Pb: Have you met any enlightened people in your life – except of course…

(Uproarious laughter)

Actually I never met any disciples before I met you people –
leave alone enlightened Masters.
I am very new in this game.
I was never a disciple and I was never a Master.
I stand in between.
So I am free to be here.

R: We are in between with you…

Then you can be the disciple and the Master.
Why fix yourself in one role?

And that is the Self – for the Self can be everything,
can play every role and any role,
and still be free.
And that Self is the true Master,
and that is your own, very own Self.

It was very beautiful out there where we were (ed.: a long walk) –
it was not our intention to come back,
but then we have to keep our appointments,
you see, in the spiritual business…
And I would have been here in time at eight o’ clock
but there was somebody with us who could not keep pace,
so we had to wait. So we require compassion also…
But I am ready to go back, if you all want to go back…

Many voices: Yes!

B: I would like to ask you a question. Does the Self need the mind?

The silent mind, the pure mind is the Self –
the entire workings of the mind, at all levels.
And yet the Self is free.

B: Is the Self the same as the soul?

Your very Being is the Self.
When the Self lives within manifestation
for the play of life,
then it is the Being, the soul.
And the Self above life is the cosmic Self,
and beyond manifestation –
the Self in its absolute state of Being.

The Self in its transcendental state of being
is the absolute Self;
the Self in the cosmic state of being
is the cosmic Self, the universal Self;
and the Self in its individual manifestation
is the soul, the Being, the pure Being.

X: How can the Self remember itself?

Really it is beyond remembering,
it is a Being –
and yet to remember is to Be.

There is a covering – and therefore I talk about an uncovering.
And in that Silence you uncover it,
that which is there always.

We are attached to the becomings –
you step back free
and you find your Being that always is.
And really it is That
which is supporting all your play of life here…
But there is a tendency to go outward, to live outside.

When you stop yourself
and poise yourself in your own Being
it starts to uncover itself.

If you were to keep stepping back, poising yourself,
you would start to bring out that which is within.
The observation itself brings this understanding,
this perception, this stopping in your own being.

Then in that Silence is the Unfolding of life also.
But now it is a habit.

P: And the way to step back is to sit in silence?

You find that inner Silence, that poise, that Freedom –
and you will observe the movements are there,
and yet you are free of those movements.

And then there would be this complete Silence –
and in that Silence would be this awakening,
and the finding of the whole, complete Reality.

Life is not denied you;
rather, you would find life for what it is.
Now life is a compulsion;
then life would be a freedom,
and a fullness.

Y: I always have this feeling that only enlightened people can live like this, can trust only the inside. I have the feeling I can’t survive without being outside.

That is why I do not like to use this word, enlightenment,
because then we always place this enlightenment somewhere there –
and that distance seems to be so difficult to reduce.

From the very first moment you are It,
this is right attitude.
And you must be able to observe yourself in your own innocence –
and in that is the finding of your Self!

B: I am waiting. Is this the Self?

You are waiting for the Self?

B: Is it my Self waiting – or is it my mind?

Is there agitation in it? Is there impatience?

B: Yes.

That is not the Self in freedom,
but the Self in agitation…

Can you poise yourself in the heart?
You seem to be smiling now…

Are you still there?
From there observe if there is impatience,
agitation, thoughts, feelings, expectations, waitings…

Stay there.
Now in that depth of your heart
you must find this Silence.
Stay with it all the time.
That Silence is patience, then there is no agitation.
And you will find it in the depth of your own heart.

Have you found yourself?
That was the Self in waiting…!

We have it with us and we seek it outside…
When you have it with you, you have it outside;
but when you do not have it with you,
you do not have it outside.
All you have is agitation and impatience –
and a seeking without an end.

Of course you do not stop here –
this is only the beginning –
for the Self has no end.

18 February 1992 evening

Panchmadhi