WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.500 Here is one of a series of talks by spiritual 00:00:02.500 --> 00:00:06.139 leader Lola McDowell Lee, spanning two decades 00:00:06.139 --> 00:00:10.160 from the early 70s through the 90s. Lola was 00:00:10.160 --> 00:00:13.279 a Zen roshi whose Rinzai lineage included Dr. 00:00:13.460 --> 00:00:17.160 Henry Plutov and renowned Zen master Shigetsu 00:00:17.160 --> 00:00:20.820 Sasaki. Lola was a religious scholar as well 00:00:20.820 --> 00:00:24.059 as an ordained Christian minister. While the 00:00:24.059 --> 00:00:26.699 talks are focused mainly on Zen and Buddhism, 00:00:27.339 --> 00:00:30.539 Lola drew on many spiritual traditions, including 00:00:30.539 --> 00:00:34.759 those of Jesus, Plato, Lao Tzu, the Hindu Vedas, 00:00:34.880 --> 00:00:39.340 Meister Eckhart, and Gurdjieff. Well, either 00:00:39.340 --> 00:00:43.060 you're all worn out from the weekend's set, or 00:00:43.060 --> 00:00:49.799 you're not up yet, not awake yet. There's not 00:00:49.799 --> 00:00:53.619 much strength in your singing at all, at all. 00:00:55.399 --> 00:01:03.899 slurping along there okay we come finally to 00:01:03.899 --> 00:01:12.900 the last of the Upanishad the last chapters the 00:01:12.900 --> 00:01:17.120 last verses of it which read the face of truth 00:01:17.120 --> 00:01:23.120 is covered with a brilliant golden lid That do 00:01:23.120 --> 00:01:27.019 thou remove, O fosterer, for the law of truth, 00:01:27.260 --> 00:01:34.379 for sight. O fosterer, O soul -seer, O ordainer, 00:01:34.400 --> 00:01:38.319 O illumining sun, O power of the father of creatures, 00:01:38.959 --> 00:01:43.340 marshal thy rays, draw together thy light, the 00:01:43.340 --> 00:01:46.340 luster which is thy most blessed form of all, 00:01:46.519 --> 00:01:52.819 that in thee I behold the Purusha, There and 00:01:52.819 --> 00:02:01.159 there, he am I. The breath of things is an immortal 00:02:01.159 --> 00:02:07.260 life. But of this body, ashes are the end. All 00:02:07.260 --> 00:02:14.939 will remember that which was done. All will remember 00:02:14.939 --> 00:02:24.310 that which was done. Remember. O Agni, knowing 00:02:24.310 --> 00:02:28.129 all things that are manifested, lead us by the 00:02:28.129 --> 00:02:32.229 good path to the felicity. Remove from us the 00:02:32.229 --> 00:02:36.449 devious attraction of sin. To thee completest 00:02:36.449 --> 00:02:45.169 speech of submission we would dispose. And I'm 00:02:45.169 --> 00:02:47.650 going to pick up about where I left off last 00:02:47.650 --> 00:02:52.060 Sunday, running out of time as I did. And I didn't 00:02:52.060 --> 00:02:55.080 want to keep you sitting there any longer. And 00:02:55.080 --> 00:03:00.740 we start out again then with this Surya, which 00:03:00.740 --> 00:03:04.240 is, remember we're talking in terms of India, 00:03:04.360 --> 00:03:10.159 India with her gods, and this pantheon where 00:03:10.159 --> 00:03:13.080 all the energies and the forces have been named, 00:03:13.159 --> 00:03:22.530 and they call them gods. So Surya is the... Supreme 00:03:22.530 --> 00:03:28.710 truth. The supreme truth is labeled Surya. And 00:03:28.710 --> 00:03:35.110 he is known as the revealer. And he is termed 00:03:35.110 --> 00:03:42.449 sight. And so they call him the fosterer or the 00:03:42.449 --> 00:03:49.310 increaser because it is he that opens our limited 00:03:49.310 --> 00:03:55.120 beings. Into this infinite and luminous consciousness. 00:03:55.620 --> 00:04:03.159 Truth. It is he that is the soul seer. The one 00:04:03.159 --> 00:04:09.539 seer. He sees oneness. And he is the knower of 00:04:09.539 --> 00:04:17.139 the self. So he is the ordainer. And it is Surya 00:04:17.139 --> 00:04:23.480 that tries to lead us. On a direct. which is 00:04:23.480 --> 00:04:29.860 called the law of truth to the truth, the so 00:04:29.860 --> 00:04:34.540 -called correct principle of our nature. However, 00:04:34.779 --> 00:04:41.759 his rays, that is his influence, you know, the 00:04:41.759 --> 00:04:47.399 radiation of this energy becomes distorted and 00:04:47.399 --> 00:04:53.290 it breaks up and is... disordered in our reflecting 00:04:53.290 --> 00:04:58.069 and dividing mind our minds divide our minds 00:04:58.069 --> 00:05:01.509 reflect and so it takes this energy of truth 00:05:01.509 --> 00:05:08.870 and breaks it up and it is this breaking up in 00:05:08.870 --> 00:05:14.310 our minds this distortion that forms the golden 00:05:14.310 --> 00:05:18.509 lid which covers the truth we have the truth 00:05:18.879 --> 00:05:21.680 only we have divided it and separated it, and 00:05:21.680 --> 00:05:24.060 it's in a million little pieces in our minds. 00:05:24.160 --> 00:05:27.360 It is fragmented, and the thing is to pull it 00:05:27.360 --> 00:05:34.259 together. So the prayer to Surya is to put us 00:05:34.259 --> 00:05:38.879 in a correct order and to draw the fragments 00:05:38.879 --> 00:05:46.040 together into the unity of truth. So Surya is 00:05:46.040 --> 00:05:50.810 in a way... the intuition or the knowing aspect 00:05:50.810 --> 00:05:56.589 because it knows the self and it knows the truth 00:05:56.589 --> 00:06:00.569 and it is the truth and so in this intuition 00:06:00.569 --> 00:06:04.529 of this aspect of the mind we come across the 00:06:04.529 --> 00:06:09.350 they do compare it to the gnostic idea the gnosis 00:06:09.350 --> 00:06:14.389 as a power and it works in its own law that law 00:06:14.389 --> 00:06:19.829 of truth And this gnosis whose nature is sight. 00:06:21.009 --> 00:06:25.329 It is seeing. It is not conception. It doesn't 00:06:25.329 --> 00:06:29.110 work with concepts. It is not conceiving. You 00:06:29.110 --> 00:06:31.670 know, the sentence is, for the law of truth, 00:06:31.790 --> 00:06:43.829 for sight. To see the self. The self vision. 00:06:45.319 --> 00:06:50.860 which is in all vision, the self. This is Surya 00:06:50.860 --> 00:06:54.980 in India. And, of course, the Gnostic idea is 00:06:54.980 --> 00:07:09.279 Greek. It knows. The gnosis knows. It sees what 00:07:09.279 --> 00:07:15.579 is true. Now, the face of truth. is covered with 00:07:15.579 --> 00:07:23.379 a brilliant golden lid. We could call this lid 00:07:23.379 --> 00:07:31.459 our objective self -conscious viewpoint. It's 00:07:31.459 --> 00:07:38.339 our view. And it is broken up by our objective 00:07:38.339 --> 00:07:44.220 self -conscious view. And then so it is covered 00:07:44.220 --> 00:07:51.920 by our self -conscious view. We are, as man, 00:07:52.019 --> 00:07:57.160 you know, mankind, humankind, we are mentally 00:07:57.160 --> 00:08:06.420 oriented. We stand on two feet, and our head 00:08:06.420 --> 00:08:09.139 is up in the air, and we stand somewhat upright, 00:08:09.379 --> 00:08:19.759 that is, vertical. We are endowed with a difficult 00:08:19.759 --> 00:08:23.740 -to -obtain human body, as the Tibetans put it. 00:08:25.839 --> 00:08:34.720 As human beings, as man, we have mind. The word 00:08:34.720 --> 00:08:40.240 man comes from the Sanskrit manu, which is mind 00:08:40.240 --> 00:08:49.309 or man. Being a human being in that state we 00:08:49.309 --> 00:08:58.169 have mind. The mind in its activity is our thoughts 00:08:58.169 --> 00:09:06.690 and our thoughts lead us and it is surprising. 00:09:06.970 --> 00:09:09.750 I think someday if you have not already seen 00:09:09.750 --> 00:09:13.370 it you will be very surprised. How your thoughts 00:09:13.370 --> 00:09:19.690 do lead you. We do their bidding. We're not even 00:09:19.690 --> 00:09:23.250 aware that we're thinking. And yet what we are 00:09:23.250 --> 00:09:26.750 doing is what is going on in the head. We're 00:09:26.750 --> 00:09:29.990 acting it out. And then we wonder why we get 00:09:29.990 --> 00:09:36.789 into trouble. So, you know, begin to watch what 00:09:36.789 --> 00:09:40.649 goes on in here. What you're thinking. Because 00:09:40.649 --> 00:09:47.029 what you're thinking you are doing. Watch your 00:09:47.029 --> 00:09:52.710 thinking lest you befool yourself. Or as the 00:09:52.710 --> 00:09:55.870 old Zen master put it, do not deceive yourself. 00:09:56.789 --> 00:10:03.590 Now, the mind in its substance or mind substance 00:10:03.590 --> 00:10:12.919 is also the mind of God. Manu. Mind. Your mind. 00:10:13.419 --> 00:10:18.440 Not the thoughts. That belongs to the world of 00:10:18.440 --> 00:10:21.460 appearance and phenomena and so on. But the mind 00:10:21.460 --> 00:10:26.139 itself. And you know the Christian scientists 00:10:26.139 --> 00:10:29.960 have a good way of putting it. They say that 00:10:29.960 --> 00:10:34.620 there is mortal mind, the way we ordinarily think, 00:10:34.799 --> 00:10:39.299 and this is the imperfect mind. And then there 00:10:39.299 --> 00:10:43.620 is the immortal mind, which is perfect. And they 00:10:43.620 --> 00:10:47.860 say, therefore, be perfect. They don't say go 00:10:47.860 --> 00:10:52.700 through a whole lot of rigmarole and purifying 00:10:52.700 --> 00:10:57.580 processes. No, just be in that mind. Be perfect. 00:10:57.759 --> 00:11:07.620 That mind is already perfect. Through our thoughts, 00:11:12.169 --> 00:11:20.509 our ideas our concepts we have a knowledge we 00:11:20.509 --> 00:11:26.129 have a knowledge of appearances this how it appears 00:11:26.129 --> 00:11:31.570 to me this how it appears to me what it is in 00:11:31.570 --> 00:11:44.269 its reality is covered by the way i see That 00:11:44.269 --> 00:11:48.889 is an appearance in my world. If you're looking 00:11:48.889 --> 00:11:51.149 at it, it is also an appearance in your world. 00:11:53.210 --> 00:11:58.289 But in this world of appearances, in my world, 00:11:58.429 --> 00:12:04.450 we arrange, and then we rearrange, and then again 00:12:04.450 --> 00:12:08.129 we rearrange, for God knows how many times we 00:12:08.129 --> 00:12:13.259 keep rearranging our thoughts. about the appearances, 00:12:13.700 --> 00:12:17.679 not even acknowledging that they are appearances. 00:12:20.320 --> 00:12:25.820 And with these arrangements and rearranging of 00:12:25.820 --> 00:12:31.399 these appearances, we try very hard to infer 00:12:31.399 --> 00:12:42.950 the truth. Some people befool themselves. they 00:12:42.950 --> 00:12:46.970 begin to think of the inferences as reality. 00:12:49.549 --> 00:12:57.129 Very easy to do. The inferences. I have deduced 00:12:57.129 --> 00:13:01.830 this and this from these appearances, and now 00:13:01.830 --> 00:13:06.429 I know. I have attained. I am enlightened. They 00:13:06.429 --> 00:13:18.970 don't say I've inferred. Now Surya, the true 00:13:18.970 --> 00:13:21.250 knowledge, true knowing, he is a true knower, 00:13:21.330 --> 00:13:27.070 is the truth of existence as such, in its suchness, 00:13:27.110 --> 00:13:36.370 or the truth as it is, in what it is. There is 00:13:36.370 --> 00:13:42.610 a truth, and we call them many. In this world 00:13:42.610 --> 00:13:45.610 of appearance, about appearances, I mean, we 00:13:45.610 --> 00:13:51.450 do have natural laws, and we know that. The phenomenon. 00:13:52.889 --> 00:13:56.690 I mean, there's such a thing as gravity. This 00:13:56.690 --> 00:14:00.950 has to do with the moon and the tides and our 00:14:00.950 --> 00:14:04.490 not flying off into space somewhere as we're 00:14:04.490 --> 00:14:09.600 walking on the surface of this planet. There 00:14:09.600 --> 00:14:12.220 is a truth about appearances and there is a truth 00:14:12.220 --> 00:14:16.159 of non -appearance. And they call that the law 00:14:16.159 --> 00:14:20.200 of truth, of non -appearance, of the noumenal 00:14:20.200 --> 00:14:26.500 world. Now, the gods, the forces, the energies, 00:14:26.779 --> 00:14:31.320 in which we went into some lessons back here, 00:14:31.419 --> 00:14:39.500 the gods Surya and Agni, they work in us. They're 00:14:39.500 --> 00:14:43.519 fellow conspirators in a way. And through them 00:14:43.519 --> 00:14:47.620 we finally come to see the truth. The truth by 00:14:47.620 --> 00:14:58.000 gnosis. Truth by sight. And this in turn sets 00:14:58.000 --> 00:15:04.179 aside, as it were, our concepts and our percepts 00:15:04.179 --> 00:15:08.600 and our inferences of the appearances. and replaces 00:15:08.600 --> 00:15:13.179 it with the knowing of the self -vision, of the 00:15:13.179 --> 00:15:19.139 self -seeing, of the self -knowing, just that 00:15:19.139 --> 00:15:26.399 self. Now, to tread the path, as it's called 00:15:26.399 --> 00:15:32.799 sometimes, and in our seeking, in our questing, 00:15:32.820 --> 00:15:39.389 in our looking for the truth, It is very important 00:15:39.389 --> 00:15:46.190 that we learn to see things as they are in our 00:15:46.190 --> 00:15:50.690 world, my world. We must learn to see ourselves 00:15:50.690 --> 00:15:58.830 as we are. And this is extremely difficult, to 00:15:58.830 --> 00:16:04.129 see yourself as you are. And in this, we come 00:16:04.129 --> 00:16:08.669 to rely on this gnosis. on the noetic quality 00:16:08.669 --> 00:16:14.409 of the mind, to see ourselves as we are. For 00:16:14.409 --> 00:16:19.090 without that intuitive action in us, we're only 00:16:19.090 --> 00:16:23.470 one opinion looking at a bunch of opinions, or 00:16:23.470 --> 00:16:27.110 we're looking with a concept at another concept. 00:16:27.750 --> 00:16:34.169 We may call it I, but it is a concept, speaking 00:16:34.169 --> 00:16:37.169 of other concepts. looking at other concepts, 00:16:37.429 --> 00:16:41.169 opinions looking at other opinions. So where 00:16:41.169 --> 00:16:45.470 are you in that? In all those opinions and inferences 00:16:45.470 --> 00:16:48.950 and concepts and ideas and notions and what have 00:16:48.950 --> 00:16:58.009 yous, where are you? And this journey home, for 00:16:58.009 --> 00:17:05.029 we are all the prodigal son, we all begin, all, 00:17:05.710 --> 00:17:10.369 begin this journey on this path home with a fundamental 00:17:10.369 --> 00:17:17.289 falsehood we live and some people live all their 00:17:17.289 --> 00:17:21.849 lives with this fundamental falsehood which is 00:17:21.849 --> 00:17:26.849 very simple we believe that we have a separate 00:17:26.849 --> 00:17:31.170 existence from all others and in this separate 00:17:31.170 --> 00:17:36.980 nest we try to know Relations. Relations between 00:17:36.980 --> 00:17:41.599 separate things in their separate states. We 00:17:41.599 --> 00:17:51.720 want to know. We act out of a knowledge of appearances 00:17:51.720 --> 00:17:57.559 that we have accumulated on the basis of being 00:17:57.559 --> 00:18:01.700 separate one from the other. Everything is based 00:18:01.700 --> 00:18:05.259 on our separateness. The ego is separate. Our 00:18:05.259 --> 00:18:07.559 thoughts are separate. My thoughts are different 00:18:07.559 --> 00:18:11.000 than your thoughts, aren't they? Sure. No, they're 00:18:11.000 --> 00:18:16.680 not. Thoughts are thoughts. We believe in this 00:18:16.680 --> 00:18:22.720 knowledge of separateness that we have accumulated. 00:18:25.180 --> 00:18:28.740 And then we run around and look at the schools 00:18:28.740 --> 00:18:31.279 and the seminars and things that are going on 00:18:31.279 --> 00:18:35.250 now. About relations and relationships. Oh yes. 00:18:35.509 --> 00:18:41.230 Oh you and I have a nice relationship. Which 00:18:41.230 --> 00:18:46.470 you can have. Either a nice relationship. Or 00:18:46.470 --> 00:18:49.069 a not so nice relationship. But you can have 00:18:49.069 --> 00:18:51.589 it only. As long as you think of yourself as 00:18:51.589 --> 00:18:58.849 being separate. Now that's the world of appearance. 00:19:16.109 --> 00:19:19.890 in all of us in everybody i don't care who they 00:19:19.890 --> 00:19:24.509 are everybody in our everyday ordinary actions 00:19:24.509 --> 00:19:30.109 in the way we function every day no in our world 00:19:30.109 --> 00:19:35.769 of separateness see me there is a seed of truth 00:19:35.769 --> 00:19:42.490 we all have this seed of truth and this seed 00:19:42.490 --> 00:19:48.559 must be allowed to sprout That is, it dies to 00:19:48.559 --> 00:19:56.839 itself. And then we must allow it to grow. It 00:19:56.839 --> 00:20:02.900 grows to be a tree. And this tree is called the 00:20:02.900 --> 00:20:07.359 tree of life, which also grows in the garden. 00:20:09.720 --> 00:20:13.720 And we begin then to eat the fruit of the tree 00:20:13.720 --> 00:20:17.250 of life. instead of the tree of knowledge of 00:20:17.250 --> 00:20:24.210 good and evil. Eating the fruit of the tree of 00:20:24.210 --> 00:20:29.569 life, we shall be free. We are liberated from 00:20:29.569 --> 00:20:33.450 the appearances of good and evil and the opposites. 00:20:34.670 --> 00:20:38.990 There is something in us. There is an element 00:20:38.990 --> 00:20:45.299 in us which frees us. It gives us freedom. It 00:20:45.299 --> 00:20:49.599 leads us to freedom. We have this element already. 00:20:50.000 --> 00:20:52.720 It is not something you have to go out and look 00:20:52.720 --> 00:20:56.880 for. It is not something that you have to acquire. 00:20:58.200 --> 00:21:07.160 You have it now. The element that leads to freedom, 00:21:07.259 --> 00:21:13.359 it leads us out. And so in the story of... in 00:21:13.359 --> 00:21:16.859 the myth or the legend of Jesus, he is called 00:21:16.859 --> 00:21:22.019 Judas. It is the element which freezes. It allows 00:21:22.019 --> 00:21:30.859 us out. Now, within every act, with every perception, 00:21:31.119 --> 00:21:37.859 there is also this gnosis, this intuition, this 00:21:37.859 --> 00:21:49.799 surya. We keep ourselves very, very busy falsifying 00:21:49.799 --> 00:22:02.599 ourselves and our world in our thinking. And 00:22:02.599 --> 00:22:06.779 yet all the while this intuition, which is in 00:22:06.779 --> 00:22:13.789 every thought, it preserves itself. And it works 00:22:13.789 --> 00:22:19.349 at all times to lead us to the truth. Behind 00:22:19.349 --> 00:22:24.130 all of our labors, and we do labor to divide, 00:22:24.369 --> 00:22:31.029 to differentiate, there is this insistent unifying 00:22:31.029 --> 00:22:39.470 tendency, the knowing trying to become one. We 00:22:39.470 --> 00:22:43.450 say we yearn to know. Oh, we want desperately 00:22:43.450 --> 00:22:47.630 to know. There is a hunger in us to know. And 00:22:47.630 --> 00:22:51.170 we yearn to know by the very knowing itself. 00:22:54.470 --> 00:23:03.569 This gnosis, huh? Surya. And through the action 00:23:03.569 --> 00:23:09.970 of Surya, of the truth itself, through this noetic 00:23:09.970 --> 00:23:16.599 element of the mind, We arrive finally at a supreme 00:23:16.599 --> 00:23:21.339 super -conscient state where the truth of things 00:23:21.339 --> 00:23:28.500 is a total vision. It is self -luminous. And 00:23:28.500 --> 00:23:32.619 this self -luminous, this supreme light, it is 00:23:32.619 --> 00:23:36.339 called, the supreme will, the supreme delight, 00:23:36.640 --> 00:23:41.059 the ananda of it, the Lord, it is called, the 00:23:41.059 --> 00:23:47.259 parusha. the self -being. In this perfect seeing, 00:23:47.500 --> 00:23:54.940 in that instant, you see, it is... In the Upanishads, 00:23:54.940 --> 00:24:08.319 they say, Soham! Eli! In Buddhism, there is the 00:24:08.319 --> 00:24:15.200 story of the little lion. you know, that mother 00:24:15.200 --> 00:24:18.799 died giving it birth. She was hungry and she 00:24:18.799 --> 00:24:24.339 was leaping at this group of sheep, you know, 00:24:24.339 --> 00:24:30.599 and she died. And the sheep found this little 00:24:30.599 --> 00:24:37.960 cub. So they raised it. They taught it to eat 00:24:37.960 --> 00:24:42.359 grass and they taught it, Sheep language, you 00:24:42.359 --> 00:24:55.380 know, bah. And it grew. And then one day, a huge 00:24:55.380 --> 00:25:05.420 lion came by. And he saw this little lion eating 00:25:05.420 --> 00:25:13.359 grass. Bah, you know. And he picked it up by 00:25:13.359 --> 00:25:15.319 the scruff of the neck and took it to the pond 00:25:15.319 --> 00:25:18.819 and said, look at yourself. You look like a sheep. 00:25:20.900 --> 00:25:29.319 So he took it away and he fed it meat. And all 00:25:29.319 --> 00:25:31.680 of a sudden, something happened to this little 00:25:31.680 --> 00:25:40.839 lion. And this little lion roared a lion cry. 00:25:41.930 --> 00:25:46.369 He was a lion, so he could cry like a lion. So... 00:25:46.369 --> 00:25:58.589 You know, it's... It's Buddhism. But in the Upanishads 00:25:58.589 --> 00:26:06.549 in India, you know, it's... EMI. It's this lion's 00:26:06.549 --> 00:26:13.380 roar. The Purushas are there. EMI. The true identity, 00:26:13.700 --> 00:26:21.359 so am. It is all and is that which transcends 00:26:21.359 --> 00:26:35.759 all. Now through Surya, the soul seer, the one 00:26:35.759 --> 00:26:43.329 and only seer, illumining the mind. and leading 00:26:43.329 --> 00:26:47.690 the consciousness from mortality to immortality. 00:26:49.509 --> 00:26:56.910 The sun as the doer, as the gate. The limited 00:26:56.910 --> 00:27:01.329 consciousness steps through this gate into this 00:27:01.329 --> 00:27:07.750 full, total consciousness. And the whole band 00:27:07.750 --> 00:27:11.700 spectrum, you know. that has been spread out. 00:27:11.759 --> 00:27:15.420 I went through that. Do you remember that? Do 00:27:15.420 --> 00:27:20.799 you remember that? Okay. Energy is a band spectrum. 00:27:21.759 --> 00:27:26.359 You let go of both ends, right back to a little 00:27:26.359 --> 00:27:33.740 bitty mustard seed, as it were. The rubber band 00:27:33.740 --> 00:27:39.400 snaps back into place. The supreme all -embracing 00:27:39.400 --> 00:27:48.279 soul. So Surya represents the divine light. Represents 00:27:48.279 --> 00:27:57.759 the truth. And Agni then, which is the fire god, 00:27:57.859 --> 00:28:04.180 so to speak. To these ancient teachers, Agni 00:28:04.180 --> 00:28:08.400 represented the divine force. or the power or 00:28:08.400 --> 00:28:12.700 the will in consciousness not in your thoughts 00:28:12.700 --> 00:28:16.640 the will in consciousness so then we have finally 00:28:16.640 --> 00:28:28.660 a knowing knowing and will as a unity unity is 00:28:28.660 --> 00:28:32.119 the true foundation there is a unity there is 00:28:32.119 --> 00:28:36.089 one that's the true foundation This one has many 00:28:36.089 --> 00:28:43.670 aspects. Now, as individuals in our separateness 00:28:43.670 --> 00:28:50.809 in this world of appearances, we accept within 00:28:50.809 --> 00:28:55.369 ourselves a division that there is out there 00:28:55.369 --> 00:29:03.049 and there is in here. We have opposites out there 00:29:03.049 --> 00:29:08.970 in here. We have high and low opposites. We have 00:29:08.970 --> 00:29:14.450 hot and cold, near and far. We accept this division, 00:29:14.650 --> 00:29:23.269 and it becomes our law. And it becomes the way 00:29:23.269 --> 00:29:29.349 that we are governed. It becomes the way we think, 00:29:29.490 --> 00:29:38.099 this division. And so... We isolate ourselves 00:29:38.099 --> 00:29:47.339 in our egotistic limitations. The truth is very 00:29:47.339 --> 00:29:51.079 obscure. We can't ever seem to find it, to pick 00:29:51.079 --> 00:29:54.279 it up. We know it's there. We can feel it, but 00:29:54.279 --> 00:29:59.960 how do I pick it up? So it's obscure, and we 00:29:59.960 --> 00:30:05.460 work in ignorance. We are ignorant of it. In 00:30:05.460 --> 00:30:13.700 all of our goals, our aims, what we want, and 00:30:13.700 --> 00:30:17.240 the methods that we contrive to get what we want, 00:30:17.359 --> 00:30:25.140 our manipulations for our success, we follow 00:30:25.140 --> 00:30:31.740 all of this in a knowledge that is the information 00:30:33.690 --> 00:30:37.809 that is accumulated about appearances and these 00:30:37.809 --> 00:30:47.910 opposites which we make personal we have personal 00:30:47.910 --> 00:30:52.650 knowledge which is governed by desire by our 00:30:52.650 --> 00:30:57.410 habits of thought by our obscure subconscious 00:30:57.410 --> 00:31:02.289 impulses and then into some lives you know a 00:31:02.289 --> 00:31:08.220 broken or a partial or a shifting light. See, 00:31:08.339 --> 00:31:11.740 the light in this instance being a transcendent 00:31:11.740 --> 00:31:19.799 perception. Our knowledge is narrow in its objectivity. 00:31:21.819 --> 00:31:26.019 Objects, objects, huh? Thoughts are even objects. 00:31:26.759 --> 00:31:33.079 We are very narrow in our subjectivity. of this 00:31:33.079 --> 00:31:40.700 I in here. Neither objectivity or subjectivity 00:31:40.700 --> 00:31:49.240 in this sense is a unity. And it really doesn't 00:31:49.240 --> 00:31:54.599 work with the will of the universe. So it is 00:31:54.599 --> 00:32:00.000 said that our actions are crooked. It is not 00:32:00.000 --> 00:32:03.400 one. Our actions are not one with this will of 00:32:03.400 --> 00:32:06.880 the universe. Our actions are crooked. It has 00:32:06.880 --> 00:32:11.259 many branchings. It hesitates and it fluctuates. 00:32:11.920 --> 00:32:16.779 And what direction is best? Into what area should 00:32:16.779 --> 00:32:24.200 I go? Where should I turn? What direction should 00:32:24.200 --> 00:32:27.180 I go in? And then it comes the impulse to go 00:32:27.180 --> 00:32:30.740 this way. And we start out on that and after 00:32:30.740 --> 00:32:33.759 a few footsteps, well, now let's think this thing 00:32:33.759 --> 00:32:39.920 over and let's go that way. And then again comes 00:32:39.920 --> 00:32:42.359 the question, well, really, in what direction 00:32:42.359 --> 00:32:46.940 should I go? And our concepts beat around in 00:32:46.940 --> 00:32:51.519 our heads and they dash around in all these falsehoods 00:32:51.519 --> 00:32:57.000 trying to find the truth. We pick up scraps. 00:32:57.960 --> 00:33:02.259 We pick up fragments out of which we try to piece 00:33:02.259 --> 00:33:06.400 a hole. We try to sew them all together and have 00:33:06.400 --> 00:33:11.200 a hole. Patchwork, huh? And we stumble along 00:33:11.200 --> 00:33:14.940 amongst our errors and the sins, as they call 00:33:14.940 --> 00:33:20.880 it, to find the true and the right. Now this 00:33:20.880 --> 00:33:26.500 word sin, many of us are conditioned to shudder 00:33:26.500 --> 00:33:36.940 at this word. The Upanishad has the concept the 00:33:36.940 --> 00:33:43.640 sin is that which excites and hurries the faculties 00:33:43.640 --> 00:33:51.579 into a deviation from the good path. From the 00:33:51.579 --> 00:33:54.339 straight path to the crooked path. It's that 00:33:54.339 --> 00:33:57.670 which excites us. So this can be anything you 00:33:57.670 --> 00:34:04.569 know. It can be any thought actually. Now some 00:34:04.569 --> 00:34:09.289 of you realize this. It can be the most beautiful 00:34:09.289 --> 00:34:17.630 of thoughts. It can excite you and lead you into 00:34:17.630 --> 00:34:22.750 a crooked path. The most dazzling thought can 00:34:22.750 --> 00:34:28.880 be a deviation from the good path. You know, 00:34:28.920 --> 00:34:38.840 Meister Eckhart, he said, you know, the sun at 00:34:38.840 --> 00:34:44.059 noon is in all its glory. You can pick up a tiny 00:34:44.059 --> 00:34:48.400 pebble and hold it before your eye and you cannot 00:34:48.400 --> 00:34:54.699 any longer see the sun. And so in your minds, 00:34:54.739 --> 00:34:59.860 any thought, any thought, No matter how beautiful 00:34:59.860 --> 00:35:03.119 you may think it is, how dazzling it may appear 00:35:03.119 --> 00:35:10.920 to you, it hides the truth. A thought. The mind 00:35:10.920 --> 00:35:19.940 is obscured because of thinking. The mind. And 00:35:19.940 --> 00:35:23.400 there is a straight path, and it leads to what 00:35:23.400 --> 00:35:35.860 they call infinite levels. vistas which we should 00:35:35.860 --> 00:35:43.019 normally take toward our fulfillment but then 00:35:43.019 --> 00:35:47.599 this that excites us what they call sin with 00:35:47.599 --> 00:35:55.559 that we stumble along we are limited we have 00:35:55.559 --> 00:36:02.980 this uneven crooked winding path. You go round 00:36:02.980 --> 00:36:05.300 the mountain and round the mountain and round 00:36:05.300 --> 00:36:08.579 the mountain instead of straight up. You know, 00:36:08.599 --> 00:36:12.880 Jesus in the Gospel of St. Thomas spoke that 00:36:12.880 --> 00:36:16.440 he was coming to make straight the way. He said 00:36:16.440 --> 00:36:21.539 the crooked shall be made straight. That's what 00:36:21.539 --> 00:36:31.210 he intended, straight the way. Now in our limited 00:36:31.210 --> 00:36:40.909 human consciousness, you know, it is the eye. 00:36:44.090 --> 00:36:49.789 We move our eyes constantly and we blink often, 00:36:49.969 --> 00:36:58.900 frequently. We move because The eye consciousness 00:36:58.900 --> 00:37:03.719 knows that the eye doesn't see everything. There's 00:37:03.719 --> 00:37:09.280 a blind spot in the eye. So it moves. That way 00:37:09.280 --> 00:37:12.320 it can take in the whole picture. If it didn't 00:37:12.320 --> 00:37:16.239 move, it wouldn't see all of it. And so with 00:37:16.239 --> 00:37:22.619 the mind, we have blind spots. We are a limited 00:37:22.619 --> 00:37:29.369 human consciousness. And so we have neither this 00:37:29.369 --> 00:37:36.429 single vision, this single eye. If thine eye 00:37:36.429 --> 00:37:39.650 be single, thine whole house shall be filled 00:37:39.650 --> 00:37:45.510 with light. Nor do we have a whole vision. We 00:37:45.510 --> 00:37:49.730 don't have a totality of the will, and we don't 00:37:49.730 --> 00:37:53.789 have the oneness of this transcendent. Very difficult, 00:37:53.829 --> 00:37:57.210 then, to walk the straight path. Towards the 00:37:57.210 --> 00:38:03.570 truth. We are led around by desire. And don't 00:38:03.570 --> 00:38:10.510 kid yourself that you're not. We are exposed 00:38:10.510 --> 00:38:16.030 to forces around us. Which I talked about. Way 00:38:16.030 --> 00:38:21.289 back when. Second or third lesson. That if there 00:38:21.289 --> 00:38:24.710 was some of these forces. If you were in harmony 00:38:24.710 --> 00:38:29.400 with them. This you call pleasure. And if you 00:38:29.400 --> 00:38:32.280 were not in harmony with them, you called it 00:38:32.280 --> 00:38:38.039 pain. And the rest you ignored. You were indifferent 00:38:38.039 --> 00:38:45.380 to. And the ego, you see, being that which holds 00:38:45.380 --> 00:38:49.820 us in this limitation, doesn't really want much 00:38:49.820 --> 00:38:53.739 harmony with these forces, because it opens it 00:38:53.739 --> 00:38:59.829 up. and delimits it in a way. So how much pleasure 00:38:59.829 --> 00:39:05.530 do you have in your life? Look back. And so we 00:39:05.530 --> 00:39:11.949 suffer, and we have a life of falsehood in our 00:39:11.949 --> 00:39:17.650 ignorance. And this we do not see in ourselves. 00:39:20.889 --> 00:39:27.980 That we lie to ourselves, we don't see. We live 00:39:27.980 --> 00:39:34.239 in a kind of a twilight and our senses perceive 00:39:34.239 --> 00:39:40.960 and the mind interprets and then there is this 00:39:40.960 --> 00:39:44.659 appearance in the consciousness and we extend 00:39:44.659 --> 00:39:49.659 it in space -time and we objectify it in the 00:39:49.659 --> 00:39:55.139 world and then again you're cognizing this object. 00:39:55.789 --> 00:39:58.789 which you have projected, and you consider everything 00:39:58.789 --> 00:40:05.349 out there as separate from yourself. In this 00:40:05.349 --> 00:40:10.969 process, you know, naturally, our perception 00:40:10.969 --> 00:40:17.050 is not total. And what we need, you know, is 00:40:17.050 --> 00:40:24.739 whole seeing. Not just with the mind. this divided 00:40:24.739 --> 00:40:30.619 mind but to see from within to see from this 00:40:30.619 --> 00:40:34.760 element of gnosis not from a point of one phenomena 00:40:34.760 --> 00:40:38.840 looking at another phenomenon but from the source 00:40:38.840 --> 00:40:46.420 of all seeing in this subject object state we 00:40:46.420 --> 00:40:52.230 we live as if it were in a twilight And in all 00:40:52.230 --> 00:40:55.469 of our appearances and falsehoods and divisions, 00:40:55.650 --> 00:41:02.110 there is a light trying to bring about a full 00:41:02.110 --> 00:41:09.650 dawn of truth. Behind all of our mistakes, behind 00:41:09.650 --> 00:41:15.190 all our errors, behind all our stumblings, within 00:41:15.190 --> 00:41:20.409 us and transcending, there is will. There is 00:41:20.409 --> 00:41:28.210 a kind of a secret will in us. But it tends toward 00:41:28.210 --> 00:41:33.570 love and harmony. This is where will brings us. 00:41:35.570 --> 00:41:42.550 And it is this will which is always trying to 00:41:42.550 --> 00:41:46.769 bring together our crooked branchings into this 00:41:46.769 --> 00:41:55.440 single path. The emergence in us of this will, 00:41:55.619 --> 00:41:59.820 you know, to have it blossom out, the will and 00:41:59.820 --> 00:42:02.699 the light. See, this is the condition of immortality. 00:42:05.679 --> 00:42:09.920 Now, in this particular Upanishad, this will 00:42:09.920 --> 00:42:15.880 is called Agni. In most of the Vedas, Agni is 00:42:15.880 --> 00:42:19.889 called fire, except for the... Rig Veda, here 00:42:19.889 --> 00:42:25.949 also it is called will. Will, the divine will, 00:42:26.070 --> 00:42:29.289 the force of consciousness that works in us. 00:42:31.489 --> 00:42:35.210 Agni is working and Surya is working and what 00:42:35.210 --> 00:42:51.739 are you doing? Well, I sat ten minutes. Big deal. 00:42:54.940 --> 00:43:00.559 Agni is the leader of the journey. It's like 00:43:00.559 --> 00:43:02.900 he's the horse that carries us over the road. 00:43:04.179 --> 00:43:07.400 And very difficult to find in this mishmash that 00:43:07.400 --> 00:43:11.619 we carry around in our consciousness. Difficult 00:43:11.619 --> 00:43:15.119 to find in all of this that comes and goes because 00:43:15.119 --> 00:43:19.260 we falsify so much. Through our desires, what 00:43:19.260 --> 00:43:26.960 we want. So always is the admonition, observe. 00:43:29.820 --> 00:43:32.820 And don't be like the woman who said she had 00:43:32.820 --> 00:43:35.400 observed for nine months and she finally saw 00:43:35.400 --> 00:43:42.920 a flower she'd never seen before. Observe your 00:43:42.920 --> 00:43:47.420 thoughts. Observe your desires. Observe where 00:43:47.420 --> 00:43:56.760 you're going. Be alert. Watch. Through this observation, 00:43:56.880 --> 00:44:01.420 one begins to see this ego, as it were. Through 00:44:01.420 --> 00:44:04.960 the practice of observation and meditation, one 00:44:04.960 --> 00:44:07.280 can really get a handle on oneself, finally. 00:44:10.860 --> 00:44:15.239 You can see what you want. And then you can ask, 00:44:15.320 --> 00:44:25.019 do I really want that? And always ask, this desire, 00:44:25.260 --> 00:44:28.340 this thing that I want, what is it going to bring 00:44:28.340 --> 00:44:34.179 in its wake? We so blithely move into situations 00:44:34.179 --> 00:44:38.639 which we think we want, which we think will make 00:44:38.639 --> 00:44:41.780 us comfortable, which we think will give us security. 00:44:42.429 --> 00:44:47.769 which we think will make us happy. But you know, 00:44:47.809 --> 00:44:50.630 it's like a boat on the ocean. There is a wake. 00:44:51.010 --> 00:44:54.969 There is something that comes after. The tail 00:44:54.969 --> 00:44:59.250 of the dragon or the dragon tail. It's coming. 00:45:01.570 --> 00:45:08.150 Just don't jump into something because it's handy. 00:45:08.730 --> 00:45:10.889 And it's, you know, oh, it's going to make me 00:45:10.889 --> 00:45:16.409 comfortable. I'm going to feel better now. What 00:45:16.409 --> 00:45:21.570 cometh hereafter? To be able to look at your 00:45:21.570 --> 00:45:26.750 desires objectively and to look at oneself subjectively. 00:45:29.030 --> 00:45:33.510 We are objectively self -conscious. So don't 00:45:33.510 --> 00:45:47.150 say, oh, poor me. Use your state. Use it. Now, 00:45:47.309 --> 00:45:53.710 the myths, you know, of these gods of India and 00:45:53.710 --> 00:46:01.949 the search, the search that we're on can be put 00:46:01.949 --> 00:46:05.690 into any tradition, be it Hindu, you know, the 00:46:05.690 --> 00:46:09.789 Indian thing. or Christian, or Jewish, or Buddhism. 00:46:12.530 --> 00:46:15.090 It doesn't even have to be put into a religion. 00:46:18.449 --> 00:46:25.250 But we do. We have it as a backdrop, a background. 00:46:27.349 --> 00:46:30.349 Now, in this kind of a myth that they have in 00:46:30.349 --> 00:46:33.969 India, with so this pantheon of gods, they had 00:46:33.969 --> 00:46:40.480 as many gods as the Greeks had. Every force has 00:46:40.480 --> 00:46:45.820 a name. They're all enumerated. Agni in action 00:46:45.820 --> 00:46:53.300 prepares Indra. See? Indra, the luminous mind. 00:46:53.980 --> 00:46:58.760 Indra, the shining mind that reflects everything 00:46:58.760 --> 00:47:05.349 in her net. Indra, the finder of the truth. Then 00:47:05.349 --> 00:47:10.690 Indra slays Vrtra, who is the coverer, who is 00:47:10.690 --> 00:47:18.050 the veil. It is put away, it is destroyed, like 00:47:18.050 --> 00:47:26.530 in Omar Khayyam, you know. There was a veil through 00:47:26.530 --> 00:47:35.659 which I might not see. help it I had to go on 00:47:35.659 --> 00:47:39.059 a little bit then of the thee and me who works 00:47:39.059 --> 00:47:43.719 behind the veil I lifted up my hands to find 00:47:43.719 --> 00:47:49.400 a lamp amid the darkness and I heard as from 00:47:49.400 --> 00:47:58.500 without the me within thee blind before the phantoms 00:47:58.500 --> 00:48:02.960 of false morning died Methought a voice within 00:48:02.960 --> 00:48:08.019 the tavern cried, What? All the temple is prepared 00:48:08.019 --> 00:48:12.420 within. Why nods the drowsy worshipper outside? 00:48:16.539 --> 00:48:20.679 And as the cock crew, those who stand before 00:48:20.679 --> 00:48:26.300 the tavern shouted, Open then the door. You know 00:48:26.300 --> 00:48:31.659 how little while we have to stay. and once departed 00:48:31.659 --> 00:48:38.900 may return no more. Come, fill the cup, and in 00:48:38.900 --> 00:48:42.800 the fire of spring your winter garment of repentance 00:48:42.800 --> 00:48:47.539 fling. The bird of time has but a little way 00:48:47.539 --> 00:48:52.400 to flutter, and the bird is on the wing. Whether 00:48:52.400 --> 00:48:56.380 at Naashapur or Babylon, whether the cup with 00:48:56.380 --> 00:49:02.380 sweet or bitter run, keeps oozing drop by drop. 00:49:02.820 --> 00:49:10.460 The leaves of life keep falling one by one. I 00:49:10.460 --> 00:49:14.719 like him. People think he's written about some 00:49:14.719 --> 00:49:21.059 drunken state, but he sure hasn't. Vitra is the 00:49:21.059 --> 00:49:27.619 cover, Vitra the veil, behind which there is 00:49:27.619 --> 00:49:34.320 a lamp. And this veil is destroyed by Indra, 00:49:34.519 --> 00:49:39.219 the shining. And so the darkness is gone. And 00:49:39.219 --> 00:49:43.800 this allows Surya to rise. And then it is Savitri 00:49:43.800 --> 00:49:50.900 who is manifest in this world. This individual 00:49:50.900 --> 00:49:55.800 in a state of immortality. Always life emerging, 00:49:56.260 --> 00:50:00.260 life emerging, life emerging, always lifting 00:50:00.260 --> 00:50:06.090 itself. to return to the Godhead. In all we do, 00:50:06.210 --> 00:50:09.849 this is what we're doing, and we don't seem to 00:50:09.849 --> 00:50:23.610 know this. Allow the life to emerge. Nature supplies 00:50:23.610 --> 00:50:26.989 us with a body, and that's a very poor way of 00:50:26.989 --> 00:50:31.480 saying it. The Tibetans say it much better. Having 00:50:31.480 --> 00:50:35.739 been endowed with a difficult -to -obtain human 00:50:35.739 --> 00:50:49.840 body, it is senseless to fritter life away. We 00:50:49.840 --> 00:50:53.539 have difficulty keeping in mind that this body 00:50:53.539 --> 00:50:57.960 is only a temporary coming -together of the elements 00:50:57.960 --> 00:51:05.400 of nature. It's a little nitrogen, it's a little 00:51:05.400 --> 00:51:08.219 hydrogen, it's got some calcium in here somewhere, 00:51:08.519 --> 00:51:11.320 and it's got a few other minerals, and there's 00:51:11.320 --> 00:51:15.699 lots of gas and lots of water. That's us, folks. 00:51:16.679 --> 00:51:23.280 And we're so great, huh? Now, amongst these elements, 00:51:23.719 --> 00:51:30.000 the Purusha has found a kind of a dwelling place. 00:51:31.309 --> 00:51:37.469 And in this dwelling place he is divided. He 00:51:37.469 --> 00:51:42.949 is the ear consciousness. He is the eye consciousness. 00:51:45.809 --> 00:51:49.730 He is the mouth consciousness. He is the nose 00:51:49.730 --> 00:51:52.909 consciousness. He is the touch consciousness. 00:51:55.769 --> 00:52:00.309 In the sense system. And he has become so intrigued. 00:52:00.960 --> 00:52:03.980 by all these appearances that he brings about. 00:52:07.099 --> 00:52:11.579 But at the same time, he yearns to go home. He 00:52:11.579 --> 00:52:18.619 has this ambivalence, as we all do. In order 00:52:18.619 --> 00:52:25.059 to return, he must be himself. He must be one. 00:52:28.320 --> 00:52:32.139 Therefore, in the... Old Testament of the Bible 00:52:32.139 --> 00:52:37.400 we find, come ye out from among them and be ye 00:52:37.400 --> 00:52:41.900 therefore separate. That is the separateness 00:52:41.900 --> 00:52:48.480 of the one from the appearances so that it becomes 00:52:48.480 --> 00:52:52.780 the witness thereto and is not immersed in them. 00:52:52.880 --> 00:53:00.469 Bring it out, this one. You know, Purusha must 00:53:00.469 --> 00:53:05.110 extricate himself, is the way they say it. The 00:53:05.110 --> 00:53:08.170 immortal breath, you know, this life principle 00:53:08.170 --> 00:53:15.309 which maintains us. There's that. And the will 00:53:15.309 --> 00:53:20.710 is the power behind the act of breathing. The 00:53:20.710 --> 00:53:26.269 will is the energy of consciousness. It is present 00:53:26.269 --> 00:53:32.809 in all forms. In the consciousness, in the subconsciousness, 00:53:32.969 --> 00:53:36.289 in the superconsciousness, in the vital form, 00:53:36.550 --> 00:53:40.909 in the physical form, in the mental form. And 00:53:40.909 --> 00:53:45.230 it comes into its own when it finally emerges 00:53:45.230 --> 00:53:57.230 into mind. Our actions are very circumscribed. 00:53:57.510 --> 00:54:00.300 Because, you know, we live mentally. from moment 00:54:00.300 --> 00:54:06.579 to moment. We cling to these things which attract 00:54:06.579 --> 00:54:10.960 us or what we think we can use for our benefit. 00:54:16.679 --> 00:54:19.619 In the world of appearances, egotistically viewed, 00:54:19.780 --> 00:54:25.539 our benefit. We think we live in what we're doing. 00:54:37.579 --> 00:54:40.440 Again, it's the old Zen story of this roshi who 00:54:40.440 --> 00:54:47.480 was out working in the garden. And this man comes 00:54:47.480 --> 00:54:49.780 to interview him and says, asks him, you know, 00:54:49.840 --> 00:54:55.360 now that you are enlightened, what do you do? 00:54:56.460 --> 00:55:00.500 And the Zen master says, I chop wood, I carry 00:55:00.500 --> 00:55:04.440 water. What did you do before you were enlightened? 00:55:04.760 --> 00:55:08.820 I chop wood, I carry water. But oh, the difference. 00:55:09.719 --> 00:55:16.179 Oh, the difference. See? Yeah. We don't live 00:55:16.179 --> 00:55:23.059 in what we're doing. Not really. We don't have 00:55:23.059 --> 00:55:29.199 any control over what has been. But sadly, we 00:55:29.199 --> 00:55:36.380 are controlled by it. We are, to some extent, 00:55:36.440 --> 00:55:40.760 controlled to our past. The more we observe it 00:55:40.760 --> 00:55:43.639 and look at it and set it in its place, objectify 00:55:43.639 --> 00:55:48.800 it, the less we are controlled. See, this past, 00:55:49.139 --> 00:55:56.539 most of which we have forgotten, but it hasn't 00:55:56.539 --> 00:56:02.500 forgotten us. You know, I say it over, and it 00:56:02.500 --> 00:56:06.260 is an old admonition, Look at what you're doing. 00:56:08.960 --> 00:56:12.360 Look at what you're thinking. We should make 00:56:12.360 --> 00:56:16.219 the very best choices that we possibly can instead 00:56:16.219 --> 00:56:20.119 of jumping into things just because I like it. 00:56:23.539 --> 00:56:26.360 It's going to stay with you. Once you jump into 00:56:26.360 --> 00:56:32.039 it, it's going to stay with you. We live in an 00:56:32.039 --> 00:56:37.420 activity. of appearances and we long for the 00:56:37.420 --> 00:56:44.420 fruit of our activity we want all this praise 00:56:44.420 --> 00:56:47.139 that we have done so and so and so and so and 00:56:47.139 --> 00:56:52.880 so and so instead we should be living in the 00:56:52.880 --> 00:57:00.360 soul as a soul and viewing the world of the appearances 00:57:00.360 --> 00:57:03.969 you know from the point of being the witness 00:57:03.969 --> 00:57:10.469 thereto the observer we thrash around in our 00:57:10.469 --> 00:57:14.909 thinkings and willings while this true will remains 00:57:14.909 --> 00:57:23.070 in the background not knowing that we don't know 00:57:23.070 --> 00:57:27.630 that it is in our activities portions of it that 00:57:27.630 --> 00:57:31.670 come through it is never bound by the activity 00:57:35.599 --> 00:57:39.980 The divine will is one with all things. What 00:57:39.980 --> 00:57:45.619 it is, it knows. It knows. What it knows, it 00:57:45.619 --> 00:57:54.079 does. And then here we are. And the ego steps 00:57:54.079 --> 00:57:57.079 in and interferes. And it brings about a disturbance. 00:57:57.420 --> 00:58:00.519 It brings about a division. And our knowledge 00:58:00.519 --> 00:58:04.000 is very partial and dubious. And yet all the 00:58:04.000 --> 00:58:08.239 time it is striving to possess not only things 00:58:08.239 --> 00:58:10.940 but that knowledge, that knowing. It wants to 00:58:10.940 --> 00:58:17.780 possess them. We are not in the possession of 00:58:17.780 --> 00:58:19.679 the being. We are in the possession of the ego. 00:58:22.059 --> 00:58:27.219 What we are, we know not. What we know, we cannot 00:58:27.219 --> 00:58:36.320 affect. This Upanishad, the Isha Upanishad, what 00:58:36.320 --> 00:58:41.239 it does is invokes the will that we may be conscious 00:58:41.239 --> 00:58:46.900 of our becoming so that we may become a power 00:58:46.900 --> 00:58:52.559 of knowing and be self -possessed, not just laboring 00:58:52.559 --> 00:58:55.960 with the whims of impulse and what the ego wants. 00:59:06.440 --> 00:59:11.300 The sign, there is an indication of correct action 00:59:11.300 --> 00:59:16.800 in us. And it is the surrender of the person 00:59:16.800 --> 00:59:23.000 to the divine will. Will is not ours. It's not 00:59:23.000 --> 00:59:25.780 mine. It's not yours. It's not individual even. 00:59:26.000 --> 00:59:30.820 It is the will of the Purusha, who is in all 00:59:30.820 --> 00:59:33.739 things and transcends all things. It is called 00:59:33.739 --> 00:59:37.369 the will of the Lord. And when you do take this 00:59:37.369 --> 00:59:41.570 step of trying to surrender to this will, you 00:59:41.570 --> 00:59:52.030 are surrendering to your own future. No longer 00:59:52.030 --> 00:59:55.010 just bumbling around then. You are surrendering 00:59:55.010 --> 00:59:58.230 to your own future. You are surrendering to your 00:59:58.230 --> 01:00:10.920 ultimate potential. Now life itself, whatever 01:00:10.920 --> 01:00:14.980 you do, whether you surrender, if you don't surrender, 01:00:15.280 --> 01:00:21.000 life itself remains the same. You don't change 01:00:21.000 --> 01:00:32.670 it. And life itself is already perfect. But we 01:00:32.670 --> 01:00:35.210 could try a little bit to surrender. Observe 01:00:35.210 --> 01:00:37.610 what we're doing and surrender to something greater. 01:00:38.150 --> 01:00:40.929 Even though you think maybe it isn't there. You 01:00:40.929 --> 01:00:45.230 don't see it or you can't think it. But try it. 01:00:45.590 --> 01:00:49.309 Surrender. Allow yourself to leave the crookedness. 01:00:50.849 --> 01:00:53.449 And this way there comes about this acceptance 01:00:53.449 --> 01:00:58.269 of life. The acceptance of things as they are. 01:01:02.030 --> 01:01:05.530 Oh, Agni, it says in this Upanishad, lead us 01:01:05.530 --> 01:01:09.050 by the good path for the enjoyment of the fruit 01:01:09.050 --> 01:01:12.710 of our action. You know, oh God, all our deeds 01:01:12.710 --> 01:01:18.449 destroy our sin of deceit. Oh, we'll remember. 01:01:19.989 --> 01:01:24.730 Remember what was done. Oh, we'll remember. And 01:01:24.730 --> 01:01:32.559 then, of course, the... That is full. And this 01:01:32.559 --> 01:01:36.179 is full. This fullness has been projected from 01:01:36.179 --> 01:01:39.639 that fullness. When this fullness merges in that 01:01:39.639 --> 01:01:44.300 fullness, all that remains is fullness. Om, peace, 01:01:44.679 --> 01:01:49.039 peace, peace. And I would like to read to you 01:01:49.039 --> 01:01:58.780 one other thing from Savitri. But meanwhile, 01:02:01.880 --> 01:02:06.380 is a shadow cast by a dream and to the musing 01:02:06.380 --> 01:02:10.320 and immobile spirit life and himself don the 01:02:10.320 --> 01:02:16.039 aspect of a myth the burden of a long unmeaning 01:02:16.039 --> 01:02:21.380 tale for the key is hid and by the inconscient 01:02:21.380 --> 01:02:28.239 kept the secret god beneath the threshold dwells 01:02:28.239 --> 01:02:35.590 in a body obscuring the immortal spirit, a nameless 01:02:35.590 --> 01:02:40.309 resident vesting unseen powers with matters, 01:02:40.349 --> 01:02:44.429 shapes, and motives beyond thought and the hazard 01:02:44.429 --> 01:02:50.750 of an unguessed consequence, an omnipotent, indiscernible 01:02:50.750 --> 01:02:57.070 influence. He sits, unfelt by the form in which 01:02:57.070 --> 01:03:08.849 he lives, and veils his knowledge. If you find 01:03:08.849 --> 01:03:11.789 Lola's talks valuable, more will be posted in 01:03:11.789 --> 01:03:12.429 weeks to come.