Questions for next week!

The Advaita Show #024 – No More Questions
March 14, 2006
The Advaita Show #025 – You Are The Spaghetti
April 5, 2006
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Questions for next week!

OK, I’m rested, his guruness is rested, so I think we might do a show next week. So please leave QUESTIONS ONLY as comments to this post and we’ll tackle them next week!

37 Comments

  1. Dale says:

    QUESTION….Nisargadatta taught that we must stay in the ‘I AM’. Can you shead alittle more light on what he was talking about?

  2. Dale says:

    QUESTION… Nisargadatta spoke of staying in the ‘I AM’.
    He seemed to think this to be very important. Can you explain what this I AM is and how one stays in it ?

  3. Corey Vance says:

    QUESTION:
    It seems that breaking the physical world down to ‘Intelligence Energy’ is very similar to what science has always attempted to do. But, you seem to get some freedom from the discovery. Why is knowing that everything is THAT freeing, but knowing that everything is made up of atoms not? Couldn’t we just as easily say “It’s all just atoms and molecules moving around so why get stressed?” It all makes sense, yet I still have anxiety, why?

    thanks,
    corey

  4. glenn thomson says:

    Interesting question Corey. Been “thinking” the same thing.

    Question :

    Is there a metaphysical component to Bob’s philosophy ?

    What is truly meant by you are never born nor do you ever die ?

    When I “pause a thought and don’t fall apart” is the sense of being that remains the EXACT same sense of being as Camerons,Bobs and Barbs. In other words is it
    indivisible.

    There’s three from a greedy bastard.

    Thanks beautifuls !

  5. kevin says:

    Last week I came across a statement by nisargadatta : « When the fluids meet the I AM appears ». This sorta resonated in the following way. I AM is just some sense, feeling, thought,… that grows out of this universe. Like apples grow on trees, I AM grows on body/minds, grown out of the universe. I AM when contemplated like this, is more like the sent of a flower and the world or body/mind being the flower. That statement made it very clear that there’s nobody here but that I AM. I AM is not an entity but a sense creating the illusion of an entity. Now the thing is that although that realisation (which is only here when the statement is contemplated) makes clear that there isn’t anyone here, it still leaves the world intact as a necessary condition for the I AM to appear (‘when the fluids meet’). No flower, no sent of one also! When I ask myself, to whom does both the flower and sent appear, I get confused. It feels like it does to me, but any sense of me or I is seen to be an illusion based on the sent of I AM. All that’s left at that moment is this, the world as it is and always has been, but without any sense or at least belief in an I being separate from the world. And when I contemplate what happens at death of the body/mind in some future time and place, then all I can say is that the sent of I AM which once was born/appeared will die/disappear, but there’s no anxiety or any dreadful fearful feeling, because I AM isn’t an entity, it only creates an illusion of there being one. So there isn’t anyone here in the first place that could disappear. The world will continue with one less flower, that’s all.
    Now another thing that’s confusing is that the world is still seen to be real, time and space are also still seen to be real, even though the I AM has been seen through. And aren’t all those advaita pointers pointing to the fact that the world is a dream, that it’s somehow unreal and that that realisation is the same as realizing that the I is unreal?

    So then only one thing remains and that is that the belief in an I isn’t really seen through.

    But what then did nisargadatta mean by : “when the fluids meet, the I AM appears”???

  6. Gary says:

    Question:

    I can speak to “living in the now” and a “deep unchanging silence” and “watching life happening from the silence” and “seeing through day to day events” BUT

    Can you shed light on gurudoms assertion that everything is that one. I can make that leap intellectually, but experientially I see everyone and everything doing, but I don’t experience that as united with the witness. Is this an intellectual leap, or is it that things haven’t settled? My sense of things is that there isn’t such a thing as settling.. There is only what is.

  7. Helen says:

    QUESTION –

    Ramesh Balsekar says ‘the film is already in the can’ – your life is already written. Please comment relative to the idea that events arise in the Now, causelessly.

    thanks,

    Helen

  8. Sneeby says:

    Questions ;

    Why not identify yourself with your body?

    How can we begin to say what we are not if we do not know what we are?

    If we are just ‘that’, that I-Am-ness, why does it manifest in this world, this body, this place, why aren’t we just pure awareness energy floating around some non-dual plane of existance? Why is there maya, the illusion, the suffering and all this non-sense we have to cut through? I’m not sure if this is a clear question.

  9. Mark says:

    QUESTION:

    Are you saying there is no such thing as a good act or an evil act?

    Most of the world disagrees with that….most believe good and evil exist…and it sure does appear that way to me….for example, I think collectively as human beings, we all agree that the kidnapping and murder of a child is EVIL. And that Mother Theresa helping the poor is GOOD. Since there seems to be an obvious “collective” human agreement about this, is it not TRUTH? Can you elaborate? Thanks and welcome back!

  10. Mike A. says:

    QUESTION:

    Is there a difference between emotional suffering and psychological suffering? I would think even the most enlightened being would get bummed out if they were thrown into a gulag. How does emotional suffering differ from psychological suffering.

    Thanks,
    Mike A.
    San Francisco

  11. MisaCZ says:

    QUESTION:
    Why are mothers asking their children: “Have you done your hair, have you cleaned your teeth?” instead of “Do you know who you really are, aren’t you self concerned today, my love?”

    It seems, that something really sucks in Advaita, because it does interest noone – noone is really interested in Self knowledge, as everyone loves football, wine, partying… freedom, occasionally silence and love. So, Advaita seems to be in everything, everywhere, as nonconceptual awareness, but THIS doesn’t interest anyone at all.

    Lets call those, who are interested in nonduality “Seekers” and those, who are not “Ordinary people”. If you are “Seeker”, you are told (by Advaita teacher, f.e. Sailor Bob Adamson:-) not to seek anything, so that you may become one of those “Ordinary people”, to be that, what you have allready & allways been. You do not become anything, you just are who you are. And if you are who you are, no “Advaita”, “Spirituality” or other stuff really matters to you, you stays “Ordinary”, no words can describe it.

    “Ordinary men or women, adults or children” are sometimes more, sometimes less concerned by themselves, by what they do, by anything. We all are one of them. Some loves to argue, some not, some learns new things in life, some only watch, whatever.

    I do not know, if this comment has any point, it probably is not meant to be a question at all, but maybe it is:

    QUETION SUMMARY 🙂
    “In the world, all the people they live here, are they Advaitins (nonconceptual awareness) even before they start asking who they really are, even if they do not want to know, who they really are (because who wants to know? only thought).. all those people who want other people do what THEY want them to do, even those “self concerned” (another concept)?

    Because if the are allready That, what is the point in Advaita or spirituality? It seems pointless to me.. to want to know, who I Really Am. I am that, as everyone is.

    I say – to know or not to know yourself, it doesn’t matter – you are who you are no matter what you think about it, and if you can’t recognize it and you think it is hidden by thoughts, than keep dreaming: what you are is eveshining, everpresent nothing, with no way to be found. But, as probablu Bob will agree – if you want meditate, than meditate.. and keep clearing those thoughts on everclean sky – as it allways been so.

    “From the first not a thine is, from the outset your nature is pure.” HWL Poonja

  12. zafire says:

    I feel intelligence energy is not a very good term to use
    as this can only be duality broken down to more duality
    and not a good pointer to oneness which has no components
    yet apparently contains all. Any comments dudes ?

  13. bernie says:

    any plans on visiting the united states yet, bob?

    also, i read some comment about more guest hosts, including ramesh balkesar… any word on that?

    also.. any good movies out? i like stuff with themes or messages that can be taken in the context of self-realization… recommendations, anyone?

  14. Gates says:

    QUESTION:

    Is there any difference between my dog, who has the simple is-ness of just “being” and the most enlightened guru that ever was or is?

    Arff Arff Sailor Bob!

  15. DAVID LAWS says:

    I have been practising mainly Zen meditation ( just sitting awareness) for over 10 yrs now and have been on many retreats but feel no nearer to finding the truth.
    I have been asking myself has it all been a waste of time.
    Just recently I have become interested in Advaita and have read a few books.
    What do you think I should do?

    Many Thanks
    Dave.
    HAMPSHIRE. ENGLAND

  16. Gary says:

    Bob:

    Do you find yourself wanting to slide your bottom on the carpet, or hump Cameron’s leg?

  17. Craig says:

    QUESTION:
    After the event of total Realization occurs, is there simultaneous Awareness of Being BOTH the changeless Stillness AND the movement of Consciousness (thought-action), OR does being “aware of” imply “experience” which is in duality and not Transcendent Unity?

    Glad you are back….even though you never left!!!

  18. Wonderer says:

    QUESTION TO THE ONE: Some people self-righteously argue that definitely we do have free will and are thoroughly responsible for every last detail in our lives. Their arguments don’t convince me at all, yet some are otherwise quite intelligent, maybe even more so than I am and they are also disturbingly self-confident. I can see on an intellectual level that there is no controlling entity anywhere, but there’s one problem: WHAT IF I’M WRONG? I’ve been wrong quite a bit in my life, as everybody. Sure, if I’m already THAT, then there’s nobody to be wrong. However, if I should indeed be wrong then that doesn’t apply! If I got it wrong it could be that I’m in charge while mistakenly thinking there is no one. I don’t know who that might be that could be wrong, but somehow there are doubts. I don’t trust myself on that, even though I can see that it is ultimately silly to talk about trusting a fiction. But you see, the thought that keeps recurring is what if it’s not a fiction, what if I got it all wrong? What if those who are so proud of their stories are the ones who got it right? What should I do/what must happen for clear seeing to arise? “Have a look”, alright, but how? I mean, how can “I” be one hundred percent sure once and for all? Thanks in advance.

  19. Tan says:

    How can I use advaita to become wealthy and stinking rich?
    (.. and I mean money not “rich in a spiritual way”)

  20. Tan says:

    Do you think I should better ask Ramesh Balsekar or Wayne Moneyman on how to use “Advaita” to become stinking rich?
    Or can you recommend someonelse who would give tips?

  21. Richard from Madrid says:

    Someone has pointed out that dogs have no sense of I and I don’t suppose worms do either. Also it seems that a very small percentage of humans have experienced the loss of the I at any moment in history.

    So- what if the idea of evolution (through intelligence energy) is to make us more and more individuals with all the pain, joy, love, hate, suffering,compassion, beauty, ugliness, war and peace that that it implies? Could the losing of the sense of I be a regression?

  22. bernie says:

    we have established that free will is an illusion, and that thoughts arise by themselves. why do they arise? yes, we all know that ‘why is just another thought,’ but why?

  23. jason says:

    Q:

    No free will means no choice to seek or not, to find or not, to tune in or not. Why do we have to go through all this shit if we aren’t going anywhere? [And yeah, it’s fine for you guys who have seen through the illusion, but for the rest of us schmucks it is *really* tedious]

    Kia ora,

    Jason

  24. Mark says:

    Dear David Laws (and whover else would care to read this):

    I’ve sat zazen, read a million self-improvement and zen philosophy books, etc….

    Then one day I was sitting in my car, listening to the millionth lecture from one of my randomly favorite gurus/teachers. It was a particularly good lecture. I felt like I learned something. Then an interesting thing happened: I felt a pang of depression because lecture was finished. Then another feeling came: I wanted to hear ANOTHER one.

    This made me realize—I’d listened to so many lectures, and read so many books, all in the search…for WHAT? Enlightenment? I wanted to find THAT ANSWER! And what did I think THAT ANSWER would give me? Hm…I’d never thought about it!

    I realized I’d been searching for Ultimate BLISS. Some sort of eternal, neverending sense of happiness, but mostly, freedom from PAIN. Yes, my seeking was an attempt to avoid pain.

    It occurred to me, that with every tape or book I purchased, from every guru, I expected to receive THAT ANSWER. But there I was sitting in my car, experiencing depression, like a junkie crashing from a drug hit. I thought, “After all the books and tapes, I should’ve acheived enlightenment by now! You’d think I’d be completely happy all the time. But I’m not! I notice that inside myself there is often an undercurrent of anxiety, sadness, happiness, anger, hostility, worry, etc. Like a rollercoaster, these feelings never cease as I live my life. Knee-jerk reactions to thoughts that arise….

    Once I came to that realization–that the pain never seems to completely go away—and sadness can’t be banished forever—I UNDERSTOOD, and right there I felt free, and at peace. I asked myself another question:

    If I can’t find permanant peace happiness from the gurus, the meditation, the books, and the lectures, where can I find it?

    The answer that came was: Permanant peace can only reside in that inner, still, silent, quiet part of myself that watches everything. The part that watches the sadness, watches the craving to seek, watches the sadness, watches the anxiety. Because if it watches it, IT can’t be that. The Witness is silently peaceful, ageless, always….

    It’s that core part of me (and all of us) that has been there, untouchable from the trials of life, and watching, since I was a child…..and it will be there, watching, when this package called my body appears old.

    I realized that THAT is what I’ve been seeking. That is where permanant peace resides.

    Then all the seeking STOPS. Because you realize that you’re IT already. There is no way to happiness, happiness is the way.

    Any attempt to find “IT” OUT THERE is just a temporary FIX. Even the books and gurus, are just a tempory balm on the wound. Friends and lovers come and go. But your inner WITNESS, and inner PEACE never leaves. That beautiful car you thought would bring you joy only breaks down after a while. Your inner witness never breaks down.

    just sharing my experience…

  25. TONY says:

    Having choices of which world or worlds to to be living in, is a really beautiful
    thing.Win-Win-Win situation all around!.

  26. Cameron says:

    Mark, did you miss the bit where I asked for questions??? 🙂

  27. Mark says:

    ha ha….sorry Cam.

  28. Richard says:

    Question for Bob Adamson:
    It seems you speak mainly of awareness. To Siddharameshwar awareness is the 4th state, turiya. But beyond this is the non-state, Parabrahman, prior to/beyond the 4 states. Could you please describe Parabrahman and how it relates to your teaching?

    Question for Bob Adamson:
    What is the highest truth?

    Thanks Mr. Adamson and Cameron.

  29. Dale says:

    forget my questions. I figured it out all by myself..lol

  30. Luke says:

    Question(s):

    Is there any experience which is unconditioned or is conditioning all there is? Ie. Is it possible for a mind/body mechanism to experience That which is unconditioned when the only points of reference it has come from the conditioned world?

    Okay, yes I know, who’s having the experience!?

    I’ll put my pounds in the lingo jar on my way out.

    Love
    L

  31. Corey Vance says:

    Bernie – Check out the movie “I Heart Huckabees” it definitely fits under your request. – cv

  32. Richard says:

    Bernie,
    Have you seen “What the Bleep Do We Know?”?

    (note: Cameron, I posed it in the form of a question)

  33. Craig says:

    CAMERON……The heading on right side that says “Last 5 shows” lists Advaita Show #25 You Are the Spaghetti. But there is Nothing there on the podcast!!! Is this some kind of Aussie Advaitan joke……..or where the hell is the podcast??? ( See how much you guys are missed!?) Note: these are sincere questions!

  34. Arthur says:

    Bob, How much wood could a woodchuck chuck, if a woodchuck could chuck wood?

    ~A

  35. Arthur says:

    Oh…I totally forgot….

    Which came first? The Chicken or the Egg?

    ~A

  36. Nadeem says:

    The woodchuck could and would chuck lots of wood.

    The egg came first, from a species that had yet to evolve into the specification of ‘chicken’.

  37. Sunil says:

    Hi
    I left the following questions on the comments page. Really would like to get a response from his Bobness.

    I am hung up on a couple of things. I hope Bob can help. I do see the non-existence of the past and realise that now is all there is. But, while the future is also a concept, it CAN be real with a certain fintie probability of success. If humanity has no such hope, how can we function. Is this just the mind’s trick to assign a probability and make it look real? I do reaslise that future is but a concept what if there was a nuclear explosion the next scond…all future concepts become ashes. Is that what you mean when you say only NOW is real, Bob?
    My second question is about free will. I do see the lack of control in what I am thinking now or ever. But the mind does have control of thoughts that move muscles, laugh, cry and run or walk. Who is making those decisions?

    Thanks for the great work.

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