THE METHOD OF THE SIDDHAS     Chapter 7 My "Bright" Word by Adi Da Samraj The Divine Siddha-Method Of The Ruchira Avatar Relationship and Association AVATAR ADI DA SAMRAJ: I was talking to someone here the other day about certain associations everyone has with people, with environments, and so on. This person was wondering whether some of his old relationships would continue, now that he had become involved in the practice in My Company. He wanted to know if these friendships would necessarily come to an end, or if they could still continue now that he is doing sadhana as My devotee. I pointed out to him that many such involvements are not rightly to be regarded as relationships. Rather, they are associations. They are (essentially) forms of your own desire. Therefore, they are not true friendships. Such associations with people, and even with environments and objects, enable you to indulge certain qualities of experience at will. Even though there seems to be something there-a person, a place, a thing-in fact, you are not truly enjoying relationship. You simply have an association that reflects your desire, and (thereby) gives you the opportunity to indulge it, to satisfy it, to suffer it. Associations come and go, just as desires come and go-but relationship is, in the context of conditional existence, the living function and living condition of Conscious Existence. And, truly, relationship has neither beginning nor end. When there is genuine relationship with an individual, a place, a thing, an environment, it is not subject to the quality of desire. Desire does not generate the relationship. The end of desire or a change in desire does not bring the relationship to an end. When relationship is discovered and lived, it never comes to an end. Its quality may change, and there may be apparent separations in time and space-but the relationship itself is fundamental, continuous, real. Where there is relationship, there tends to be apparent growth, intensification, change-but the relationship itself does not come to an end. Associations, however, come and go. Associations belong to periods of one's life, stages in one's experience. They are functions of time, space, and desire. Therefore, when some particular desire-or desire itself-ceases to be the point of view of conscious awareness, then associations tend to fall apart, disappear, come to an end. But, when (by Means of My Avataric Divine Spiritual Grace) there is most perfect "radical" self-understanding, then there are no longer any associations at all. There is only relationship, only relatedness. There is no separation, no separateness. And relationship is enjoyed under all circumstances, all conditions, with all beings, in all environments. Because people are identified with their own desires and live by the habit of association rather than relationship, there is suffering. Because people do not become more for one another than extensions of their own minds, their own desires, there is no relationship. Until there is "radical" self-understanding, there is the tendency to live mere association through desire-even with those with whom you enjoy the quality of relationship. Thus, until there is "radical" self-understanding, all your relationships involve conflict. They are always threatened by mere desire, mere association. You move in and out of them. You never truly enjoy them, except in brief moments. Where there are simply associations in the form of desire, your connections tend to disappear, and certain relationships tend to become corrupted, destroyed, impossible at times. But all separateness is an illusion. It is impossible for there to be any separateness. There is no such thing. It has never occurred. There is no separately existing thing anywhere. There is no separately existing being anywhere. There is no separate anything! Separateness is only an impression caused by disturbance, by this compulsive contraction I have often described. When self contraction comes to an end, when the avoidance of relationship comes to an end, there is no "difference". All separateness is an illusion, and all attainments are an illusion. There is no separateness, and there is no attainment of union. The state of the traditional Yogi is as much an illusion as the state of the ordinary person who is suffering and dying. If you are an ordinary sufferer, you think you have become absolutely small-whereas, if you are an expansive Yogi, you think you have become absolutely great. But, when you think you have become great, you truly suspect that you are small. In Truth, there is only the penetration of your search, the understanding of it-and, then, existence becomes capable of being lived Freely and Happily. People are busy communicating their own mind-forms, their own contracted perceptions, rather than living from the "Point of View" of Truth. Thus, people are only, punishing one another. Everyone causes pain for everyone else. Everyone reinforces the illusion of separate life. Therefore, everyone is seeking. Everyone suspects "it" (whatever the presumed goal of anyone's life may be) is somewhere else, or that "it" does not exist. But, when there is the most perfect understanding of that entire search, then there is only the Communication of Consciousness Itself-That Very Power, That Condition, That Is Reality Itself-in relationship. And the ultimate form of that Communication is Satsang with Me-the Communication, Condition, or Company of Truth. When the Presence of Reality (or the "Bright" Conscious Light Itself) is Communicated in Satsang with Me, you are Assumed by This Presence, Acquired by It. This Communication undermines all ordinary assumptions-until you cease to believe them, and you become intelligent with Truth. Apart from "radical" self-understanding, all human beings are distracted and turned in on themselves. They appear to have been born, but they are still bent. Every human individual, in fear of the born-condition, lives not-yet-straightened from the curve of the womb. And all the people who surround you, since they are also in the same state, only reinforce the fear that makes you bend and curve inward. I Am the Man of "Radical" Understanding. I Exist and Live as the Communication of That Which makes it possible for people to open, uncurl, be turned to relationship. The process of restoration to Truth has been called "second birth". Until you become capable of existence in this apparent (human) form, open in relationship, you tend to reject the force of existence in a continuously repeated ritual activity, like vomiting. The force of life is abandoned constantly. Even laughter is a form of this ritual abandonment. Non-regenerative sexual activity is a form of it. Ordinary perception is a form of it. It is to throw off, to fail to conduct, the force of life. It is unconsciousness, sleep, the refusal to be born. And its symptom is a life that is not in relationship, that is not whole, that is full of dis-ease, confusion. Such a life cannot function. It only forever seeks its own release as if release from life were the goal of life. In Satsang with Me, this rejection of the force of life, this rejection of birth, tends to become quieted-such that, more and more, the life-form conducts the force of life rather than rejecting it. The subtle form of the human structure is something like a Sphere, in Which the Current of natural life-energy (and also of the Divine Spirit-Energy) continually descends in the frontal line, and. then turns at the bodily base and. ascends in the spinal line. In Satsang with Me, that Current is not rejected-It is conducted. The force of life rounds the heart, like the planets round the Sun. And the True Divine Heart Is the "Sun" of the living human form. The Fullness that people begin to feel in Satsang with Me is this Circle of natural life-force (and, eventually, also My Avatarically Self-Transmitted Divine Spirit-Energy), allowed to be conducted in descent (down the frontal line), and allowed to be conducted in ascent (up the spinal line). When that Fullness is felt, there is no more rejection (or "ritual vomiting") of the Current of Energy. Rather, by means of spontaneous "conductivity", the Current (of natural life-energy and, in the case of My by-Me Spiritually-Initiated devotees, of My Avatarically Self-Transmitted Divine Spirit-Energy) is turned and re-turned-in a spherical Cycle that is completely at ease, without dilemma. When (by Means of My Avataric Divine Spiritual Grace) the "Sun", the Living Heart of Reality, the Divine Conscious Light That Is the Self-Condition (and Source-Condition) of all of this, is Most Perfectly Realized, That is most perfect "radical" self-understanding, Most Perfect Divine Self-Realization. From That "Point of View", all of this is Obvious. The religious and Spiritual traditions communicate various aspects of this phenomenon of "second birth". The religious search, particularly the form of seeking that is characteristic of Westerners, is a strategic effort to receive the Spirit, to receive the Power of the Divine, and to bring the Grace of this Power down into life. The traditional Eastern seeker-and, in general, the practitioner of Spirituality-is sensitive to the ascending movement of Energy. Traditional Yoga is a ritualization of this process of strategic ascent to the Divine just as traditional religion is the strategic ritual means for becoming at ease, receptive, full of the Divine. But these two-East and West-are simply modes of exclusive (and ritualized) attachment to one or the other of the two principal aspects of this Real Process, or "second birth". Thus, the East is traditionally very busy with the ascending Power, knowing little of descent-and the West is traditionally very busy with the descending Power, knowing little of ascent. And both East and West approach this "second birth" in the seeker's mode. The "second birth" truly is a possibility. It is the only Real possibility for human beings. And its Process is most perfectly enacted only in Satsang with Me-in the living, present-time, devotional (and, in due course, Spiritual) relationship to Me, the One Who Is the True Divine Heart Itself. Not someone who only suggests the Heart Itself, who has (at some time) merely experienced It, who merely envisions It, who only thinks about it, or who only teaches about it-but the One Who Is the True (and Living) Divine Heart, without any limitations whatsoever. I Am That One. When My devotee lives the conditions Given by Me, in the context of Satsang with Me, then the Circle of descent and ascent is restored-in a very simple, natural manner. As My devotee, you need not apply yourself methodically to the generation of that Circle, to the strategic restoration of that pattern of Energy. As My devotee, living Satsang with Me as the Condition of your very existence, you do not exercise any kind of strategic approach, nor do you engage any of the remedial methods of conventional religion and conventional Spirituality. My devotee's practice is to live the Condition of this devotional (and, in due course, Spiritual) relationship to Me. My true devotee is not distracted. by any form of the religious or Spiritual search-whether the search to "be filled" by the descending Spirit-Energy or the search to "escape upward" by means of the ascending Spirit-Energy. My true devotee turns simply to Me-and is (thereby) turned to the Real condition of life, which is relationship. As My devotee, you pass through various forms of crisis, until there is spontaneous insight into (or understanding of) the ordinary pattern of your life, which is the avoidance of relationship. By Means of My Avataric Divine Spiritual Grace, the direct observation of this pattern becomes "radical" self-understanding. And Most Perfect Realization of such "radical" self-understanding is Absolute Truth. The Real Spiritual process alive in Satsang with Me involves no problematic concern relative to the reception of My Avataric Divine Spirit-Baptism. The process in My Avataric Divine Spiritual Company is generated and maintained by the Spontaneous and Intelligent Siddhi (or Real Spiritual Power) of the "Sun", the True Divine Heart-Which Is Reality Itself. My devotee is not engaged in a strategic (or ego-based) process of (downward) reception of Divine Blessing, or of (upward) return to the Divine Source, or of both. My devotee abides simply in relationship with Me-and the Primary Intensity of My Divine Heart-Light, the Conscious Spirit Power that proceeds in Satsang with Me, is the entire Means for the crisis in consciousness (or self-understanding) that must occur in My devotee. In the meantime, there may be secondary phenomena associated with Satsang with Me-and these are the effects of My Avatarically Self-Transmitted Divine Spirit-Current, in Its Flow through the descending and ascending arcs of the Circle. But all such phenomena are purely secondary. They are simply conditional enjoyments. Like right diet, they are not (in and of themselves) Truth. If you are distracted by such phenomena, then you contract (and thereby separate yourself) from all forms of relationship. Only relationship is appropriate. There is no need to be concerned with the effects of the Descent or the Ascent of My Divine Spirit-Power. There is no need to seek My Divine Spirit-Power or to grasp It. All such concerns are an expression of the root-dilemma. DEVOTEE: What is it about the experience of this Force (or Light) that causes people to reject It? Is the experience itself painful? Or is it somehow threatening? AVATAR ADI DA SAMRAJ: It is not so much that the forms of rejection are an effect of something else. They are the action. The rejection (or reaction) is spontaneous. It is the self-contraction. But its basis is subtle-preceding life, thought, and perception. The perceiver and the perception are already bent. They are (themselves) this rejection. They are already forms of the root-dilemma. The true answer to any question is always prior to words, not able to be spoken. Indeed, even the question itself (if it is true, or real) is prior to words. The question that is phrased in the form of concepts is not the real question. Your real question is the sensation of self-contraction that motivates your thoughts and words. The answer, likewise, is not in the form of concepts. The only true (or real) answer is the direct observation and understanding of the root-activity that is your real question, your suffering, your dilemma, the motivation of your search. Nothing else can satisfy. No explanation is equal to this direct self-understanding. There is a sense in which the entire process of rejection (or the avoidance of relationship) is a spontaneous reaction to the action that is conditionally manifested existence. Wherever there is an action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. There is the True Divine Heart (or Reality Itself), there is conditionally manifested appearance, and there is the self-contraction that is the reaction to that appearance. People are living as that reaction. When My devotees turn to Me, and (in that turning) observe and understand their own activity (which is their suffering), then (by Means of My Avataric Divine Spiritual Grace) they Realize the True Nature of Consciousness As the Living Divine Heart Itself-Which is Always Already Open, Which is Prior to conditional manifestation, Which is not any form of dilemma. The genuine roots of your suffering, your disturbance, are not truly explainable in any conceptual terms. They can only be undermined (or obviated) by means of the self-understanding that becomes possible in Satsang with Me. Therefore, moment to moment (whole bodily) turning to Me (thereby allowing self-observation and self-understanding to take place) is the root process of sadhana, the spontaneous and intelligent process of Satsang with Me. There is no "second birth" apart from Real Spiritual practice in My Avataric Divine Company. There is no "second birth" apart from Satsang with Me, actual moment to moment living of the heart-relationship to Me-the Divinely Self-Realized Siddha Guru, the Avatarically Self-Manifested Incarnation of the True Divine Heart Itself. The form and function Given (by Means of My Avataric Divine Grace) to human beings for living this Satsang is the direct relationship to Me-the One Who Lives As the Very Divine Heart Itself, the One and Only (and Self Evidently Divine) Reality. When people realize that they are suffering, that they are bent, that there is a root-dilemma, then they begin to seek. The only places where it is possible to seek are the gross, subtle, and causal dimensions of existence, which account for the entire structure of conditionally manifested life. Therefore, people go about the business of alternating between exploitation and discipline-until they realize the failure of the search. When that realization occurs, they have become capable of Satsang with Me. DEVOTEE: Is it necessary for us to have a True and Conscious relationship with You and with everyone we know if we want to live a True Spiritual life, a life of understanding? AVATAR ADI DA SAMRAJ: It would only be nicer! If it were necessary as a precondition, then Satsang with Me could not take place. If this process depended on people already enjoying the relationship with Me Consciously, perfectly, then the process would never begin. it is certainly a positive sign when the process becomes Conscious, when you begin to move into the natural "conductivity" of Satsang with Me, when you begin to live Its True quality, Its in-depth quality. But such is not required as a precondition. There are no conditions for relationship. It is already the case. Some are conscious of it, and some are not. In some cases, you may enjoy the Real condition of relationship with another, while (to that other) you serve only as a form of association (and, thus, an extension of desire). And the opposite may also be true. When there is such an apparent discrepancy, you must decide whether you have the strength or the interest to live that relationship, whether you should release that relationship or (otherwise) change the quality or the conditions of that relationship. DEVOTEE: Do we have a responsibility to make the other person in a relationship more conscious? AVATAR ADI DA SAMRAJ: That responsibility is inherent in relationship itself. The very fact of living in that direct, relational manner, rather than in the usual self-contracted manner, is (itself) a means to serve the communication of True intelligence. Therefore, that responsibility is already satisfied by the simple fact of living the relationship itself. It is not necessary to add to that relational force any secondary motivation to change the other person. When such motivations appear, your relationships tend to become an extension of your own search. To that degree, you fall back into association again. But, when you live relationship with other beings, you even extend and serve the form of Satsang with Me because that form is heart-relationship to Me.

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