Wisdom Teachings - Sat Yoga, Costa Rica

Student Comment:  I resonate with the idea that images are at the imaginary level--or, rather, I resonated with that idea when I was growing up. It feels like the religious image is kind of a double-edged sword because it can either aid one in devotion or it can be misinterpreted.  I could never relate to people loving the image of the Virgin Mary, for example, but since we have been studying great beings, like Ramakrishna or Padre Pio, who also used the medium of an image to relate to God, I see that it can be used in a completely different way.”

Student Question:  What does the witness, witness?

Student Question:  Can you talk a little bit about friendship in the Kali Yuga sense, and also about what is the most sattvic approach to friendship for people moving into the same path together?

Excerpt:  "Each of us has ESP, because we are ESP…  What we mean here by ESP is Eternal, Silent, Presence.  The Self that we are is always in Eternal, Silent, Presence.  The one Self, and the one Self is the guru - the only guru.  The one Self has been called by many names...  The earliest name known is that of Shiva, but all religions give their own name to the same truth…  For some religions that self is called the Supreme Self and from the perspective of ignorance, that is accurate.  Because all else that portrays itself as a Self is really just an object in consciousness…  So there is only one real Self and that Self is beyond words and thoughts and in an inconceivable silence, and even to say that is to go too far because the self is Nirguna.  Without qualities that can be in any way considered a description of the Self, because the Self is not an object, not a thing, not an appearance, but we can also say that the self has infinite attributes.  The three main ones noted by the Vedas are Sat – Chit – Ana

Student Question:  Can an egoless self survive the rat race?

Student Question:  I am curious to know how you would bridge hysteria with post-traumatic stress and could you explain how the two relate?

Student Question:  I have something I would like some clarity on.  Thursdays are difficult for me in the sense that I feel pulled in two opposite directions.  First we have a study group class that is very focused on theory and analysis and going into the ego and trying to understand our mind and then the meditation where we are told you are not the ego?

Student Question:  Lately in meditation and especially in group meditations I have been experiencing a lot of pressure in my head and especially in between my eyes.  I have heard that it may have a connection with the opening of the third eye?  I was wondering if you expand a little a bit upon that?

Student Question:  I wonder if spiritual teachings evolve with time or if they are just different translations of the same thing?

Excerpt:  "If we can radically let go of the need for the others approval or gaze or touch or their desire - If we can radically detach from our own self-image based on the body or based on the mind - Based on achievements and prestige or social status - If we can let go of all of that, then the real search can finally get under way…  Because those are the anchors that moor us in the physical plane where we cannot find the self…  They moor us in attachments to biological family and we cannot find the spiritual parents that live in the depth dimension…  But the light from that source - from the energy within - from the supreme self - Is always there guiding us and as we begin to disidentify from the physical form and the sensual realm and its pleasures and pains that follow quickly one upon the other…  To realize some, more enduring peace and joy…  And we recognize that the mind itself with all of it thoughts is another form of alienation from our being.  It’s an attempt to grasp the self, that can never be th

Excerpt:  "The unsurpassed sage Sri Ramana Maharshi has revealed that self-realization is actually a myth…  Who is there to realize the self?  The self is all that is…  Has the self ever been unrealized?   So self-realization doesn’t actually happen….  Take for example that if you have mold on your walls in your home you would probably want to scrub it off… well the ego is kind of like a mold isn’t it?  Growing on the surface of the self…  And so people scrub it off and then what is left is pure awareness… But to that awareness is there ever a wall?  Was there ever a surface?  That’s an illusion only ever held by the illusory mold itself which was never real….  So there are no things; things are an illusion of a mind that objectifies with concepts… Take away the concepts.   No objects - no world - no self… but pure bliss - pure grace - pure awareness – pure supreme power and self-knowledge… but all experienced by the one without a second…"  Recorded on the evening of Thursday, February 02, 2012.

Student Question:  Can one be in peace without believing in God?

Excerpt:  "Within each of us is the deathless spirit.  The eternal self, that lies within and yet beyond, transcending the ego mind and this phenomenal world, and yet it is the very essence and core and center of our being.  The purpose of all spiritual practices is to attain the realization of the deathless spirit.  This alone confers eternal life, freedom from suffering, from illusion, from karma, and offers the direct union with the Supreme Being….  The most direct way to achieve the realization of the eternal Atman, which is the Holy Spirit, is simply to silence the chatter of the ego mind and hold your attention at the root of the ‘I’ thought.  Not the ‘I’ thought itself, but the root which you feel as the urge to think with the word ‘I’….  Once you fall into thought you have moved from the realm of being into the realm of representation and you become alienated from spirit.  First into soul and then into ego….  Remember that this world is only a dream in the mind of God.  What is real is the Supreme Bei

Excerpt: "What we learn from Yoga and the science of the extraction of the ultimate essence is that all growth is about the extraction of that which is pure and meaningful from that which is impure and to be rejected.… It is to be extracted from our own consciousness. That is the only way we will ever know God – by extracting out the pure God-presence out of our grosser, impure consciousness. This is what we do in meditation. It’s an extraction process….it is a skill and an art that must be taught, and has been taught, through every culture until our most recent one…. there are really five stages of this process of extraction…" Recorded on the evening of Thursday, January 19, 2012.

Excerpt:  “In Christianity there is a trinity as we all know.  The Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit.  This trinity is an archetype and exists in every religion and every spiritual path although it has many different names in different paths…  You’ll find it in Buddhism, you’ll find it in Hinduism, and you’ll find it in Taoism.  In the yogic path it is only one of a number of trinity’s however…  We could call it the vertical trinity and the equivalent in the yogic tradition is noted by the words Sat – Chit – Ananda….  But you have this power.  Erase.  Rewrite.  That is what is known in religious terms as death and rebirth.  That’s all it is.  You erase the ego - it’s dead - it’s gone.  It won’t be there because it is an artificial structure, if you really whole heartedly want to erase it.  The problem is, we love our suffering.  We are loyal to it….  Erich Fromm a great psychologist wrote a book called ‘The Fear of Freedom’, and it’s a very important book because what he shows is the reason why there are so ma

Excerpt:  “Is everyone opened to having Christ Consciousness born within you this evening?  It is not difficult to achieve that birth but we do need the recognition that Christ Consciousness is our Real Self.  It’s not something alien, it’s not something different, it’s not something strange to us.  What’s strange is the ego that we have come to believe that we are and that’s what we must be willing to let go of.  What are we letting go?  A false self.  A structure of consciousness that acts as a filter that prevents us from seeing the world as it really is…  And so to take that filter away - to become realized – all we need to do is to silence the ego mind.  Period.  No more.  Silence is the key.  When we can silence the mind, which is what meditation is… Contemplation...  Then the Christ Consciousness emerges from within us and it comes in the form of an open heart through which pours divine love….”  Recorded on the evening of Thursday, December 08, 2011. Keywords:

Student Question:  How do you overcome jealousy and possessiveness?

Student Question:  I was hoping you could explain to me why it is that every month especially around the full moon it seems that something happens with my energy and if I am not centered I become more susceptible to being pushed and pulled by it?

Student Question:  I once heard a psychologist use the term catastrophic fantasy and I am not sure if that is a common term or not, but I was hoping you could explain this a bit more for me?

Student Question:  Can you please explain a little bit about the difference between the Divine Love that we teach here in Sat Yoga and the love concept that we have in our society and in movies?