what medicine do you give a ghost with toothache?

Hello everybody. Well this morning I was in a rather pensive and grave state of mind. I've been following quite a rigourous schedule of meditation and avoiding any socialising. I could be accused of having the tendency to go all out for something and then ending up despondent.

I realised that I am getting too serious and trying to get Enlightened all at once. I think better to take a leaf from the tortoises book and make steady progress rather than repeating the crash and burn syndrome. Therefore I decided to lighten up and take the foot off the accelarator. I decided I would be more social, relax a bit and perhaps get involved in some of the music and dance events that happen here from time to time.

Also I had felt reluctant to visit any of the other teachers in town out of a concern of diluting or adulterating my meditational journey here. They say it is better to dig one deep hole in a good place rather than digging lots of little shallow holes if one wants to hit the gold seam. Well I feel that it does not get better than this place or Ramana's teaching. Of course Truth is where-ever we are but as far as conducive places go this must be the cream.

Anyway I thought it would be ok to visit other teachers so long as I am clear in my own mind about what I am doing and not getting into chopping and changing which just leads nowhere. So this morning I went to see a certain Sri Mooji. Mooji had come recommended to me and his teaching is in the same line as what I am 'doing' here at Sri Ramana Ashram.

The basic teaching is that we are not what we think we are. Our true nature is the pure Beingness which is beyond thought. When we are at home in that then all is well. When we identify ourselves with thought then we suffer. Identifying with thought means defining ourselves as this or that; I am an engineer, or I am a road sweeper; I am a success, or I am a failure; etc.. When we Realise our true nature as Being then we are free from these limitations and experience unconditional fulfilment. Enlightenment is the final, profound and irrevocable realisation of this although there may be many tastes and a gradual transition along the way.

So I went to Mooji's Satsang (Satsang is good company, usually with a teacher). Mooji is a middle aged Jamacian born Londoner. He feels he has Realised his true nature to such an extent that he feels ready to share with others, helping them to the same. Actually there were many people there, well over 200 mostly Westerners, and I couldn't get into the hall so sat with many others in the shady downstairs outside section listening on a speaker. The general format is people will come in front of him and ask a question. His answers are guiding people into that wordless experience of their own Beingness here and now.

In Satsang, the energy or presence of the teacher, coupled with the collective energy field of the group, is very helpful for cultivating that experience in the individuals through a kind of resonance or osmosis effect. Ones own Being is there all of the time as the I AM presence preceding thought but may be experienced more clearly in an environment such as this. The 'trick' in Satsang is not to get caught up in intellectual debate or commentary but to open up silently to the ever-present reality of our own true nature. Of course if there are doubts they should be raised and cleared.

Sri Mooji emphasised giving our attention to this I Am presence such that it grows and becomes more and more firmly established in us so that eventually it is there all the time and undisturbed by outside events. It is not that we gain it, we already are it. We just have to cease giving energy to the false identifications which seem to block it's experience, much like the clouds are blocking the sunlight. Resting in the simplicity of our true nature as I AM. There may be more to it than that but that is the foundation, the ground.

So that was that. I found it good and relaxed into it. Mooji is quite a hearty huggy sort of a person and afterwards he came down and many people wanted to go up to him for a few private words and a big warm hug. Clearly there was a lot of genuine affection between them and many people are relating to him as their personal teacher or Guru. I don't know how he would stack up against Ramana Maharishi (not that it is a competition) but from where I sit he seems genuine in what he is sharing and really is a big Jamacian teddy bear.

I stayed around afterwards to observe how he was behaving and how people were relating to him. I didn't go for a hug but just as he was about to leave on his moped he gave me a big smile and a wave. I don't feel a need at the moment to have any formal relationship with an external teacher but I appreciated Sri Mooji's energy and approach. He is a nice man.