In everyday experience, through Mantra, through staying in touch with your Selfless Self, you experience many periods of your Self without yourself. But, then your attention is drawn back in to something and instead of staying with yourself through Mantra you allow the thought process to begin. An identity is created, you form this form and instantly believe in what is going on and how it relates to this form you have taken. These are opportunities, turning up the heat, the more the heat is turned up that is beautiful, that is the time to stay with yourself in a real sense. As you start to see your attention move towards something and notice, ‘Oh, I am kind of involved in this’ before you become involved in what is going on, Mantra. When the Mantra is running the mind is busy, and without the mind you can’t be involved. The mind is an instrument that creates a form, this thought train that is identified with and labeled as ‘my mind, my thoughts, my actions, my body’. The more the heat get’s turned up that is the time. That is when progressive steps come in as a use to you the Selfless Self using this instrument to know yourself, without identifying. You have processed all of these different times where there could be a pull to form an individuality, to say ‘oh this individual, this is happening to me’. Then every moment is just passing, up to and including there will not be any concept of ‘I am dying’, the scene, the scene, passing no identification with what is going on, that’s it.
Knowing yourself in a real sense you don’t need all this knowledge, this body knowledge. You are no longer holding onto that as something that is needed, something that needs protection. At the time of leaving the body if you truly believe that ‘I’ have this knowledge and that everything is going to be OK for this, that I am going to leave the body very smoothly, because of all my knowledge I know I am Brahman. This is not good, because you knowing yourself in a real sense know that all of that was just for a time, and now it’s not. But there is no idea that I am dying or that I am losing this knowledge that I have collected. Especially on the spiritual journey, like Maharaj says “If you have been on the spiritual journey for 20 or 30 years, you are not going to want to give that up.” That is something, that is this body who has knowledge and has gone to this temple, seen this master and that master, taken this mantra, and practiced all these things for so long. Your not going to want to give that up. That is the body knowledge. Selfless Self through Mantra erases all of this, this you, this virus, this body knowledge and all the things that you believe you have acquired are erased slowly, silently and permanently. Then you know yourself in a real sense without any ideas, beliefs or concepts about yourself. You can “live” by using this body, doing your job and all the activities as they arise, take care of your responsibilities. Knowing fully, ‘I know myself in a real sense, everything is OK, All of this is appearing on my spontaneous Presence’
Space can appear to be divided, but it can’t actually be divided, a box that has space both inside and outside is actually appearing in the space, rather than containing any space. Even if the box is closed, it is a form that is appearing in the space, it is appearing in the space and your attention is being drawn to the box as an object in space, but space is space. Maharaj uses the example of the Ashram sky and the toilet sky. If the building collapses does the space in the Ashram go to heaven and the toilet sky go to hell? Is the Ashram space more holy? Space is space. What is happening inside the space? Anything can happen inside the space, the space is provided for whatever the elemental objects may do inside the space without the space doing anything. The Space is provided, and there are objects that are appearing in the space. For a time you believe yourself as one of those objects. Until the objects that you are observing as the observer, believing that it is observing as this body form, start to observe that observer and sees that there is nothing there. Ultimate Truth, there is nothing else. Recede, recede, recede, Selfless Self, except your Selfless Self nothing is there. Everything came out of nothing, everything dissolves back into nothing, in between there appears to be something, but that something dissolves back into nothing. It was always nothing, there was just an appearance of something.
You recognize yourself through body form. That sense of Presence is felt through body form, that is the purpose of the body instrument. That is not an experience, that is a knowing of yourself in a real sense. The conviction is as I know myself more and more through this body form, I must not be this body. ‘I am not body’ will arise and this will be known. You are using this body as an instrument to feel this sense of Presence. That is not an experience. Bowing to the masters and having the recognition in the projection. Even going to McDonalds and looking at the fry lady and their is a recognition in the projection. In every being my Presence is there. That spontaneous conviction is ‘I absolutely can not be body’. Because how could this body also be in that body, no it is not possible, yet the recognition is there. So this formless Presence is in each form, recognizing itself, using body forms. You sense yourself through this body, and you are reflecting the recognition in the projection through all of the other bodies, because all of it is inside yourself and everything is arising on your spontaneous Presence. That spontaneous Presence is felt through body. That sense of Presence, the knower of the sense of Presence is who I am. I am not the presence, the Presence is kind of an indicator and I am knowing this sense of Presence using body form. You are the knower of that sense of Presence. There is constant conveyance, when Presence is speaking and flowing, the recognition arises, the speaker and the listener are one and the same. That presence is conveyed, it is conveyed in every moment. The more you continue in the mantra and keep with your Selfless Self you will see. Absolutely so that I! My Presence is in each and every being. The squirrel, the dog, the ducks, the birds. An experience may be the birds flying and you somehow feel them flying through you, that is an experience that you would not want to continue in the line of oh, this is happening. Recognizing the sense of Presence is the purpose of the Mantra to invite the attention of the invisible listener, so your intention goes in there, you concentrate, you feel that sense of Presence. This automatically gives great happiness, without any material cause.
John Richards
Sadguru Shri Ramakant Maharaj Dakshina