Spiritual Teachings With Shunyamurti

Practicing Intensive Non-Practice - 03.11.10

Student Question: The other day I was watching a satsang of Ramesh Balsekar on the internet, and he was giving the explanation of Advaita, the manifestation of consciousness through the bodily organism, etc., etc. And he always emphasizes that there is predestination, that Realization happens to one bodily organism no matter what you do or not. And then on the other hand, I have these Buddhists talking about practices and merits. What do you think about that? And, also, there are many gurus from the Advaita tradition who will laugh at you and say, "Practice what? You already are that. You don’t need to practice anything in order to realize that. You don’t need to do anything." So what is the middle way?

“You have to practice intensively non-practice,” unveils Shunyamurti, the spiritual guru of the Sat Yoga Institute in Costa Rica. “And although it is true that there is predestination, there is also free will. It may be predestined that you will decide to practice whereas someone else won’t. But that will only happen because you have chosen out of your free will.” And, in regards to spiritual practice, “as long as there is a false belief that you are that ego, then that ego better practice realizing that it’s not!” Recorded on the evening of Thursday, March 11, 2010.

A Brief History of Ego Development - 03.11.10

Student Question: I was wondering how the ego evolved in the very beginning: so from the first person who had an ego.

“Humans didn’t have egos at first. It was a later cultural development,” reveals Shunyamurti, the director of the Sat Yoga Institute in Costa Rica. Although it would take an entire lecture or even seminar to understand this, Shunyamurti briefly details the entropy process that affects the human spirit in which human consciousness becomes identified with an ego and a body image, and the potential return to our previous spiritual stature. Recorded on the evening of Thursday, March 11, 2010.

Inside the Temple - 03.04.10

“You are all sacred beings,” says Shunyamurti, the spiritual director of the Sat Yoga Institute in Costa Rica. Shunyamurti further elucidates, “There are profane beings and there are sacred beings. The word ‘profane,’ comes from pro fana—before the temple; it’s those who stand outside the temple. And then those who enter the temple, become sacred beings.” And only by entering the “holiest of holies,” the most sacred temple, the realm of the Real Self, may we complete our inward journey. “We are in the temple because we know that the only way out of the suffering of the profane world is to enter into the sacred dimension of our being.”

“And so at the first level, yes, the body is our temple. And then there is another level where we realize the mind is our temple, the personality, the ego. But we have to go deeper within, beyond those levels, and let the personal levels of our being drop away in order to get to the transpersonal nucleus, the core, the Self of our Self. And to reach that Supreme Self requires the most intense purity and intensity of desire.” This is meditation. “And if we have that desire to find out the ultimate truth of who we are, and to achieve union with the Supreme Self that is within us, that is our essence, then that will be given.”

“And so until there has been a disconnect from the profane identity, and a complete reunion with the sacred identity—that is ultimately in union already with the Supreme Being because you are That. Until you are ready to live in the truth of That realization, then there will continue to be suffering and vacillation, and oscillation, and a lack of peace. But the moment that that desire is wholehearted, literally the doors of the temple will open. . . . So let us meditate with the intention that now is the eternal moment for the moth to dive into the Supreme Flame and melt into the infinite, eternal Self.” Recorded on the evening of Thursday, March 4, 2010.

Freedom from the False Self - 02.25.10

Excerpt: “Every meeting that we have is a Satsang. Sangha means a gathering; a community. And Sat refers to the ground of being, our essence, our deepest truth of who we are. And so we gather to touch into our Sat, our most deep level of being, to taste what Self-realization is about, and then to transmit it, to share it with others, and to learn to live from that place of centeredness, and strength, and authenticity, and love, and clarity, and wisdom, and the capacity for sharing, for reciprocity and mutuality in relationships so that we can be a blessing to the world. . . . if we can live in the Real, we will live in a state of oneness with all beings, and with the ability to be harmonious, to cooperate, and to offer the highest wisdom that we can download from that source that will be able to inspire us with greater creativity than the false self can manifest in an egoic life. . . .And so this is the human destiny: that we return to this highest level of our potential. And the path to do that is really very simple, but not easy. It’s not easy because it takes courage. It means looking within, and seeing what is not authentic within,     and processing it out; purifying the soul; eliminating those obstacles that separate your conscious mind from the Divine Self within you.” Recorded on the Thursday, February 25, 2010.

The Sat Yoga Approach & the Traditional Buddhist Approach - 02.25.10

Student Question: Could you please explain—or highlight—the difference between the Sat Yoga approach and the traditional Buddhist approach?

“Well what we study here are all the spiritual traditions, and what you will find is that they are structurally identical,” elucidates Shunyamurti, the founder of the Sat Yoga Institute in Costa Rica. “Buddhism and Christianity, believe it or not, are identical at the esoteric level, the Gnostic level of Christianity in which God and the soul are one. So ultimately it is the realization that there is a state of nonduality; we are not separate beings. That is only apparent, but it is not real.” And, as Shunyamurti concludes, “it’s the same path; the path is not different.” Recorded on the evening of Thursday, February 25, 2010.

Exploring the Silence - 02.18.10

“You know the happiest moments in peoples lives are actually when they’re sound asleep; because there’s no thoughts. And when you’re in deep sleep, there’s perfect rest, and your soul is actually touching the innermost light. And you recharge,” explains Shunyamurti, the spiritual director of the Sat Yoga Institute in Costa Rica. “And what we’re doing in a state of meditation is simply being in deep sleep while we’re fully awake. That’s all we’re doing. . . . So if we’ll give our self the opportunity to simply be present, many extraordinary mysteries will unfold; mysteries about yourself; insights will come spontaneously; and there will be personality changes that will happen effortlessly as anxiety falls away naturally in the silence. . . . So, be a scientist. Allow yourself to explore without trying to achieve anything in particular, but just to discover who you are.” Recorded on the evening of Thursday, February 18, 2010.

Have a Sense of Humor - 02.18.10

Student Question: I understand that in a path of spiritual development, such as Sat Yoga, we must be able to overcome anger, but I wonder, how one can truly achieve this when there is so much human stupidity. Today we were at the beach joining an expedition of Canadian environmentalists who are studying the effects of all the garbage that we are dumping daily into the oceans. We are constantly working with the press, but I sometimes feel so lost because I want to continue helping but I realize that even if this message reaches the people, their ignorance remains and they continue acting in the worst possible way. Corruption is also very much involved in all this, as well as a general indifference and human stupidity, which are causing the loss of not only life on earth but also in our oceans—and I ask myself: how does one avoid feeling anger?

“Have a sense of humor. You have to laugh at it, at human stupidity,” provides Shunyamurti, the founder of the Sat Yoga Institute in Costa Rica. “Humans are becoming more and more stupid by the day. . . . It’s destiny. It’s the end of the world. . . . Nobody’s getting smarter . . . and more corrupt. And less caring. That’s the way of entropy of the human soul. But, those who recognize that will grow.” And by bringing awareness into the issue, and raising our consciousness, we will be able to participate in the birth of a new world. Recorded on the evening of Thursday, February 18, 2010.

Liberation in Death? - 02.18.10

Student Question: So you can get to chakra seven in life but can you also get to it in death?

“No,” reveals Shunyamurti, the founder of the Sat Yoga Institute in Costa Rica, “because the last thought you have as you die and leave the body will determine which bardo state you go into. So if that wasn’t already liberated, then you won’t be able to hold onto the Mother Light when you leave the body.” Recorded on the evening of Thursday, February 18, 2010.

Dive into the Higher Chakras - 02.18.10

Student Question: Today in the study group we discussed how the more you go into the chakras, there is a loss of the sense of identity. So why, if there is a loss of identity, does the person not awaken if he/she is in any of the chakras? And the other question is that, you mentioned that a person can awaken any time, but how does that work in relation to the chakra map? If a person is in the lower three chakras, can that person awaken at any moment?

“The awakening is the shift to the higher chakra,” explains Shunyamurti, the spiritual director of the Sat Yoga Institute in Costa Rica. “It is possible, but it requires the desire to do so. That’s what’s missing.” It is not difficult to reach liberation “cause it’s our natural state. The truth is we’re already there, but it’s covered over by these other veils.” And to answer the other question, Shunyamurti explains that a chakra is not an ego state; there is no identity in the chakra, but there is an “assemblage point” in between two chakras where we structure our lives. We gravitate towards the chakras because “most people don’t like having a sense of ego because there are burdens . . . so people want to get out of the egoic state. Now, they could go to chakra seven, just as easily as they go to chakra one, two, or three, but in this culture we’ve been trained, ‘have a glass of beer,’ instead of meditate and reach bliss. Or have a sexual encounter in which you lose yourself temporarily, or have become berserk, become enraged, that’s always enjoyable to most people. . . . The problem is that all of the lower three chakras have negative consequences, and when you do come back into the assemblage point you think, ‘Oh my God what did I just do?’ and then you’ve created more negative karma that you have to work out.” And, as Shunyamurti reminds us, “You can choose any of them. It’s not as if one is really more difficult than the other, it’s only a matter of where you want to dive in.” Recorded on the evening of Thursday, February 18, 2010.