Notes from Babaji’s Classes (thematically arranged)
Hawaii, Oregon, and prison classes from June to August, 2009
NON-ORIGINATION & NON-TRANSFORMATION
There are 2 laws of Nondualism:
1- Ajativada (non-origination): There is no birth and no death. Creation (out of nothing) is not possible; something is always present, though most often unseen, unnoticed, due to the human mind’s preoccupation with objects and senses. There is no origin to anything; everything always exists. It all exists in the Word, which is the remote cause of everything. So it is only a matter of manifestation or nonmanifestation in cycles – the cycles themselves being unoriginated (without beginning or end). Thus, the greatest of mantras, “Sarvosmi – Everything Is.”
2 – Aparinama (non-transformation): Reality is changeless. So why all this constant flux and change? It is apparent only, not actual. Penetrate these appearances to that stable foundation of everything, which is Consciousness. Birth, growth, disease, death — these all seem to be but never are, as in a reflection, dream, play, projection, etc…..
The fundamental fact that Brahman doesn’t transform should become one’s barometer in life — and that fact will make of you a disbeliever, and a nonparticipant in the perplexing play of Maya.
Reality never changes: thus, about anything that does change — mind, life, intellect, life/death — one will make a distinction. Thereafter all objective phenomena will show up as unreal.
We’ve been raised under the influence of this misleading idea of beginnings, middles, and endings, when these junctures are never actually happening. We’ve been raised among the concepts of birth, life, and death, but they do not really occur. There is just one indivisible Existence. Called and pointed out as “existence,” it merely and always “exists.” Upon the surface of That, names and forms rise and fall. This is called play or sport, like children let loose from class. After recess is over, however, it might as well never have occurred. Like a bird flying through the air, no external trace of it is ever seen.
Question: So what is the reason for reincarnation?
Babaji: Remember that all the worlds are in your mind. That is where manifestation takes place, only seemingly. We don’t talk about karma and reincarnation on the same page as nonduality. They are relative truths. If you want to prove to yourself that reincarnation and relativity are unreal, you have to realize the nondual/actionless state to be True.
Reduce everything that appears before, and within you, into the Atman. The changeful is not the Atman. What lies behind it, the Unchanging, is That. That is why Sri Krishna states blissfully, “The unreal never is; the real never ceases to be…..”
Do appearances actually change? How can they, when they spring from That which is non-transformational by nature?
Everything exists all the time, sometimes manifested, and sometimes unmanifested. Scientists, religionists, etc, only know about the state. But the seer and yogi perceive the unmanifested – and what lies beyond it.
The ancient rishis didn’t teach their children that they were “growing up.” They taught them they were changeless. All growth occurs in nature. The Soul is like a central stationary pole and everything is moving around it.
Aparinama, non-transformation, is the highest truth. Nothing changes. It only seems to. So we have to stop telling our children that they are growing, and thinking that our ancestors have died, when they have only bi-located to another part of their consciousness – like walking from one room to another.
As my guru remarked, the view of the Evolutionist seems to be that if I want to go visit my ancestors, I have to go to the zoo. At least religion admits that we are humans. Here is where Adam and Eve have it all over Darwin…..
What does “cut in the image of God” mean? That you are birthless, deathless, inexhaustible, indivisible, unchanging, etc. Hold this “image” in your mind.
The problem with moods is that when we are in a foul mood and do an act, we feel guilty and bad about it. And if we are in a good mood and do something, we feel pride, pleasure, etc. The ego has its finger in all these pots. But the freeing teaching of the gunas is that the gunas are a part of nature, not the Self. Tamas conceals and rajas distorts. Most people who live a happy (sattvic) life still never know themselves. They are simply happy, healthy animals. Goodness, righteousness, even contentment and dharma are not enough to gain Freedom from all things. To gain Enlightenment one must get into a nondual state, pure and simple…..
The ego is most subtle. It is the last thing to dissolve before deep sleep and the first thing to emerge upon returning from deep sleep.
The nondual state is reached in four ways: deep sleep, death, meditation, samadhi. Unfortunately, the first two of these are still attended by cause and effect, thus conditioned awareness. Practice the latter two and realize the unconditional Self.