Babaji’s Fall Classes, September – December, 2011
Babaji’s Autumn visit to the West Coast centers was attended by a wonderful diversity of events and teachings. With him, we studied the Svetashvataro Upanisad, Divine Mother teachings in accord with the auspicious Navaratri worship of Mother Durga celebrated in both San Francisco and Portland, and also the Coffee Creek Correctional Facility for women in Oregon. Babaji’s teaching visit culminated in the Raja Yoga Retreat at Hidden Lake, The Mental Sadhana of Yoga, Climbing the Eight-Limbed Path of Classic Patanjala Yoga. Returning to Hawaii, classes were held on Karma Yoga. Following are class notes culled from Babaji’s teachings in San Francisco, Portland, Oregon, six Oregon prisons, the retreat, and Hawaii, arranged thematically.
Existence Is
Everything is; nothing is not. All of this – all that we see – is Mother Wisdom. With some basic information given we would say all this is Maya. But if we understand the deeper truths of Christ, Buddha, Ramakrishna, we should see that all of what we perceive is a manifestation of thought, a manifestation of Mother Wisdom. Later, with this deeper teaching in mind, we can then begin to approach the “All this is Brahman” level of insight. From not seeing (worldliness), to seeing all as maya, to perceiving everything as a manifestation of intelligence, to seeing God in all – this is the inner path, the way of the Vedanta.
Sarvosmi – Everything is. Existence is. This is a supreme one-word mantra.
None else but Self; none other than Mother. [Babaji’s personal motto]
Kevala asti: “I alone am.” In other words, not “woe is me; I’m all alone.” How puerile. Rather, “I am all there is.”
The children in our SRV classes make the Om symbol out of dominoes, then tip one and they all fall down – except the Shvara. Siva has a great time destroying the worlds, but He cannot destroy the Shvara – that is His own Self. Similarly, your Self, Atman, is indestructible. Meditate upon That.
You can never be separate from your true nature.
“Reduce all, everything you see, into Brahman, which is a concentrated mass of blissful Awareness. Rendering the internal and the external into one indivisible principle, meditate upon It, pass your time contentedly, and be free.” (Vivekachudamani, sloka 320) To explain further, there is the external and the internal, but then there is the Eternal. The Eternal is the Ultimate. The external and internal are its parts through which it sports. Focus ever on the Eternal and thereby move easily through birth, life, and death as the Eternal Principle.
If you believe in the Eternal Principle, then you must look into its ramifications.
You are an eternally changeless principle and what is outside is an eternally changing principle.
When Consciousness externalizes and identifies Itself with a bit of earth it “becomes” an ant, perchance; when It identifies Itself primarily with the sense of smell, It “becomes” a dog; when It identifies Itself with all the senses, then it is a brutish human being; identifying with the intellect, It “becomes” an intellectual; and identifying with the heart, It “becomes” a lover of God. The animalistic human being is fully focused on the lower three chakras, which Sri Ramakrishna characterized as eating, drinking, and procreating. When Consciousness identifies with the Sahashrara, It no more goes outward – It is identified with Its own absolute nature.
Cessation happens – each night, but few are aware of it. So becoming aware of the awareness of cessation – this is what happens when the internal and external are made one and you meditate on that.
The real mindfulness lies not in just walking carefully, or taking tea with awareness, but exists in consciously making the yogic connections, i.e., earth to smell, water to taste, sight to fire, etc. Existence is Brahman. But we will have to develop/refine the mind and senses in order to see It shining through all. Western seekers seem to think that these connections come easy, but what comes easy is forgetting to make them.