Wisdom Teachings - Sat Yoga, Costa Rica

Student Question:  In your article in Reality Sandwich you talked about how the cutting edge should be ridden in astonishment or something to that effect.  I am wondering what the secret is to being in astonishment and having it not be a distraction or some kind of thing in itself that you get wrapped up in.  What is the secret to being detached from astonishment and yet still be able to call it astonishment or amazement?

Student Question:  Can you please talk about what I would call the "art of replacing yourself?"  There is a book that you gave me a long time ago which talks about creating community and it spoke of this.  It specifically mentioned the necessity of replacing oneself as one of the final steps of sustainability.  Usually the ego wants to be special and hold on to its specialness and be the only one that can do something, which gives it some sort of power.  So I was thinking about this and was hoping you could talk about this?

Student Question:  Can you say something about the fall of patriarchy.  I was under the impression that we are in a capitalist patriarchy right now, but in the study group Radha was speaking of the fall of it?

Student Question:  If there is a particular situation or work that the ego dislikes, do you recommend doing that work for purification purposes?

Excerpt:  “It’s the mind of the ego that creates all the problems with its chaotic thoughts based on false premises of misunderstanding of reality, producing anxiety and depression and all the other negative emotions and symptoms of suffering…All of that can be cut simply through silencing the mind, but to do that we have to realize that “I am not the mind”….  Silent awareness contains the mind; it contains everything in the universe which is actually mind.  All there is, is mind….  But there is a difference between the ego’s little mind and the cosmic mind of God, and then the source of the cosmos - The ultimate noumenon…."  Recorded on the evening of Thursday, August 25, 2011. 

Student Question:  What do you think about dementia?  What is happening to that soul that suddenly doesn’t know who he or she is or where they are? What has happened to that spirit?

Student Question:  I am finding that I have an inner conflict when writing emails.  For example, my friend just got married and I wrote "I hope you had a nice wedding" or a friend of mine’s father is sick and I write "I hope he gets better," or "I hope you enjoy these photos," or whatever; it is it feels like I am giving them a command.  What if they were not supposed to have a nice wedding?  What if his father is not supposed to get better?  I feel this conflict very strongly and I don’t know what to write or how to approach this?

Student Question:  You mentioned that our consciousness constructs our reality and I have been thinking about that lately, but I have been wondering as to the extent of that.  For example if I walk by and there are people being disrespectful and causing problems, is that like a reflection?  Is every single thing just a projection?

Student Question:  What is the relationship between mathematics and logic?  Is it that one is a subset of the other?  I tend to think that mathematics is more fundamental, or is it that they are just two sides of the same coin?  It just seems like mathematics is logic at a very codified and more universal level.

Student Question:  Does devotion require total surrendering, because I can see people who are devoted but not totally surrendered to God?

Excerpt:  “When we are sitting in silence we are in Holy Communion with the Self within that is recognized as Being reflected as the entire manifest cosmos.  And so there is nothing to do just be….  This is a dream and you are the dreamer and so everyone you meet in the dream is an aspect of your Self and so each of us here are reflections of different facets of our own Self….  And so by coming together as a community we discover all those aspects of the inner shadow that we can’t find because it’s repressed but our unconscious turns out to be the world itself and so it is not hidden at all….  And so when we come together in a spiritual community we are doing it in order to learn unconditional love of the Self.  Not the individual self but the one Self….  The worship of God is not the worship of an other it is the worship of the Self…”  Recorded on the evening of Thursday, August 18, 2011.

Student Question:  I believe that the path to enlightenment must start with a personal individual choice.  In today’s world it is very difficult to follow that path because even though you have the purpose and the intention if you’re in an environment that is unsupportive, like for example ones family who may ignore the path, it takes you a lot of effort and it is very difficult to get there.  So the importance of being in a community like this is that you find like minded people that can reinforce that path.  Even though I can understand that we all have geniuses in all of us the challenge is to really believe it.  I think about how much other people’s thoughts can influence that, like I could fly but nobody believes I can so I can not.  So the question is how much can other people’s beliefs affect us?

Student Question:  Do thoughts really become things and how fast is the outcome?  Does it depend on how intense the thought is?

Student Question:  Does the way that we think of others even when not expressed, have any effect on them?

Student Question:  We were talking about the lotus position and you mentioned that sitting in that position can activate sanskaras.  I have experienced this kind of thing in meditation and realized that even though my whole body would be still, I would continue to move my eyes when they are closed.  When I am able to keep my eyes still it seems to be a whole different thing.  Could you speak about that because it seems like there is a connection between eyes moving and a chattering mind?

Student Question:  I have these beautiful images coming up in meditation and although I feel peaceful, I wonder if these images are appearing as a distraction to pull me away from the stillness?

Student Question:  In your teaching you mentioned that the ego had characteristics such as greed, hatred and selfishness embedded in it.  When I think of the word embedded it makes me think of something that is set in stone; it’s not moving.  So then I thought, “what’s the point of wasting any time trying to fix the ego?”  Is it even possible to fix?  I know it’s kind of a literal thing.  It kind of makes sense to steer around it and go straight for the Self.  So is the idea of fixing the ego even worth the time?

Student Question:  What is pain and its purpose or meaning, and is pain always the same as suffering?  What is the difference?

Student Question:  Do you have any advice to help me mediate longer when my mind wanders off?

Excerpt:  “The idea of Christian perfection was the perfection of one’s love for God….We don’t care whether you believe in duality or nonduality here, the point is let the love which ultimately is nonduality isn’t it, isn’t love union?  Whether it achieves an actual ontological dissolution on the boundaries between the soul and God is irrelevant, but the experience that you will have if you allow yourself to sit with that intention of dissolving in love with God and it’s sincere, as the first commandment in the old testament says, ‘love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, all thy soul and all thy might’.  If you will do that and with that consistency of attention that is focused within, not on an imaginary God on a cloud somewhere, but within as the Self, you will break through the duality and enter into a state of grace...”  Recorded on the evening of Thursday, August 11, 2011.