SRI BHAGAVAN on SETTING RIGHT RELATIONSHIPS the IMPOSSIBILITY of CHANGE, and the PRESENCE as AWARENESS

SRI BHAGAVAN on SETTING RIGHT RELATIONSHIPS the IMPOSSIBILITY of CHANGE, and the PRESENCE as AWARENESS:

Query: Bhagavan I have been trying to set right my relationship with my father for several years now, yet I still think he is an idiot. One part of me does not seem to like him or want to have anything do with him, at the same time another part of me feels guilty about this and bad for giving him more pain than he is already carrying and this part feels compassion for him, which I’m not able to express in his presence.

SRI BHAGAVAN: So, now if you look into this question you can get a clear understanding that whoever asked this question has really not understood Oneness. Now for example, he calls his father an idiot and he wants that to be changed. That is not Oneness. And then he’s struggling to be compassionate to his father. That is not Oneness. What exactly is the Oneness teaching? Now, he thinks his father is an idiot. Oneness does not say change your opinion about your father or do something about it, none of these things. Oneness does not say “change”, because oneness says “change is impossible”.

The fundamental teaching is
“when the impossibility of change strikes you, like a ton of bricks, then something happens”.

What you must realize is, “Look, I’m not able to change my opinion about my father. This is what I think of my father, that he’s an idiot”. So all that you could do is, become intensely aware of what’s going on inside, namely, you think your father is an idiot. That’s all there is to Oneness.

Like a snake which is focused on the prey, this is not indifference, but be fully focused on what is happening inside. You’re thinking he’s an idiot, that’s all there is to it. Out of that intensity, that awareness, there arises action, about which we won’t talk. There’s no need to talk about that, because that again becomes a concept. You just act. You can not call it right action, you can not call it wrong action, you can not call it good action, you can not call it bad action.. It is just action. If just being action, it is perfect, no matter what the consequences are. It’s just action.

You don’t go back and say “I should’ve behaved like this, I should’ve behaved like that”, no. Now what’s happening is there’s a reaction. A lot of psychology has got in, a lot of philosophy has got in, oneness teachings which has been understood differently has got in and now you’re trying to act from that, which is no action at all. You must act from the intensity of awareness. In your case it is, you think your father is an idiot. That’s the only truth. How could you change the truth? We’re not asking you to change the truth at all. That is the truth for you at that moment. You think he’s an idiot. That’s all. Be intensely aware of it. Not being indifferent, but be very, very clear. Just be focused on it and see what happens.

The same thing, you’re trying to be compassionate to him, there’s a conflict inside. So all that you must become aware of is that conflict. You’re trying to be compassionate. You’re not really compassionate, you’re trying to be compassionate. You feel a little sorry for your father and there’s a conflict. Become aware of all these things, that little compassion, feeling sorry for your father and having a conflict. That is the content of the mind at that moment of time. The mind is like a river. It’s flowing all the time, it is changing every moment. Different personalities are emerging, they’re arising and they’re ceasing. There’s emotions that arise and they cease. It’s like a vast ocean where the waves are coming up and going down. Simply happening all the time.

You can’t control it, you can not contain it. Something which is living, which is dynamic, how can it be controlled or contained? You can only be aware of it, you can be alive to it. If you’re aware and alive, then things happen naturally. You don’t need a moral code, you don’t need an ethical code, you don’t need some scripture to guide you. Nothing is required. You don’t need a book on philosophy or psychology, nothing. Simply action arises. That is the book you’ve got to read. The most important book is the book of your own life. What is going on there. That’s the most interesting story you could ever hope to hear. It will be just fascinating and as you read that book there is joy, there is bliss. Everything starts coming to you.

So the content of your mind, the most terrible things – even to use the word terrible is wrong. If you say it’s terrible, it’s bad, it’s good, then there’s no more awareness. You’re judging it already. And when you start judging, the mind is at full play, because the mind is nothing but the flow of thought. Thought, being measurement, is all the time comparing and then there’s no awareness at all. When only comparison stops, when measurement stops, there is awareness.

Awareness is the first step and the last step.

There’s nowhere to go. Awareness is not going to take you anywhere. Please understand that. Awareness is the be all and the end all. Just to be aware is to be awakened. You should not think you will become aware and then you’re going to reach somewhere. That is not oneness. You should not think “Oh, I now got a tool called awareness, I will use it and I’ll become this, I’ll become that”. There’s nothing to become. All that is possible is sheer awareness. If you are aware you are in heaven, that’s all. We need not describe it.

It’s the first step, it’s the last step. There’s nowhere to go. You should not think “Oh, it’s the first step, therefore I’m going to land up somewhere”. No. First step is the last step. Finished, it’s over! There’s nothing else to life than just being aware. It can be awareness about the tree there, or about the bird there, or about your wife nagging, or seeing what’s inside. There’s no difference at all. If you could be aware of your wife nagging you, or your husband nagging you, whatever the case might be, it’s the same thing as listening to a bird or the flowing water.

There’s no difference at all. It’s sheer joy. It’s all over. Whereas you’re trying to get somewhere. The teachings are being applied, you’re trying to make use of it, you’re trying to get somewhere. There’s nowhere to go! How long is this going to go on? Trying to get somewhere? The content is never, ever important. It can be anything. Are you just aware of it? That’s all that matters. And there you would need the blessing. You certainly need Divine help, at least in the initial stages, to become aware. Thereafter it becomes quite easy and then the Presence starts moving in. And once the Presence is there, there’s only awareness, that’s all.

The Presence is Awareness.

As you get closer and closer to the actual event which is happening inside you and awareness increases, the Presence also would increase, that is the Divine. And there comes a point when the Presence is fully there. Awareness is full. The Presence is full. And with that, it’s all over. At that point you can say, “I am God”, because you become the Presence. So, awareness means, something is happening there and you’re getting closer and closer and closer. At the first level, it is contemplation. At a deeper level, it is meditation. At the final stages, it becomes greater and greater awareness.

When Awareness is total, the Presence is total.
You are One with God.”