14 August 2010

Doership is a myth


In many temples in India, you will see people burning camphor. When you burn camphor, it burns brightly, but after the flame is exhausted there is no residue. Nothing remains. This camphor represents your identified state; the fire is satsang itself. It will remove all your identifications; nothing will be left. Be like this camphor. 

In fact, if you leave camphor exposed to the air, after a few weeks, it evaporates. One time I bought a box of camphor, and I didn’t know very much about it at that time. I had this box stored away in my room, I had forgotten about it. After some months, I went and opened the box and there was nothing there; it had vanished. How wonderful ! Similarly like camphor, you vanish. You vanish meaning what ? All the ideas you have held about yourself are vanishing. Even at this moment, what remains ? 

You know what, I look at some of you and I can tell. I look in your eyes. Some of you, there is nothing behind those eyes. Nothing. There is just a shell sitting here. Just a shell, nothing inside. Empty. You have the look of these chickens when they are hatching, a kind of in-drawn look in the eyes when the chicken is sitting on the egg. You have that same look of emptiness: Nobody there. Still, these words are simply arising in consciousness. They are heard. Perception is there; perceiving is being perceived. But what of you, the perceiver ? What picture can you present as yourself right now ? Where are you in all of this ? And yet I see there is no anxiety. No turbulence. Stay here. Stay here. I don’t mean ‘Sit quietly, shut your door, hide away from the world’. This is only another thought. Satsang is not contrary to activity. Activities are arising. It’s also witnessed that some power creates this activity. It’s unfolding, and this activity is also manifested through this form, this body. The identification, all of that, is the activity of some power. How does it come about ? Activities are arising in consciousness. What is aware of this ? You are the awareness in which all of this is simply arising. Let it be so. No need to interfere. Now some sensation, inclination, some urge to move is carried through in the presence of this. It’s very natural.

Get used to yourself as emptiness.

I’m not here advocating a new role for you to play. In fact I am removing all your roles. Who is the role player ? The sense of doership has been that. Doership is a myth. The vital force inherent in consciousness is spontaneously going on and there is the witnessing of this. But you are not the witnesser. Witnessing is spontaneously there. What are you ? Get used to yourself as emptiness - empty beyond the concept of empty. How can I touch you ? What is there for me to see of you ? Where are you ? Are not you also just an idea in this ? 

Now, fear comes. Fear arises. ‘Oh, if I am not, how can I continue ?’. This is also a thought. In beingness there is no discontinuing or continuing. These are simply thoughts. You are quite at ease here. Total relaxation in beingness. Total presence. Here you are where you are not. This type of craziness we speak only here, and yet all of this resonates with total truth and clarity in you. You can never articulate this effectively. There is no word, no concept that can convey this. Simply you are. Honour this. How ? By keeping out the tendency to flow out with your thoughts. The thoughts are arising. Let them arise, don’t panic. Stay only as emptiness. Keep the mind in neutral. And then what is now called mind will only be Self. Stay here. You are already one with this. You only dreamed that you were other than this. 

I remind you again that one of the most virile tendencies of the consciousness, when it identifies, is to arise as ‘I am the doer’. Don’t touch this doer sensation, and then you are free. Touch the doer, be the doer, and karma is there for you, and you will reap the fruits of karma. Be the doer and you take on the responsibility of your identification. Don’t touch this doer sense, and you stay as freedom. Activities don’t imply doership. Activities are arising by themselves, spontaneously. Touch the doer sense, and you start to navigate in the world of manifestation. You start to avoid, choose, judge; you come into the field of hardship, arrogance, pride - the ills of mankind, I would say. Stay put only as emptiness and see. 

The thought will arise ‘But how can I stay like this when I have duties to perform ?’ Some people have said ‘It’s alright to come to satsang and have these lovely feelings, but now I must go back to the real world’. What is the real world ? You mean then you must go back to the unreal world. Stay as the real. What is the real ? The real is not a void. All this, all that you can perceive, remember, think, is a play in consciousness. When we say ‘real world’, we often mean running back to the insanity of identification. You have this impression that without taking hold of what you perceive and conceive of as your role, your duty as a doer, then you might as well be dead. 

But I tell you that whatever role this body-mind expression has come to play, it will be played. If you feel that by listening and honouring what you have heard here that you simply have to sit in your room and go nowhere and avoid people, then you are sadly mistaken. Life goes on, and in fact, it will play out much more richly, much more beautifully, but you will not exchange your peace for it. When you stay put as emptiness, you will see that everything is there. If you see the personality only as a role that consciousness plays in this form, it’s fine. You don’t have to go to anybody and say ‘I am not John now, I am the I’. That’s not true. You can say ‘I, me, mine’, ‘I am doing this’, ‘I am going there’, but it will not leave any strong impression in the consciousness. All this is simply the functioning of the consciousness. It’s very wonderful when seen from the place of non-identification; with identification it becomes very chaotic. 

Take a lesson from me. I also am here. Some may be inclined to think ‘Well, it’s alright for you, you travel around, you talk to people. This is what you do.’ But there are very varied expressions also for me. I am also running a little chai shop and sometimes the energy is there to do gardening, or to travel or whatever. It happens. I don’t interfere with that. I let it play itself out, it’s fine. I am there present in all of it. My joy is not diminished, my peace is not diminished. There are times of course, the body is here, the mind is here, and consciousness is here, and all of that play in consciousness, and the consciousness is not a good guy. Good, bad, indifferent, ugly, all this is there. I don’t identify with the consciousness. I only observe that this is a role, somehow all this is bubbling, dancing, according to its nature. But in essence, the consciousness is pure. That pure consciousness is the consciousness 
I am, in all of this it’s the root, it pervades everything, but it’s the last thing to be seen. Because once the consciousness takes on an identification, this essence somehow gets eclipsed by its interests, its preferences, its likes, dislikes and tendencies. They cover it up. It falls into confusion. It gets hypnotised by what it perceives. It takes mere perceptions in it to be itself, and it’s intrinsic peace, joy, emptiness, stillness, silence and love becomes objectives in it, which are searched for in relationships or in otherness, rather than recognized to be is its constitutional state. That is missed. Who misses it ? The consciousness in identification we call ‘you, me, Harry, John, Susan’. Just seeing this is enough. See it. See this deeply, not in some intellectual way, but with the urge and the desire to be free. Seeing with the earnestness to get to the root delivers this confused consciousness speedily into pure being, essence, joy. 

You will not learn this in your universities, you will not learn it in the cafes, and you will not remember it in the marketplace. This is your moment. Seize this moment. Be totally open, present, available, earnest. Let this be the real discovery, this recognition which leaves you as you have always been. It is your good fortune that you are now here. Here now is not 7.30 in the evening at 12 Fairview House, sitting with Mooji. Here is beyond location. Now is out of time. As this here now you can never leave. What will you do to leave ? You are in total unicity as your own self. 

Fully imbibe what I am saying. Allow it to be fully assimilated in your consciousness. Thereafter, by itself, your view, your approach to life will be radically different. Let your mind, your tendencies be fully baptised in this understanding. Satsang is the sulphuric acid bath that your mind, your identification gets soaked in. Bring your consciousness to rest in itself. Let this consciousness, the sense 
‘I am only this I am’ incubate in itself. Stay only as ‘I am’; stay only as awareness; stay only as emptiness. Keep your mind in neutral. It’s enough. It is enough. This is it. 

This is it beyond the saying it is it. What I have told you is all you need to know. It’s all you need to hear. Yet I will say it again and again. It is the soap that washes off all the impressions. Because all the impressions from the place of the true you, they are untrue. It will leave you as the ‘you without you’. Be this you-less you. Stay as this. This is the glorious, stateless state. The Absolute. Here you have met and dissolved in your Buddha nature, in Christ consciousness, in Krishna consciousness. Here you are one with yourself. You’ve heard people say ‘one love’; this oneness is love. Stay as love. Rest in love. 

There are no efforts, no spiritual or religious gymnastics to perform - only the pilgrimage from the mind to the heart. Don’t wait for this to happen. Truth is not a journey. It’s where all journeys end. Truth is not some cluster of concepts. All concepts dissolve in this, leaving you as you are. Get used to you without the information of you. In this, as this, there is no CV, there is no photo album of past experiences. There are no stories. Stay as this. From here you will see very clearly, very freshly, the activity of mind and identification will arise. It will be seen. Your power to see with detachment is your joy, your freedom. By Mooji

Mooji's sayings


When we look with the 'I'
We dream.
When we look for the 'I'
We awaken.
I am not a speaker nor a preacher. I have no mission to change the world. I have no original words or teaching to give anyone. I reflect only what I've seen and heard - most ordinary, very common. I have no fascination for fresh ideas and activity. All enthusiasm for worldly endeavours and strivings have all but gone. For me, thoughts, words and deeds- the activities of life, are merely the utensils for serving out the 'prasad' of the Being-ness.
Every thought and every breath is a breath
and a thought occurring in awareness;
And we are that awareness,
That thought-less and breath-less awareness.
All the mind-streams eventually flow into the
One ocean Beingness. There are many pathways
for the mind; there are no paths for the Heart,
for the Heart is infinite and fills everything.
While you are so busy you are kissed by grace, but you are not thankful for it because it strips you bare, and all your intentions fall away, leaving you as this indescribable 'here now' quality-less presence. This is the state of the Unborn.
When the mind adjusts to simply staying here, then that mind is not called mind any more. It's just Self. It's only ever Self.
Being here really is just the invitation to rest as Being. There is nothing you have to do. It is not an invitation to become. You will not be scrutinized, your actions compared with those of others. That's just unicorn food. Let your river flow as it pleases. Simply observe and recognise that all is unfolding spontaneously when that inner journalist- the ego, is exposed as a myth.
First sort yourself out by understanding what you truly are, through recognising what you are not and your world, a projection of your psyche, will become increasingly beautiful and peaceful, for the world is nothing but the reflection of your inner state.
Trust your Heart. Value its intuition.
Choose to let go of fear, and to open to the True and you will awaken to the freedom, clarity and joy of Being.
A thought may arise: 'It's okay now,
but it's going to be different when I step out the door'.
Already you are anticipating your downfall.
Recognise these as just thoughts.
You can just watch them, feel their pull yet observe them as a movement in consciousness. Stay put as formless awareness.
Bondage and liberation are conceptual traps which,
through the illusory power of mahamaya (cosmic mind),
deludes the already free beingness,
thus converting it into the illusory 'seeker' entity.
We are conscious presence only,
eternally free, formless, happy and whole.
The good news of satsang is this: YOU ARE THAT ! effortlessly witnessing the consciousness expressing. Yet we remain untouched as timeless existence, awareness-joy absolute.
The operation of consciousness
has created the 'apparition' called 'me'.
The mind in the form of the 'I' concept
has hidden your original peace, Joy and Love
and is now promising to show you how to find them.
That principle that manifest as the master, is ever Here Now. The true master never dies. It is the mister that dies. The true master, that Sat-Guru within, alone is the Real.


(Mooji speaking of the passsing away of his master, Papaji)
My love, leave behind all this fruitless thinking
And come lay down here in the silence of Being.
Water has no shape, its nature is to flow. If you put it into a vase it will take the shape of the vase. In this cup, it has assumed the shape of the cup. If poured into my cupped hands it will take the shape of the hands. But water has no shape. It is the same with the consciousness, which is subtler than water. It similarly has no form, but it assumes the form of whatever concept it is poured into or identifies with, but it will never be the form.
It remains ever its formless nature.
Go beyond everything. Don't collect anything. A king does not need to go shopping in his own kingdom. Nor does he beg. Remember, you are the Inner reality~pure awareness only. All that arises are appearances in consciousness. Don't bother with all that. Rest only as the awareness. This is the secret.
Be still and cool in your own
Mind and spirit.
I am the great waters. Upon my face, the primordial pen
of Mahamaya writes incessantly the lives and destinies
of all living beings. Every wave, each ripple,
the subtlest movement, is my dancing.
Yet I, the pure Reality, remain ever untouched, unaffected. Glorious and beyond all concepts, I,
the unimaginable, the formless Absolute, Alone AM.
Ripeness is an idea. If you cling to it as an idea it will choke you. It will keep you seeking for more ripeness. You are beyond ripe and beyond ready. What I am really pointing to is what you already are, not what you should become.
Beingness is not an achievement.
You need not do, undo or change anything in order to be.
The true Being is inscrutable and beyond Knowledge.
It cannot be found in the objective or phenomenal sense,
for beingness is the formless field
within which the very urge to seek arises.
YOU ALREADY ARE THAT.
There is no particular quality to THIS THAT IS,
so don't join anything to it.
The full grasping of this ever present fact shines as joy, compassion, peace and contentment.
Your life is unfolding naturally.
Leave it be! It does not need any help.
Stay as neutral awareness.
Look! I'm not inviting you to learn this, but to actually recognise this in your seeing, here now, directly. Otherwise you may leave here with you may call 'a better understanding' but it will not last. There's no one there to understand, there's just understanding, which flourishes in you
as peace, joy and contentment.
Just feel that 'stuff', allow it to be expressed,
it flows within the human expression of consciousness, let it be.
Because when it has been given the room to express itself, then the space behind, which is joyful, steady and tranquil will come to the front, only don't name this enlightenment and then feel that you've gained something; instead recognise and pay full attention to the unchanging silence which is the substratum of all
that is appearing in the mind.
Just see, nothing is actually touching you when you just observe, when you don't say 'this should not be'.
Pay attention to this wonderful power in you.
Just witness without judgement, interference or attachment. Give it a chance.
Thank the great Spirit within for all
That life brings. All is a gift; the sweet
As well as the bitter. All is for your
Growth, freedom and celebration.
Be happy. This is blessedness.
When you affirm your own rightness in the universe,
then you co-operate and communicate with others easily
and spontaneously as part of your own nature.
You, being yourself, unknowingly inspire others to be themselves.
Because you recognize and are confirmed in your real nature,
you will not need to dominate others, nor cringe before them.
This is compassion.
You never have to prove your own worth,
for you are already complete within
as the beloved child of the Divine. Be happy.
As an old pot is not polished without scrubbing, so is the mind
not purified without trials; but the pure Self is ever perfect.
Day by day become more and more intimate
with the inner stillness, joy and love which
is the fragrance your own pure heart. Keep quiet.
Joy and peace are not found without.
They are discovered within, as your own inherent nature.
When the various rivers flow into the great Ocean
They lose their individual names and become Ocean only.
When the raindrop is falling towards the Ocean,
It may experience some fear.
But when it touches the Ocean, can it tell the story
Of this meeting?
...Focus your mind on 'I am',
which is pure and simple being.
You are Here and Now only.
Contemplate what it is to be fully 'Here' and fully 'Now'.
For this you must leave all else; stay only as here-now
Conscious presence. This is Heart. This is Self.
Mind is the 'Opium' of the beingness.
The mind is restless with the urge to accomplish or become. You cannot reach or become beingness, for beingness is already what you are. Rest in that as that. Enjoy and be fullfilled in this knowning. This is real knowledge, satisfaction and contentment.
When you move towards the satsang invitation with trust,
you will experience the sense of yourself going closer and deeper
until, at a certain point you see that 'closer and deeper'
are mere ideas arising in your own Self
-The Immutable Presence Within.
A starving man is not 'interested' in food,
nor is a drowning man 'interested' in air.
For one longing for Liberation,
Self-knowledge is not an interest, it's vital.
That, within which even silence is heard;
before perception arose. Which, itself,
perceives perceiving. That concept-less
and Immutable Being-ness. That alone Is.
-That we are.
We need the mirror
to see that the personal is not.
Self-enquiry is the mirror.
When you are curious - you learn.
When you are desperate - you discover.
We feel we sometimes lose or leave this.
But this 'I who leaves' is the mind only - a thought.
How can we Leave our Self? Can the wave (the mind)
exist apart from the ocean? (the Self)
'Losing and gaining' are simply notions
arising in the Unchanging presence we already are.
Only now Is, and you are that. Stay as that.
There cannot be any memory in now; for memory is past- not now.
There cannot be a history of now- for now is fresh;
it has no fragrance, and no 'one' to smell it. Stay as now beyond any concept of now, and any concept of staying.
If you want to make God laugh
Just tell Him about your plans!
Beloved, welcome home to your own Self.
Rest in Self as Self.
Now, whichever way you turn,
Behold within, the infinite bliss of Being.
My love, stay here.
Going in search of Self (as a goal) is illusion;
You are already the One Self.
You will purchase the map,
Only to find you are already Here.
When life sends you chilies - make chili con carne!
Each contact is an opportunity for your own unique satsang
with your Self; not in some strained or contrived way,
but by keeping your mind inside your heart; by trusting
the Inner Guru and by recognizing each moment as perfect
in itself; and by simply being your Self. This is the true
and natural responsibility or rather 'Response-ability ',
the ability to respond effortlessly to the needs of the moment.
My God, my God,
Why have I forsaken Thee?
Develop the habit of thinking of yourself as consciousness,
Not as the body or a person.
Do not associate yourself with any object or concept,
however appealing, and the personal,
the cause of all miseries will dissolve.
Remain in the state of space-like awareness,
free from all notions.
This is the path-less path to timeless Awareness.
All is perfection only.
Perfection is everywhere to behold;
But first you must have the eyes to see it.
Only the one with perfect eyes can see Perfection.
Think of yourself,
And a subtle image is formed
Inside the mind.
You are not this nor any image or thought.
You are the Silent and formless Awareness
Within which innumerable impressions appear
And disappear without trace.
Forgiveness, openness and understanding
Flow naturally where there is compassion.
Stop right here! Don't think more - it is quite enough.
Don't say more - it is quite enough.
Don't strive more - it is quite enough.
Now, don't touch any idea of moving forward,
-simply rest as This, as it is,
Without that, as it could be.
Now drop the idea of being This.
Detached observing
leaves no footprints in the Beingness.
Drop the belief that you need more
time and experience to get this;
for that is merely another idea arising
in the time-less Being.
You know that you are. In order to negate or affirm anything, you must already be there prior to whatever you will negate or affirm. You cannot be that which you perceive.
You are the perceiving core. Rest as that.
To grasp this is instant freedom,
to miss this is bondage.
You are total unicity beyond duality. That you are. You are so one with yourself that you cannot perceive yourself. You can only imagine that you are other than that. It is like a knife that can cut so many vegetables but cannot cut itself because it is one with itself, or the scale which can weigh so many objects but cannot weigh itself. It is the same with the one supreme Self- the sole Reality, being ever One with itself, it cannot perceive that which it Is; it can only perceive what it is not.
Don't fix anything I'm saying here for the moment. Don't make tatoos out of these utterances, Just stay open, silent and receptive and the work of grace will unfold naturally.
...such is the nature of all thoughts and sensations, they come and go. Your previous problems seemed equally as pressing and important in their time as your current problem now does, but they are no more, absent from the present by the force of nature. If such is the nature of thoughts and feelings, surely your present difficulties share the same destiny. Why worry about it? All these movements are witnessed in you and by you as pure awareness. Stay as That!
You don't need any symbols here. No support.
That self-knowingness which arises within this form
as 'I AM' is enough. Only don't associate any concepts with that. Stay as That. It is self-fulfilling.
Oh my Lord,
Today
Remove whatever remains.
Now, after all is said and done, What remains? Only that which is not conveyed by any words nor revealed through any activity. Nothing gained and nothing lost- Simply that unspoilt and unspoilable awareness we are.
Attempting to identify with the source
is an idea. You are already that.
Something brought you here.
Something inside is delighted
to be reminded - you are nobody.

A collection of Mooji's sayings selected and compiled by Noé.