The Icon Show:
Swami Shyam's Talk at Gisele's Farewell
We are connected to Life
What is essential to a human being?
The means to dig the energy
The source of our thinking
Food for the Knower
Instructions on how to Meditate
We are connected to Life
Swami Shyam: Between you and me there is a connection. When Kevin spoke, I heard. My hearing power, which is attached to my ears, was one side, and his speaking power, which is connected to his lips, was on the other side. If he had not spoken, and I had not heard, we could not establish any connection or relationship, even though he is lively and I am lively. But if his form had no ability to speak words and utter the sounds, and no power to hear his sounds, and no ability to know his language and the meaning of his words, there could be no reality between him and me.
In this way you are a party on the other side; Gisele's mother or her relations all have the power of hearing, and even though I have not seen their forms. I have the connection with my speaking power and can utter sounds. But if it is only a sound like a bird, and you are listening, just like a tape recorder, then there is no relationship, no connection of any kind. It means that even the side with ears there and the side with lips here does not matter for our union, unless both of us or all of us are endowed with the gift of the mighty Supreme Self, Life itself.
Therefore, we are connected to Life, and Life is dear to me, Life is dear to you, and that Life itself is attracting everyone. Those who feel not fully alive want to get more of the strength of Life. Thus, everybody has the desire to maintain the connection with Life. From where? From this side, the side of the form, where our intellect, mind, and senses function. They function, but if they do not function with full life, then they will not be able to experience the delight of the objects or forms. If the eyes are weak, then forms will not produce delight, and if the ears are weak, then sounds will not produce delight.
"What is essential to a human being?"
What is essential to a human being? To be fully connected with Life, which is the source of all our powers. While working and living a human being is consuming energy on the basis of his senses, organs or organism, which are functioning all of the time and he is exhausting all that energy. Whenever one wants to replace that energy, he eats and drinks. So he needs proper knowledge about what type of food he should eat and drink to give him enough strength to rejuvenate his senses and body, as well as add some surplus energy. But even if he eats and drinks and comes into contact with many things and forms, he will not experience the fullness in all of life's situations.
Now what is essential for all of us? We should be able to have the knowledge and the technique of how to get connected to the source of our existence, the body, the senses, and the whole field of our living. Things or objects are seen, but they are inert. When people are seen, they are alive, but if they are not connected to their own source, with the help of knowledge, they will perish earlier, or they will become weak, sick, and diseased earlier, and they will be victimized of all kinds of medicines and drugs.
"The means to dig the energy"
Therefore, every one of us is supposed to have the knowledge of some way and means to dig the energy from our own being. We have found, or it has been graced to us, or to me, that there is a definite way to get connected to the source of our energy. I am speaking, but without thinking, speech will be useless. Without thinking, learning will be useless. Therefore, first we have to have the knowledge of our intellect and mind, and know its capacity. Then, we have to know how much energy we waste by way of entertaining all the unnecessary thoughts that keep coming.
We think more and act less, we produce less and worry more. In this way, we have exhausted a lot of energy, and the consumption of energy on the level of thinking is enormous. If your thinking is weak, or your mind is weak, the body will become weak and there will be a great imbalance in your life. Therefore what is essential?
Power. The power of will, the power of thinking, the power of decision making, and the power of the intellect. Also, this power which may be put into our ego consciousness, so that we don't always feel inferior, small, insulted, frustrated, or disappointed; all such symptoms lead us to know that we are getting weaker and weaker.
What is essential for a human being? That he or she should be easy, peaceful, loving, joyful, and delightful. But is it possible that we can remain always free from struggle, especially these days where the atmosphere is full of confusion and nobody knows what to do and what not to do? When you ask people, they say, "Make your own way by yourself."
As children, you have not been advised as to what to do, except in terms of gaining professional abilities and working hard, and now you are expected to work more and more. Previously, people worked six to nine hours, but now people advise you that you can work more hours, so that you can be free from the recession. Nobody says you can keep working with strength, happiness, joy, and delight, as long as you have enough energy.
Therefore, I would like to inform all of you how to draw surplus energy from the source. As I said, I'm thinking, but what is the source of thinking? Have you ever thought of it? The source of a plant could be a seed, water, earth, and sun. But what is the source of a thought, which is the seed of your speech and of your action, and the seed of the result of your action? If that seed is not known, then thought can come without you noticing it, without you being conscious of it. When it is fully manifested, only then will you come to know this thought.
Without practice, you will not be able to catch the thought at the beginning, and you will not be able to tell that thought, "Wait a minute!" If the thought is of killing, becoming angry, insulting someone, or taking advantage of someone, then you know that these thoughts are not good. But how will you be able stop them, if you are not at the source? Therefore, you have to know the technique of how to be knowledgeable of the source.
You know that the eyes must have the source of their seeing, which is only Life, and the ears must have a source, which is also Life. But where is Life in its entirety and purity, such that your mind can take a dip and then bring forth the strength of that source, the Life itself, which is eternal, undying, and unchanging. All the things and forms die, but Life never dies. In religious language, it is called God, or the Self. The source of our thinking is the Space.
Life, or God, never dies. If God died, from where would the stars, the sky, and the planets come into existence, and from where would the laws that govern the things and happenings in the world of forms? Therefore, the way to get the knowledge of Life, God or your own true Being, is through meditation.
That's what Gisele has done, and that is what Kevin has done, and they have come to know that the source of our thinking is the space. Thought does not come from the walls, it does not arise from fire, flame, or light &endash it comes from the space. A plant comes from the space, and a comet comes from the same space. Thus, that space could not come to be called the source of thinking, because thinking and thought are full of knowledge. The comet has no knowledge and the tree has no such knowledge, so that source which could be called space is not filled with knowledge.
"The Source of our thinking"
So where is knowledge? It is only on the level of the human nervous system, on the level of the heart and head, where thoughts and emotions are felt. But by whom are they felt? The hair does not feel thought and the senses do not feel thought. It is the feeler, the Knower, the watcher, who knows the thought, and also knows the direction and nature of thought. But who is this watcher, Knower, or feeler?
Through this enquiry of meditation, you come to know that the Knower, or the one who has knowledge, is the source of thinking and knowing, as well as the source of the intellect and ego. And that Knower cannot be bought, or be picked up from your pocket or from your friend, or from the treasury of the bank, or from your relations.
You have to find the Knower by yourself, and in this process the Knower itself is involved in trying to pinpoint where this Knower is to be found. It is for that purpose that I am speaking. I came just in time. A thought came that if this tape is going on, just please continue with it, and if I am guided to this occasion, I'll be here. And I am guided from there.
I was at a place where nobody knew where I was, and I myself had no idea that I would ever come to that place. All of a sudden the thought came that I had not to be at that place, so I climbed up the wall and went up to the steps and reached here. I didn't see anybody on the steps, but I heard somebody singing in the hall, so I came over here and found the tape was going on.
In the same way, Gisele met Kevin, and Kevin met me, but who guided these meetings? The Knower. That Knower is your reality and that Knower is my reality so that Knower is the reality of thoughts as well. That Knower is the reality of our directions and actions. That Knower is the reality of being acquainted with certain people. That Knower is the reality of knowing who is good company, and who is knowledgeable for us, who will fill our hearts and minds with delight and joy, and what food and drink will give us energy. Who knows? The Knower.
"Food for the Knower"
If the Knower is not free, and it's space is dumped with garbage and all kinds of unnecessary and rotten thoughts, and we do not know what thought to pick up, then the Knower will act only in the way senses and preferences act, and your experiencing power will remain always bound. Therefore, first we have to know that the Knower exists, and then we have to know that the Knower is always for peace, yet you never get peace.
The physical body gets food, the mental body gets food, the intellectual being gets food, the ego being also gets food, but where is the food for the Knower? Meditation, or Gyaan, knowledge, or Shyam Gyaan, is the food for the Knower, an offering for the Knower.
Therefore I would advise you to be a total personality, every day, and whatever is hungry in your body being, feed that. The real being is seeking peace, and peace will come through meditation. Offer meditation, because meditation is filled with peace, That real being wants to be free, so let it come out from the clutches of the senses.
If all of you want to have freedom in your thinking, acting or speaking, then what is essential? Keep the Knower free. And the Knower will be free only while you are meditating. If the Knower has become free, it will come to know: "I am the Knower, and I have the power to direct my eyes towards beautiful things, like the flowers, and I have the power to direct my thought towards such actions which will remove all weaknesses."
In this way, meditate on this Knower, knowing that this Knower is your reality. When persons are dead and the Knower is not there, they are declared dead, so who are the human beings? The Knower. And who is the Knower? Life. What is Life? The Touch-me-not plant also has the life, but if the Knower is not there in the awakened state, then that Knower is useless. Birds are the Knower, animals are the Knower, because they know something. But human beings are filled with intelligence and awareness to say, "This is my Knower."
Therefore, meditate on the Knower, the one who knows, and realize that the Knower is free. When you sleep, the Knower knows the sleep state, when you dream, the Knower knows the dream state, when you wake up, the Knower knows the body, thoughts, things, forms, and the sense of loss and gain. The Knower is always free to know something. If you take the things away from the Knower, then things are separate, but not the Knower; the Knower knows things, yet the Knower is unchanging and forever free. I want to tell you, through Kevin and Gisele, that you are a friend. Whether you are male or female doesn't matter - you are the Knower, and I am the Knower.
On the level of the Knower we are One, and it is this knowledge of the sense of Oneness that Gisele is bringing to you. She will fill your heart and spark and enlighten your mind, and will have talks and discourses with you. She is very enlightened. She has been here, she knows us all, and she knows what we are doing. This means that her Knower is free, and that is why she is a good friend to all of you.
So salutations to your Knower. Thank you for this opportunity, led by the Almighty Knower, which you yourself are. You must be drawing me from there, so that I should come and speak to you, and that is what happened. It is all your invitation.
Transcribed by Gisele Beaupre, Oct. 30, 1994
Created by Gisele Beaupre©