Class Notes from Babaji's May visit to California and Oregon

Purifying the Mind
Mind, when it ceases to vibrate, is Brahman.  Sri Ramakrishna has said that pure mind is God.  Lord Buddha states that pure mind is Buddha Mind. Ordinary mind is finite....but "from the infinite the finite has come...."

Faster than sound is light.  Faster than light is the speed of the mind, of thought.  But Brahman "outstrips all that runs..."

We must tune this mind to be swift, to return to Original Mind, Buddha Mind.  If pure mind is God, then it must be that impure mind is not God.  Therefore, impure mind is the only thing standing in our way.  So we have to purify the mind.  This is where sadhana comes in, a great necessity.  When you purify the mind then it is nothing more than Pure Consciousness.

Impure mind can never give you realization.  Impure mind is lazy mind (tamas) and restless mind (rajas).

Vedanta and Buddhism are "mind only" schools.  They hold that the mind is responsible for all phenomena.  In other words, God is not a Creator.  There is a creator god, like Lord Brahma, but even he only projects the worlds.  He knows there is no such thing as a creation out of nothing.  Nothing doesn't exist.....

Your essential nature is Consciousness.  Do not think in terms of divisions.  They are only helpful for the analysis stage.  Once all analysis has been completed, make an apt conclusion (siddhanta) and get on with it.  There is much more to come.  Oneness does not brook even the mention of separation.

When we speak of pure senses, we do not mean to merely purify the five or ten external senses, but the king of the senses - the mind.  One of the greatest of all quintuplications (like the five elements, the five tanmatras, the five senses, etc.) is the fourfold antahkarana and Mahat, the great Mind.  These five are responsible for all of name and form in time and space.  Causation is also found in them.

Restlessness never turns into spiritual experience.  "You need Peace first and foremost," states Holy Mother, Sri Sarada Devi.  Spiritual practice comes between mumukshutvam (longing for liberation) and chit shuddhi (pure mind).

Philosophically speaking, and humorously, there is nondualism, qualified nondualism, and dualism.  There is nothing of much merit below these three stations.  If anyone ventures lower than these it may be called "drool-ism," and then one would have to practice "nondroolism" to raise oneself up.  What does "drool-ism" look like?  Like the face of all worldly activities performed devoid of the knowledge of inherent oneness with nature, all beings, and especially God/Brahman.  Do you need an example of droolism in this country?  How about singing, drinking, and dancing at the death of your enemy.

Other people's actions are not the problem - your reaction is the problem.  The real trick to remaining neutral is non-reactivity.  Then, anger, resentment, etc, cannot find you.  "Anterior to both life and mind is the Atman."   We are to know, "I was always present.  All forms, like the body, are merely add-ons."

In Tantra you are to use the positive to transcend the negative, turn poison into Nectar, if you are able.

You must try to satisfy yourself within the dharma.  Trying to satisfy your desires outside the dharma is like pouring gas on a fire to try and put it out.

In our householder civilization, based on such untenable assumptions as original sin and eternal damnation, the teaching of giving up desire brings up guilt and shame, and there arises confusion about the nature of desire.  For instance, some seekers then imagine that the desire for spirituality is a desire; that attempts at realization are based upon desires.  But these are a different class of desires entirely.  Ordinary desires stimulate more desire; desires for devotion to God and for higher wisdom stimulate dispassion.  The two should not be confused with one another, as the former leads away from peace of mind and the latter leads directly to it.

I once saw a sailboat put out to sea at Kawaihae harbor and, as soon as it was out the harbor confines, the rudder and motor assembly of the boat just simply fell off into the ocean.  The people on board could not steer at all, and just drifted away, waving furiously to the people on shore for help - who only waved back with a great show of mutual celebration.  Just like this, without daily meditation one will not have a rudder in one's life, nor a motor for any impetus towards enlightenment.