Remember the Reasons Why You Came Here

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Remember the Reasons Why You Came HereSatsang with Robert AdamsDecember 23, 1990I welcome you with all my heart and with all my being. It'sgood to see you all here, everyone of you. In 1947 I went toRamana Maharshi. After spending around three days talkingwith Ramana, I settled down with the devotees, in the hall,and I used to sit at the right side of the hall against thewall, watching all the people come in. They had devotees,disciples, and seekers. The devotees were always the same.They never said much. They were immersed in themselves. Thedisciples and the seekers quarreled with each other.I recall a particular Indian who was very quarrelsome withthe disciples, and he used to find fault with everybody. Hewould go to Ramana and say, "So and so is doing this, so andso is doing that.” And Ramana would tell him, "Remember thereasons why you came here and keep silent.” The reason ofcourse was to find the Self, and not to interfere withanybody else. But there were all kinds of incidents going on.Sikhs came, Hindus, Westerners, Buddhists, Zen Buddhists.People were practicing hatha yoga. All these things werehappening in front of Ramana. But it didn't faze Ramana onebit.I recall a Westerner, I'm trying to think of his name, HenryWells, from Scotland. He apparently had read a lot of booksabout Ramana, and this was his first visit. He came into thehall, and I was watching this. He ran over to Ramana andprostrated himself on his stomach, and started going crazy.His feet were shaking, and he was chanting. The devoteeswanted to pick him up, and Ramana said, “Let him stay.” Whenhe came out of it he told Ramana, "At last I have found you.You are my father, my mother, my son, my daughter, myfriend.” And Ramana just smiled at him. And I said to myself,and I was only 18 years old, I said to myself, “Someone thisenthusiastic... let's see what happens, if it lasts.”The days went by and he kept prostrating himself every dayfor about a month. Then he finally stopped, and he sat downlike everybody else. And after about 2 months or so, lookingaround the room at everybody, and he started complaining,that this wasn't right, that wasn't right. After about 4months of being there he donated $40,000 to the ashram, andI'm just watching all these things going on. After about 6months of being there, he started to find fault with themanagement. At that time Ramana's brother was managing theashram. He started to whisper to the other disciples, ofcourse the devotees would have nothing to do with this. Itwas the disciples and the seekers. He started spreadingrumors. He hardly ever talked to me. I guess I was too young.He was about 45 years old.When about the 7th month he came over to me one day and heasked me, outside the ashram, "Do you think Ramana is reallyenlightened?” So I just smiled at him. I didn't answer andwalked away. He started getting devotees to fight againsteach other and rebel against the rules of the ashram.On about the 8th month he saw me again and he tells me, "Doyou think it is right for Ramana to stand naked like this?Let's buy him some clothes and dress him up, so when someWesterners come they won't be frightened.” So I told him whatRamana said: "Remember the reason for why you came.” Thiswent on.A couple of days later I didn't see him in the hall. Secondday passed and I didn't see him. Third day passed and Ididn't see him. And the fourth day I enquired, "What happenedto him?” And the house guest he was living with said, "Oh,Henry packed his suitcase and went back to Scotland,” andnobody ever heard from him again.The point of the story is this. If you realize the reason whyyou came you'll be interested in one thing, awakening. Andthat will dominate your life. Nothing else will. You will notbe concerned with what somebody else is doing, and you willbe at peace with yourself and everybody else. Everything ispreordained anyway. Everything is karmic. So what's going tohappen will happen, whether you like it or not. So why getinsulted. Why get your feelings hurt. Be at peace.It's interesting, this morning I was looking through amagazine and I found an article by a devotee who lived at theashram for quite a while talking about the same subject. Marywould you like to read it?Now listen carefully to this. It's called Mind the businessfor which you have come.“All events in life are shaped according to the Divine plan.What is bound to happen will happen. What is not to happencannot be brought about by any human effort. On this pointRamana was quite categoric. When Deva Raja Mudalar questionedhim as to whether only important things in one's life, suchas major occupation or profession, alone are predetermined,or even trifling acts, Ramana replied, ‘Everything ispredetermined.’“One of the purposes of birth is to go through certainexperiences which have been marked out in the karmicunfoldment of this life. The whole program is chalked out.This would apparently be a damper to all effort, for onewould be puzzled as to what the responsibility of man is. Ishe an automation of karmic forces? Where do his free will andeffort come in?“Ramana points out that there is another deeper purpose tolife. That is to search and find out the truth for oneself.He would say that the only useful purpose of life is to turnwithin and realize there's nothing else to do. Ramana wouldtherefore constantly din into everyone the fact that theultimate truth is Sat-Chit, immediately available here andnow.“When Natananananda asked Ramana, ‘Is it possible foreveryone to know directly without doubt what exactly is one'strue nature?,’ prompt came the reply, ‘Undoubtedly it ispossible. The ultimate truth is so simple,’ Ramana would say.‘It is nothing more than abiding in one's own state.’ This isthe essential message of all religions and creeds. Leavingaside the automatic course of our lives regulated by theCreator, according to His Law, one's duty is to channeleffort to be self-aware. Steadfastness of purpose is intreading the inner path through vigilant self-enquiry. Onsuch enquiry as to the Source of the individual, the enquirermerges in the conscious Source.“The inner odyssey is seldom smooth sailing. Full many adelusion would wean one away. For instance, people who go toShri Ramana ashram to breathe its rarified atmosphere, whilethere, instead of surrendering to His flowing Grace, theywould get involved in the happening of the ashram management.Ramana used to jovially remark of some visitors on theirfirst visit to Shri Ramana ashram, they seemed to be alright.On the second visit they discovered that the ashram is notproperly run. On the third visit they start giving advice. Onthe fourth they know best how to run the place. And on thefifth they discover that the management is not responsive. Onthe sixth they suggest that the present staff should walk outleaving the ashram to them They would thus get bogged down inthings which are irrelevant for the search. When such peoplecomplained, Ramana would say: ‘Mind the business for whichyou have come.’“This would apply, of course, not only to their visit to ShriRamana ashram, but also to the purpose of human life itself.One has to constantly keep before the minds eye theliberating purpose, the only worth while one of freeingoneself from the karmic chain by discovering the hiddentruth. Ramana would even seemingly chide if one failed topursue one's own sadhana, but spent time thinking and talkingof others“A devotee once told Ramana: ‘I have been here for manyyears. People got into Samadhi. I close my eyes for a minuteand my mind travels around the world.’ Ramana replied: ‘Whydo you think about others? Let them meditate, sleep or snore.Look to yourself. Whenever your mind goes astray bring itback to the quest.’“Once Bhagwan told a devotee to wake up, look at the mirror,it shows the growth to be got rid of. Instead of waitingtime, start shaving. Similarly, heaven knows when theallotted time would end. Hence not to seek the truth byvigilant self-enquiry is truly suicidal. Many would like toblame their circumstances for their indolence and lazinessand failure to pursue self-enquiry. Ramana would ask, ‘Whydepend on that which is not in your hands. Go ahead with thebusiness which is in your hands, under your control, leavingaside what you cannot do anything about.’“Proper utilization of God given freedom of turning the mindis what is needed all the time. As for adverse circumstancesin life of which everyone has a belly full, whilesympathizing, Ramana would at the same time say, ‘You arealways free not to be affected by the pleasure and painconsequent on action.’ The teeth have to be taken out of anevent by an attitudinal change which neutralizes it.“Sometimes Ramana would advise leaving things to the surehand of the Sat Guru, and to stick single mindedly to theeffort which would make one self-aware. Ramana would say,‘Why don't you do what the first class railway passengerdoes? He tells the guard his destination, locks the door andgoes to sleep. The rest is done by the guard. If you cantrust your Guru as much as you trust the railway guard, itwill be good enough to make you reach the destination.’ Againwhen someone pestered him for the darshan of Shri Krishna, hesaid, ‘Why don't you leave the shaktakara of Krishna toKrishna.’ We also have the pointed advice given by him toGanapada Muni. ‘Remain all the time steadfast in the heart.God will determine the future for you to accomplish the work.What is to be done will be done at the proper time. Don'tworry. Abide in the heart.’Life becomes meaningful if we joyously tread the inward path,remembering that ours is to do the Vichara and it is for theinner source to do the rest. Then bliss is not the endproduct to be found on reaching the goal, but is felt allalong the homeward, heartward journey.”There's another article prior, previous to that , beforethat. The Purpose of Life, by Lucille Osborne. Let Jay readthis.“Those whose spiritual effort is in the right direction getprogressively closer to their perfect Self, become morepeaceful, happier and are increasingly liked and helped bythose with whom they come into contact. Some of the negativecategory will attend rigorously only to externals likeclothing and pure food which will not help them much if itcombines with egocentric selfish behavior and possessiveness.They will do anything to be able to possess a few more thingsof scarcely any importance. They do not realize the harm theydo to themselves getting deeper into samsara with all itsproblems and suffering, away from realizing the gloriouspeaceful joy in their heart.“This pertains also to those in positions of power who treatthe people with whom they deal without goodwill, sincerity,or even truthfulness. They will usually be disliked, have afew friends, if any. Those who associate with them willeither have some affinity, or feel sorry for them, combinedusually with reluctance to forgo some convenience or other.Not a particularly spiritual motive. One might say that amisguided seeker forfeits the great opportunity of gainingthe greatest fortune possible for a human being. The purposeof life is to return to the Source. The source is mysterious,glorious, peaceful joy, which is God in everybody's heart.This is realization. We do not gain it. It is always there inthe heart. Only the obstructions, vasanas, have to be removedto reveal it.”Thank you Jay. Any question about that before we go on?Everybody understand it perfectly? O.K. Let’s play a song.Hello again. It's good to be with you. I talk to many peopleduring the week, both on the telephone and in person. I speakto Zen Buddhists, Hindus1 Americans, all kinds of people, and80% tell me they're enlightened. Most of them tell me they'veexperienced the Void. Some say they've seen lights. Some saythey hear certain sounds. And they say, "What do you think?”So I remark, "Somebody has to be present to experience thesethings. As long as somebody is present, and somebody ispresent or you'll not be able to tell me about it, thenthere's no enlightenment. Find out who is present, and holdon to that you, because you are present to experience theVoid. You are present to experience the light or the sound.Who is that you? Find out. Hold on to that you. Hold on to I.I was present to experience the Void. As long as I am presentI cannot possibly be enlightened, because I still exist.”It is like a movie theater. Let's take rather a stagetheater, stage play, where the lights shine on the playersand on the audience. When the play is over the audience andthe actors both leave, but the light still shines, eventhough it shines on nothing. So the empty theater is theVoid. The light is still shining on the Void as well as onthe people.A better example is: we see a room full of furniture, theeyes look and they see. Then somebody turns off the light.The eyes are still there but they don't see anything. That'show the Void is compared to the seer. There has to be a seerto see the Void. Who is that seer? And you find out byself-enquiring, "Who am I? Where did the I come from? What isthe Source of I that sees all these things?” Remember, allthis phenomena is a projection of your mind. The mind appearsto be very powerful. It projects voids, light, sounds,images, as well as the entire universe, and as well as yourbody and mind. It projects itself out of the mind. The ideais to stop the projection, and you stop the projectionthrough self-enquiry. This is the fastest way.So whenever you have some experience, go beyond theexperience. Because there has to be somebody to have theexperience. Just like the eyes see when it's light, and theeye is still there when it's dark, so the I is present whenyou sleep, the I is present when you dream, the I is presentwhen you are awake. Find out who the I is. Dive deep within.Work on yourself. Just like the article we read before,forget about the world, forget about others, forget aboutyour body, and enquire of the Self. Find out who the Self is.Who are you? Are there two I's or one I?There cannot possibly be two I's because that's duality.There has to be one I only. Find the source of the I. Followit diligently until you merge with the source. Then you willfind that you're happier than you've ever been in your life.When you touch the source of I you have bliss, you haveAbsolute Reality, you have God. This is the most importantquestion in life. Nothing else is so important. Can you thinkof anything else that is as important? Then why do you worryso much about others? Why do you get mixed up with all kindsof problems? Do your duty. Enquire. Find the source of I. Itdoesn't make any difference how long it takes. Think of howmany incarnations you had to go through in order to be inthis class today. Make yourself happy. Forget about yourtroubles. They don't exist. Only God exists as yourself. Butyou must find it out for yourself. Do it.