The Torn Page

Student Comment:  At the beginning of your talk you said something to the affect that in reality we don’t control anything and in what I would call the ‘business world’, people get so stuck in their power struggles and beliefs and certainties.  They believe that they are going to make something happen in a certain way but often they actually make the situation much worse.  It seems common for negotiations to be full of tensions and bad feelings and lower emotions when in reality what’s really going on or how the situation can be resolved has nothing to do with the emotional and egoic eruptions that people in business most of the time knock against each other.

Student Question:  What is dharmaraj in a more formal sense?

Student Question:  I felt your teaching tonight was very appropriate.  I have been thinking a lot this week about a question which I have always had with Christianity.  Even though I know it is a very devotional religion, I have never had that kind of experience with it.  Ironically, it was this week sometime that I was listening to one of those gospel songs and all of a sudden I just broke out in tears.  The closest thing that I could put it to was this feeling of being saved by Christ or God, but it was this very strong feeling of sin having been taken away by another.  I know I have heard you speak in the past about how certain religions have niches or specializations or accentuations in certain areas more then others and I have just wanted to know where this fits in and what its value is?   I think you kind of spoke to that tonight in how it can be used as a stepping stone and not as a hindrance.

Excerpt: “If you read the old Vedanta literature . . . they tend to divide the path into two forms: one they call ‘The Path of the Valiant’ and the other ‘The Path of the Fearful.’ And they say that those who are in fear come to God looking for refuge. . . . And they say ‘The Path of the Valiant,’ on the other hand, is not taking refuge in some god or supernatural force or supreme power or as an other, but one who has the courage to recognize that God is the Self. . . . But I tend to think that in these postmodern times that’s too simplistic a dichotomy, and that, in a way, it takes more courage to admit that one need’s help than it does to believe that one can do it all on one’s own. And it is that pseudo-valiance that may actually hold one back for a long time on the path, believing one can do it on one’s own, but being in denial of the fact that one is using a lot of props in order to hold one up. . . . But in truth, the sadhana is always a combination of the two. And when we are in our daily lives, there should be a recognition of the interdependence—and of the humility required—to continue to learn, at deeper and deeper levels of subtlety, what the great sages have taught as to how to reach this place where the valiant achievement of God-consciousness is authentic and truly possible.” Recorded on the evening of Thursday, March 29, 2012.

Student Question:  Sometimes I have archetypal dreams where a person will tell me about something I have to do and even though when I wake up I can remember what it is, I have no idea how to do it.  I feel like this happens to me a lot.  During the day I worry because I am not sure how I can do what was told to me in the dreams.  Because of this I get stressed and feel guilty about not doing what my unconscious is telling me to do and it feels like I am ignoring it and that somehow it is going to affect me in some way.  I am not sure if this is correct because they never tell me in the dream but it is frustrating me to think that it is going to affect my karma.

Excerpt:  “So if God made you an offer, that all you would have to do to help save the world, would be to silence your mind and immerse yourself in the divine presence within consistently, completely, once and for all, and that that would be the greatest gift you give to the universe and to yourself, would you do it?  Because that is the offer that God has been making for thousands of years…  it is what every spiritual tradition teaches….  Surrendering to God means surrendering the attention, the thoughts, the mind, to the presence that is already within you, at the core of your own consciousness, which is a very sweet blissful silence…  and that energy that can radiate through the channel of your own mind’s focus will fill the world with peace and divine love and that energy is so powerful, that if the flow of it is continuous, it will change the course of history; it is that strong.  We just need a critical mass of beings who are dedicated to that supreme holy work, and a Sat Yuga is born…  a kingdom of heaven is born on earth…  and yet no one seems to volunteer to do the work and it’s so simple because really it means stop working, stop struggling, stop striving, stop desiring, stop fearing, and just live in peace and acceptance in freedom from suffering and in empowerment and in love….”  Recorded on the evening of Thursday, March 01, 2012.

Student Question:  How is one able to realize when he/she is having access to archetypal knowledge?

Student Question:  What is the relationship between Master’s Discourse and the Death Drive?

Student Question:  Where are the archetypes while the ego is operating?  Are they within consciousness?

Student Question:  What happens with all those people who become ghosts?  They are beings that are among us but no longer in a body although they still resemble the body that they were in from that past life.  So is this a case of someone being too attached to his/her physical body and not being able to let go?