cease to be the flower and you become t he sap. You become the source that makes the plant grow. Do you see. So when I said, "You merge away into nothingness," means you merge away into the everythingness. So then consciousness is not

7. U S 81 - 19 required at that stage. There is no consciousness. Ther e is no awareness. It just is, as electricity is indefinable. But up to the subtlest relative some definitions can be made. Cognitions dawn. People talk of self realization. What are they realizing? What self are they realizing? Are they realizing and this is what all the teachers have taught so far what are they really realizing? Say,"I am a self realized man," they say. What have you realized? You have only realized the totality of existence. But that only comprises the personal god, or t he totality of energy that is existent, the totality of manifestation. But you have still not reached the Manifestor. And you can only become one with the Manifestor, the unknown quantity, if you have reached the totality of His manifestation. Do you se e. So the self realized man has only realized the totality of manifestation. And the qualities of the totality of manifestatio ns are three: all knowledge, all existence and all bliss. [END SIDE ONE] GURURAJ: Sat chit. So you reach only sat chit ananda: existence, knowledge and bliss. That's all you reach. That's as far as you can go while still maintaining this human frame. That is far as Jesus or Buddha or Christ went. And them also having had this human form, and you too having this human form can reach where they have reached: sat chit ananda. Do you see. And then when the body is discarded, the ego self has become so refined, so transparent, the opaqueness is gone, the clouds have dispersed that had clouded the vision of consciousness. When that has dispersed, then after leaving this body you just merge away into the actuality. Until then you reach reality. That is the personal god. And then the actuality. So our teachings go further t han the Vedanta, which they define as absolute knowledge, absolute existence and absolute bliss; which is said to be, up to now, the highest thought conceivable by man. But I say this unto you that there is still a stage further. For absolute knowledge, absolute existence and absolute bliss are but qualities. How can you add on qualities to that which is qualityless? How can you give the attributeless any attributes? For bliss is an attribute. Existence is an attribute. Knowledge is an attribute. Yo u see. Such a long journey it is. So far. So far and yet so near. So so near. Universe so vast, incomprehensibly vast, but yet what is more incomprehensible is that the entire universe exists in a grain of sand. It's easy to try and think that this un iverse is so vast. But how much more difficult it is to be able to think that the entire universe is in the grain of sand. So how insignificant and how significant everything is, huh, because we dwell in the realms of mind. We dwell in the realms of thoug ht. So I do not say become thoughtless, but I say become thoughtful. Ah. Not thoughtless, but thoughtful. To be able to appreciate, to cognize the fullness that is forever within us. We know about what is full. We

8. U S 81 - 19 know about fullness, too. But we sp ell it differently f, double o, l. [LAUGHTER] Yah. But when we reach the f u l l, ah, there is where we dwell. There is where we dance and sing and play, filled with ecstasy, enjoying the entire creation, abiding in the Christ. What greater joy can man be capable of? For beyond that there is nothing left. Where you as that little atom, as you class yourself, merges away into the atomless atom and become the empowering source or the force of that which is manifested. You become the impersonal Mani festor. So these are the stages man goes through. At what stage are we today in the scheme of evolution? We are at a very high stage, man is. There is a saying in some ancient mythologies that even angels envy men; for they have the power of cognition, t hey have the power within them to unfold themselves. For in the world of angels there is no unfoldment, there is stagnation. You just remain where you are. So angels too have to take birth as humans. Yah. Angels too have to take birth as humans, and I see quite a lot of angels around. Yes. Yes. Why? To progress. To march on to the totality. Do you see. And these other beings can be perceived. Can be perceived. There are stages on other planets higher than man, where, as I've said many times b efore, verbal communication is not necessary, it becomes automatic. I wish the day would come one day where I would just sit here and you sit there, not a word would be uttered and all the questions in your minds would just be answered without you asking them. It happens to a little degree now, too. But I would like to see it in its totality. Praise the Lord, for so shall it be. So shall it be. So practice your meditations. Don't be lazy! Practice your spiritual practices and this will come to pass, for it is possible. And having gone through this possibility, I know the value of it, and I know the possibility of it. In my vocabulary, and I' ve said this many times, it's a favorite of mine, there's no such thing as impossible. If you would just put in that apostrophe of spiritual practices between the i and the m I'm possible, not impossible. Do you see. So that is how we abide in Christ. That is what gurushakti and other practices are all about, where we consciously, with the little minds, abi de in that; or we take our little conscious mind to a level of that remembrance of that which was in Jesus, of that which is in Gururaj, of tha t which is in you and not to that unknown quantity. That will come automatically. You don't need to go to that G od, to that impersonal God. He comes to you. Do you see. But we have to first to reach that level. You want fresh air on the balcony upstairs? You've got to climb up the stairs to reach that balcony and all th e fresh air comes to you. You don't need to go and call it. If you become beautiful flowers you do not need to call the butterflies, they come automatically because you have created that beauty in yourself. You are abiding in that consciousness where all this impersonal, that which is known as the impersonal God, comes to you; and so beautifully, so sweetly, and you are just swept away. Just swept away into the unknown. Ah. Can you just but for a moment imagine it? No, you can't. Imagination is too limited, because imagination is image maki ng. And you can only reach that of which you have made an image. You see. So it's beyond all imagination, beyond all description. And that is the ultimate aim of life.

9. U S 81 - 19 Consciously or unconsciously you are reaching there. Yes, but why wait for millions of years and millions of lifetimes, when so much can be done in this lifetime. But people want miracles. You see. They want miracles. That's the trouble with us. I am ill. I am ill. Keep on repeating to yourself morning, noon and night, I'm ill. I 'm ill. Yah. And you become more ill. You do. Instead of thinking of the glory of God, that beautiful Serenity Prayer, "Let me change the things I can, and accept the things that I cannot change." Huh? Why not? If a child is born without limbs, shoul d he be taught to mope his whole life through that, I have no limbs, I have no limbs? No, that would be wrong. But to teach him that you are just as human as I am, with limbs or without. And sometimes I wish I had no limbs like you, for these limbs might have made me walk on paths that are not conducive to nature. Or in the path of nature I might have strayed because I have limbs. I might have been better if I had no limbs like you. Abide in me and be of good cheer, that is the message. Old as the olde st and ever new, ever fresh. Do you see. That's how it works. So simple. I was telling some people the other day that if you start writing your books on the things I talk about, give it one title, S o Simple. You know I heard some complaints this morni ng about the dining room. Someone apparently was in the dining room and took his napkin, tied it around his neck but, of course, Doug assures me it's not one of our meditators. It is... must be some person of Italian origin must have passed here and d ropped in for dinner. Because, you know, when they eat their spaghetti they have to, you know, tie a napkin around their necks. So here the person in charge of the dining room, you know, thought, "Oh, this is not done here." So he called his chief wait er and says, "Look, I want you to go to this man," right, "and you must be very polite, and very tactful not to hurt the feelings. But you have to tell him at the same time th at you're not allowed to tie a napkin around your neck. You put it on your lap or wherever." So the waiter, thoughtful man, thought, "What shall I do now? What a job to tell him to remove that without hurting his feelings." So he goes up to this diner and says, "Sir, what would you like, shave or haircut?" [LAUGHTER] Yes. Yeah. I think it's about time to end. Meanwhile, people are so fond of confusing themselves. They know that they are in confusion, and yet they act or think in such a way where they are led to greater and greater confusions. They lie to themselves. Why, we d on't know. Why? They bluff themselves. And that is the last person one should bluff is yourself, because you're harming yourself. Good. Here was this church minister who always had a habit of telling his congregation what he was going to talk about the next Sunday. So he said, "My sermon next Sunday is going to be on liars. But in preparation for that I want you, my good people, to do one thing. I want you to read the first ten verses of Hebrews, chapter XIV. And I'll be talking... my sermon will be on liars." So the next Lord's day came, Sunday came, and he says, "All of you who have read the first ten verses of Hebrew, XIV, please raise your hands." So there was a goodly show of hands. So after people got settled down, the

10. U S 81 - 19 minister said that, "The re is no Hebrew, XIV. [LAUGHTER] And so I dedicate this sermon to all those people who raised their hands." [LAUGHTER] Good. So on this note we shall call it a day. Look, we don't bluff ourselves. We be honest and sincere to ourselves. **** END ****