Consciousness Expansion and Desire

This evening I'd like to consider ways of expanding your awareness that are legal. And to try and consider what the totality of awareness is. I suppose tonight's talk is a primer for people who aren't sure if they're people anymore. And I'm not sure if we'll be able to solve any of the great riddles or mysteries of the Sphinx tonight, but -- we might!

You all know the riddle of the Sphinx, right? [Silence] You don't know your Greek Tragedies. You don't know the riddle of the Sphinx. Why did the Sphinx cross the road? That's the riddle of the Sphinx. Cuz a moron threw him out the window, right? It's an old Zen joke.

Tonight we have a great show. We're going to bring out the astral sisters a little later on in the evening, and, uh -- there are basically five types of spiritual seekers. One type is represented here tonight. No. Seriously. There are basically five types of spiritual seekers. I was talking to a friend about this earlier today. So that's how I know it's true. Well, how else do you know if something is true. I mean, I figure if you talk to a friend there must be some truth in it, because it's a friend, and you wouldn't tell a friend anything that wasn't the truth, right?

There are basically five types of spiritual seekers. One type is the spiritual seeker who is absolutely infatuated with Eternity. I mean, they literally glow all of the time. These are extremely rare. The second category would be a person who enters into that phase of spiritual discovery from time to time. All of you at one time or another have reached that point. But these are persons who, on a relatively regular basis go in and out of that very high, totally aware state. The third type of spiritual seeker I suppose we could say is the average only because they come in the middle, and that's the person who is conscientious, meditates, cares about others and tries to do a good job with their life. They have moments of inspiration, they have moments of depression, frustration, hope, joy, and they're very wonderful people. Then we have the person who doesn't really enjoy spiritual seeking, but they do it anyway. They feel a -- kind of a moral obligation to try and realize truth because they know that it's the thing to do. Or they're afraid that if they don't do this, something bad will happen to them, maybe in the afterlife. You see, they still believe in an afterlife.

Then there are those, of course, who seek not really because they're interested in spiritual seeking, but just because it's an opportunity to show off their knowledge to others. So a person who goes to a party not because they want to have a good time, but they go to the party just so they can cause others misery, in a sense. OK. Which type of spiritual seeker are you?

Well, let's consider tonight the first three, because I'm sure nobody falls into the other two categories. In the first category, we're dealing with a very, very small percentage of persons. These are people who have reached after many, many lifetimes a kind of a spiritual oasis, after meditating and seeking and striving, they've reached a point of tremendous purification and one-pointedness. Where all they really want anymore, you could say, is God, or Nirvana, or truth, or to be of continuous service to others. And it comes naturally. So it looks to the observer. OK. It never comes naturally. But it might look that way.

It just seems that this person is in a flow of light. They're always inspired, they always glow. You see, they just have this aura, we could say a very saintly person. They've worked out all the basic problems in their own life and now they're trying to be of service to others. But at the same time I don't simply mean that in the sense that they're a balanced person who is trying to help others get through the day. But they've actually developed their spiritual body, the body of light to a very, very high degree. They're very pure, in other words. They're always in a high state of awareness. Whether they themselves are happy or unhappy is unimportant, they've recognized that one's personal happiness or unhappiness is irrelevant. That happiness, unhappiness, pleasure, pain, frustration, joy, all of these things are transitory. These are states of awareness that come and go. One day it's cloudy, the next day it's sunny. You know, there's a hailstorm, there's nothing but sunshine. And they're not particularly put out by any of these conditions. They accept with an even mind all of the conditions of existence. But that even mind is not bored at all. They're very excited by life, by the spiritual process, by the birth and death process, by Eternity itself. So we're not dealing with someone who's necessarily just in a kind of a detached state who just watches the world go by without emotion. But rather we're dealing with someone who has become in a sense the cosmos. Perhaps not completely, but they're certainly aware of their own eternality. This does not indicate that they don't feel pain or pleasure or things like this. But they have simply become balanced enough to deal with their life, not simply in the simple categorical sense that most people do of shopping. You know, selecting a good show on TV. But rather they've turned their focus to Eternity, realizing that Eternity is all that matters, and all that ultimately brings liberation. They no longer want to be trapped by their own frustrations and desires and limitations. Yet they realize that Eternity exists not only in space per se, but in the moment, in time, in this world, in all things, in all people. Such individuals are very rare. Obviously beyond this category we have enlightened people and stuff like that.

Now, what we see more of frequently, are people who reach that plane of consciousness for a time and they go in and out of it. And this is quite a natural process. This would be kind of our, level -- what I call level two. In the center. That is to say people who, for a period of an hour, a day, a week, maybe two weeks, will be in a state of consciousness where they're absolutely on. They've pushed aside the Maya, the frustration, the self-indulgence, the jealousies, all of those things, and they're living in clear joy. Clear ecstasy. They're absolutely in love with life and with Eternity, and they radiate that completely with a tremendous sense of poise and humility.