The Sound of Freedom

hello they're nice to see everybody tonight I want to talk about the feeling of Freedom which is which is what I'm always trying to speak about is the feeling of being spiritually free being being enlightened but Enlightenment is a very esoteric concept it's very difficult for most people to understand what it is so we try different angles we try different different metaphors to give people a sense of what the feeling of freedom feels like and what it's like to be awake to higher Consciousness so the metaphor I wanted to use in this particular talk was the experience of being swept up in the experience of listening to or playing improvisational music and uh because I think the the experience of art art art when it's inspired can awaken all kinds of spiritual feelings and insights and states of Consciousness that are very similar to the awakened state of conscious awareness of enlightened awareness I wanted to use the metaphor of American Jazz to give you that sense when I was a young man a long time ago I wanted to be a jazz drummer so over the years I've listened to a lot of Jaz Jazz I've listened to a lot and I've played a lot and it was the feeling it was it was the unique unique and very specific feeling when playing jazz or improvisational music with other musicians when we would really meet each other in a state of awaken concentration and inspiration that it would open up a kind of door to a Feeling of unbearable ecstasy and spontaneous spiritual Freedom through the act of playing music together and I wanted to speak about some of the those Dynamics and how they relate to the experience of Awakened awakened awareness and enlightened awareness it's a very similar um us to State at the beginning as many of you are already well aware the as I understand it and as I teach it the the face of the absolute the face of the absolute principle or the god principle has two sides an evolutionary Enlightenment this distinction between the two faces of the absolute and two faces of the god principle are very important when we try and understand the ultimate nature of real of all reality one side is the being side this the the realization that the god principle the absolute principle is the state of static being static being in this case being infinite Timeless formless beginningless and endless and eternal so that State of Consciousness usually attained through the meditative process it's where we awaken to what's called Brahman Consciousness or the state of static being which is as I just was saying was Awakening to a state where there's no time it's Timeless spaceless formless and eternal and infinite infinite being and an infinite being there's no movement there's no coming there's no going there's no birth there's no death nothing ever happened there the universe has yet to be created there so it's a place where everything does not exist yet nothing exists there all all that exists there is nothing whatsoever so one face of God or one face of the absolute is this the State of Consciousness and the recognition that that the non-relative absolute dimension of reality is a state of static Eternal Timeless formless infinite being where nothing ever happens and this is very important to understand that's why when people detain these very high states of enlightened awareness a static being experience utter freedom from every other aspect of life and there is a unique kind of ecstasy when we let go of any relationship to the urge to be calm or to do anything anything whatsoever it's an experience of unimaginable peace and Liberation it's Liberation from the world of the cre a process that's only one face of the absolute the other face of the absolute is this recognition and Awakening to the infinite creativity of the god principle so on one hand the god principle is is this eternal Timeless formless infinite static being and on the other hand it's this ceaseless relentless urge towards intense creativity as a as a constant busyness the UN the universe can be the Manifest Universe manifest reality can be understood to be this infinite urge towards creativity and greater complexity he urg to become so the evolving universe is a profound ecstatic revelation of the universe's infinite desire to exist in in and through form like life and mind and the infinite desire to exist through form time life and mind is the experience of the creative impulse The evolutionary [Music] impulse desire to exist and very creative human beings artists musicians writers poets Engineers scientists all very creative people are driven by this ecstatic creative compulsion to give rise to new forms of human potential and potential in all forms of human endeavor and the aspiration to create music is coming from that same mysterious urge what we call in this teaching The evolutionary impulse which is the urge to participate in the creative process not just to experience it as a drive in the universe but as a ecstatic opportunity to participate in life at a much deeper level and very creative people usually have a much deeper experience of what it's like to be alive because they are uh engaging with the creative process at a much deeper and more engaged level than most people do so they feel as a result much more alive and in touch with this Crea principle or God Principle as I'm describing it so when we try to a big challenge for the human for us human beings is the challenge of working to of of working together in all fields of human endeavor to give rise to new to new potentials to new possibilities to create a better world together to work together to create a better world a better possibility and the utopian idealism realized in the spiritual Revelation is the as is the aspiration to come together to create a better world and we can do that in we can do that in all kinds of ways but the the challenge for human beings is what's the most what's the most uh apprpriate or helpful way that we can work together that we can come together and work together seamlessly as one organism and us we as a species have been struggling with this challenge for a long time and sometime often succeeding and often failing that's why we we remain so divided against ourselves so these spiritual impulse is constantly compelling us to find find a higher and deeper more spiritually aligned way to come together to work together to give rise to our own creative our own higher creative possibilities potentials and the desire to create music together is a very clear experience of that same drive so so if you've ever seen great musicians play together they Express and manifest all of the traits that we need to put into practice ourselves if we want to find ways to come together and work to work together in ways that are more creative and more productive and more yeah more successful and if you've ever seen very skilled musicians come together they're usually very talented people who work very hard at their crafts and it's a very different thing when you see when you see a musician play other musicians who's very talented and very schooled and very disciplined and has extraordinary technique and facility versus someone who's just a beginner and this is works the same way in spiritual practice in spiritual evolutionary Dharma because if if spiritually Enlighten people come together who have been practicing the Dharma with great diligence and effort for many years and are and are significantly more evolved as a result more spiritually developed and they come together with other people who are equally more spiritually developed the Dharma that comes through them and the way they Embrace each other and work together in the creative Endeavor will be infinitely infinitely at a higher and more productive level than people who are nearly inspired but have not worked at it for a very long time the spiritual evolution in many ways works like just about many of the other kinds of things we want to do when we want to achieve mastery greatness in any particular field so if we want if we want to create a perfect world we want we want to uh give rise to the experience of perfect relatedness in our we engage with each other and something I'd like everybody to think about the context what what would perfect relatedness look like in your life in your relationship with your husband wife mother father daughter sister brother friend cooworker and and anybody else what would a life of perfect perfect relatedness look like with other people if we all if we all knew and learned the secret of how to relate in the most perfect way with each other we give rise to a a near perfect or aspiring to be perfect expression of human consciousness and human culture in a way that would be beautiful and would Express the inherent nonu nature of the totality of reality but in order to do that we have to become spiritually very skills as practitioners and we have to evolve our own capacity our our own capacities for intelligence sensitivity awareness selfless service and uh commitment to the highest good so the goal When We Make Music Together is this beautiful ecstatic m music and when we want to create a new world together the goal is uh miracle that happens when when the one and many come together as one when the many come together as one that's when the miraculous nature of life begins to reveal itself and we understand what's what's possible for us to be able to do together when we are committed to it but this requires skill and practice and dedication in the same way learning how to be a very skilled impr improvising musician does and if you think about the musical context it's it's very interesting because um a very skilled musician a very very highly developed musician knows how is is a very good listener and if we want if we want to discover what I'm pointing to when I bring up this idea of what would perfect relatedness look like perfect relatedness looks like knowing how to perfectly respond to the unexpected so in human relationships and human relatedness how awake are we to the the current context of our being together and well and how profound is our ability to react to each other to relate to each other in a way that is constru that is always constructive and creative and loving so if we if we're if we're very evolved and if we're very sensitive and we know how to listen and pay attention and we are our spiritual practice is devoted towards reaching forever higher potentials to actualize these higher potentials we're going to be our responses to each other and to circumstances that we find our together with with other people will always be a catalyst for greater Consciousness for everybody so we'll be listening very deeply and we'll be responding to the best in in the other we'll be constantly thinking constantly trying to add more grace more intelligence more Consciousness more evolutionary impulse to any given situation so our presence will will make it possible for other people to to let go and to also participate in life at a much higher level in the same way as as very gifted musicians are listening to each other very intently and when when it's when the music is really on fire musicians are responding to they're responding to each other's initiatives musical initiatives instantaneously with with bringing more bring more Consciousness and bring more uh fire and and musical passion to to to the to the music that's been co-created and when two three four five six 10 people are able to participate to participate together in this kind of co-creative endeavor they all carry each other to Heights of Consciousness that are Heights of Consciousness and musical expression and creativity that nobody can do on their own and I think this is what uh this is what Awakening to The evolutionary impulse with the spiritual impulse is calling all of us to in our highest moments when we when we evolve Beyond ego we together with other people and are experiencing e eil transcending States Of Consciousness we can we can help each other to give rise to all kinds of potentials and possibilities that are not independently self-existing but are dependent upon our conscious participation in this process at a very deep level so in the same way when you see great musicians playing together they love each other and they respect each other because they know that together they can make a kind a level of they can create a level of of musical intensity and Brilliance and and ecstasy that none of them can do on their own so when we know we need each other to do this we are listening to each other and respecting each other and relying on each other in the most beautiful way because we know that we need each other to make the to make this Consciousness expand and ultimately to make the The Human Experience the world the world has even experienced a much better place so when we're wrapped in in the small confines of the small self of the ego we're always holding back and looking looking at every situation with what's in this for me what can I get out of this for myself how can I be a very self-centered or egotistical narcissistic relationship to time experience the feeling opportunities but when when we awake to this kind of bodic Ideal we are looking at the whole the whole context of our experience and what how can we how can how can I be an evolutionary Catalyst for other people in this in this situation it's all it's all that state living for higher purpose and and in a musical in a musical situation when you see musicians who are lovingly passionately selflessly listening and supporting each other to reach higher higher higher and higher levels of their own creative potential they they they release kind of a love love and Bliss and an ecstasy between each other because they are catalyzing a capacity for ver for ver verticality or Ascension at level of Consciousness that that liberates everybody and as I said before liberates new potentials between them that are that nobody can do on their own and this is so profound this is so profound and meaningful when this kind of thing happens so can human beings come together to to create a more perfect world and a more perfect experience of of liberating our potentials as human beings we can if we can do it we're playing music or we can do it in any other any other co-creative situation we should ultimately be able to do that in life itself but we are I've noticed as all of you as all of you already know that these utopian studies inspired the these Collective moments of inspiration human beings have been experiencing as a result of the religious impulse for thousands of years often fail fail drastically again and again but I've also noticed that in spite of in spite of the fact that we as as as imperfect as imperfect as imperfect sension beings fail again and again and again the EV the universe doesn't give up on utopian idealism because the universe keeps trying to create situations and awaken this this impulse for us to want to come together at higher and higher levels once again to live live the dream of the utopian and possibility so no matter how many times we as we fail as human beings Universe never the universe never gives up on us because it keeps creating situations where yet another group of inspired people are coming together to give rise to utopian idealism and this is and this is very interesting because we if when we fail on on a human level often we get become cynical and see and give up on the highest possibility but it's not really this is the the inspiration to achieve this highest possibility didn't come from us as individuals it comes from the energy and intelligence that created the universe in the first place I find this very intriguing and enthralling and compelling we stand back if we stand back and look at the universe is trying to give rise to these greater potentials of our shared creativity he's trying to create situations for us to be able to come together and give rise to these greater potentials at higher and higher levels no matter how many times we fail these these conditions are created again and again and again so we giving us yet another opportunity to succeed so the universe definitely wants us to do this and since so it appears that the Universe wants us to do this then we have to find a way to accommodate her wishes I believe and the and spiritual inspiration when you experience spiritual inspiration in a very intense level that's when you're feeling the how God is the creative principle feels about our own potential when you when you experience your own profound awaken inspiration that you're experiencing the inspiration of the universe itself Awakening to itself through you the universe wants to awaken through us and wants to give rise to these higher greater potentials through us if only we make ourselves available so the way we make ourselves available is by doing intense spiritual practices by becoming very deadly serious about what it means to awaken to the spiritual impulse and to and to want to participate in Life in The Human Experience in a much deeper way that most of us are doing so it's a desire for it's Awakening to the Deep desire for depth seriousness sincerity and um verticality so you have to withdraw we have in order to awaken to this Consciousness in this context we have to withdraw a little bit from the generally quite superficial World relationship to life that most people are living in and um and cultivate a greater a greater context in our own Liv where we can have access to Greater depth seriousness and intense focus and ideally we want to do that with other people who are interested in the same kind of depth it's it's the same kind of inspiration that has uh called people to kind go to the mountain tops leave the world to go to the mountains or Leave the World to go to the monastery or Leave the World to go to the forest so they can become very focused on these inner potentials that we lose touch with when we're lost in the world so the the universe wants us to co-create higher Consciousness together in the same with the same beautiful spirit as the greatest improvising musicians do when they come together and create beautiful music beautiful music fills our hearts with joy and clears our mind makes us feel so happy and alive and that's what God feels like that's that's where that inspiration comes from so we need to connect with that kind of um the truth of where these kind of inspired feelings are coming from in ourselves and in Crea a process as a whole so we can participate in the life process in a much deeper way and um we have to also understand this takes everything from us because even if you see great musicians even even the greatest musicians don't hit it every time they but they come together and try and hit it hit them hit the theit the bullseye every time even though they don't do it but the the you the feeling the feeling result of having succeeded is so inspiring that um it keeps a fire alive within within all of us which is very similar to what the spiritual impulse or The evolutionary impulse feels like and we wake until we want to want to give this life our best shot and we want to start reaching much higher than we ordinarily would and ordinarily do so we can so we can bring this the miracle of enlightened awareness into the world so it's not just an experience of in spiritual context not just an experience of beautiful music where people are really listening to each other and responding to each other without hesitation but they that's where the Consciousness Consciousness itself is being awakened and catalyzed in the most beautiful way so so I wanted to emphasize in this talk that learning how to participate in life in such a deep and considered Focus manner requires practice and discipline won't happen by itself even though we can have spiritual Flights of Fancy and experience higher States Of Consciousness spontaneously from now now and then uh we need to become very skilled at spiritual Evolution through our own work through our own spiritual work and most of to the greatest realizers throughout history or individuals who done an unbelievable amount of spiritual practice and work very hard on themselves for a very long period of time to become stable in these higher perspectives and these higher potentials so I believe that the possibilities for higher Consciousness in our species are enormous and very profound and very give us a lot of Hope but we have to be willing to dedicate Our Lives to this process but becoming very skilled practitioners of the art of higher Consciousness and that's the kind of that's a huge commitment I I was just teaching a retreat here in in South India and um had several conversations with different people about the fact that they were wondering why spiritual evolution is so so difficult and so challenging and I said well why should to be challenging a lot of people have some kind of mistaken idea that the process of spiritual Evolution the reaching for in line awareness should somehow not be too taxing not be not not be too difficult for us but I often like to equate it to you you anybody who actually attains enlightened awareness and become stabilized in it it's very rare said if you want to be free more than anything else if you want to in line awareness you have to want it the way someone who's seeking to gain a go to attain a gold level metal at the Olympics is focus if you're going to try to get a gold medal at the Olympics you expect it to be hard it's going to take everything you've got so I think to be able to co-create the future of the universe at this very deep and profound levels with other spiritual Masters other people have mastered the spiritual process requires a level of dedication commitment it's nothing less than total it's not not a part-time Endeavor it's a total commitment to the future of evolution of Consciousness the total commitment to the evolution of the interior of the universe which is quite a serious thing to want to get focused on something most people don't think anything don't think about um so when you when you think about how does this relate to the reality of the life that you're living right now we want to want to think about what I was saying in relationship to what is perfect relatedness in any given moment in any given circumstance between between between human beings between two of us three of us five of us 10 of us what would be the most appropriate and perfect response from any any of us any given situation and if we want to co-create Sublime potentials together we want to be very very available for what a perfect response might be from us not from anybody else just like when you're playing music with someone else and you listen to them play listen listening to them play and you you find yourself responding to what they to what they played in a way that brings everybody to a higher level why try to live our life that way right now that's the most perfect response for us to to the other and to the others in any given situation it's it's kind of like what it's like to make beautiful music together because I you'll only come to the per the most perfect response if you're listening deeply to the other and to the others you only be able to respond perfectly if you're really listening in a very selfless openhearted and inspired way so if we all learn how to listen to each other in a focused and inspired inspired way the conscious our Collective Consciousness is natur going to rise up because we're going to be listening we're going to be caring about what the the outcome of our interrelatedness actually is and just like making beautiful music together if you are able to enact this kind of ecstatic creative potentiality with other people we keep and that's when we do this kind of Engagement together we are constantly bring bringing each other to higher and higher places that we couldn't do on our own and in that way we' be to fall in love with each other because we realize that we can help each other to become more more alive more conscious more liberated more enlightened on a regular basis so when our when our spiritual relationships become Catalyst for our individual and Collective Awakening we we we create a much bigger context for our presence here in this world and that that's what I feel the spiritual life is all about and what evolutionary Enlightenment is all about because evolutionary enlightment is about going about going someplace new together it's not remaining in the same place the same place of static being or it's not about remaining as we have been but it's about making heroic the heroic spiritual effort to evolve individually and collectively every day every week every month every year so that we can so it's like imagine if imagine a train car it's very heavy very heavy and very dense so so we want to imagine that if we were really doing this diligent evolutionary work that eventually our Collective our Collective intention would begin to make the Train move slowly but it would start to move and when when we get that feeling that we're all moving together that's the most exciting feeling it's what the great s AR called the psychic being when you feel it when you get that have the inner you feel the momentum the inner momentum they when you feel oh my goodness we are moving and we're not moving in a train car but we're moving we're moving Consciousness is moving through us as us because we've all made the effort to make it happen it's the most exhilarating feeling because then you feel you're participating in life at a very deeply profound level and we can actualize this kind of movement together then we find the ultimate reason to exist and we find a different completely different context for human relatedness really different context to love each other to work together to be together it's not self-centered or selfish in any way but is um inspiring to help the universe evolve so this is what I'm wholeheartedly standing for have been for 35 years and I'm going to continue to till the day I drop because I'm so compelled by this miraculous possibility I hope I've been able to convey the dramatic dramatic dramatic nature of the evolutionary impulse when it starts working through US collectively it's like we become overtaken by higher Consciousness and higher intelligence and I become aware of and you become aware of and we become aware of at the same time that's when we realize we are suddenly being animated by a higher intelligence that loves us as using us to using us to facilitate miracle of the evolving Consciousness in this universe and it's possible to have these kind of feelings to have these kinds of realizations it's not it's not impossible it's got to reach for it but when you feel it you feel more alive than you've ever felt before and you know that you're part of some very big process and you realize that the universe is is is at some level self-aware and mysteriously very mysteriously wants evolution impulse to kind of awaken to itself through us the universe is not passive Consciousness the mystery of Consciousness is not a is not passive or static but wants this this this this Awakening or this greater Consciousness to unfold through us there is there is there is a miraculous mysterious and ecstatic compulsion in Consciousness itself through this High For This higher evolutionary momentum to start moving and when you when you realize this when you have this kind of when you have these kinds of experiences you have a lot of faith in life and faith in faith in in the process of existence because then you realize we're not alone that the Universe wants us to evolve for its own sake and that the The Human Experience is not just an ego trip but it's potentially part of a much larger and beautiful process of unfolding we can participate in and play play are B play a not insignificant role in it's called living large I am the energy and intelligence that created the universe and is creating the universe Awakening to itself through the body mind personality of in my case Andrew but this becomes true for each and every one of us suddenly realize that I'm not the ego I'm not the small small self but I'm nothing less than the energy and intelligence to created the universe Awakening to itself through this to the vehicle of the body mind personality of my small self then you realize your small self is not the point and that's the beginning of living and living in living in evolutionary Enlightenment for real and if you can do that with other people who care as much as you do then you start creating new culture together and if you stick with it for a little while then you become skilled you become a skilled practitioner of higher Consciousness who can has the capacity to catalyze High Consciousness between us and then if you stay focused you become a real real catalus for the for the evolution of Consciousness and for the future to unfold through us and when that really when when this really happens and it can really happen but when it really happens all your questions are answered answered and you know who you are and you know why you're here amen hallelujah and you realize how big this is when you feel the kind of the feelings that I've been trying to describe to you you will rarely be unhappy as you'll see your your your existence is part of this huge process that is magnificent and miraculous inherently you'll feel so grateful to be alive to have to have the to have the the grace to be a part of it you'll feel so lucky and so grateful and so honored thank you God for giving me the privilege of part participating in your grand process for that giving me the privilege of contributing what I can to this miracle of existence I'm not exaggerating I really mean what I'm saying then you find a source for your own self- respect and your own dignity and your own nobility now you're living large and playing the big playing the game of Life at a very large scale and it's real everything I'm describing as profound as they may sound as very real and attainable and knowable but it's not personal this is transpersonal Cosmic conscious evolutionary development the deepest and highest level and when you awake into this this this this depth of Engagement with life your egoic problems your personal pains and anxiet well begin to fade into the background of your conscious awareness because now something more much more real much more authentic and much more meaningful started to become the focus of your attention so you're no longer obsessed with your problems doesn't mean they all go away they're no longer such a big deal you found something much bigger much deeper and much more real to capture your attention and remember as they say in the vadas the nature of the nature of Consciousness the nature of Brahman Consciousness it's very unique because they say the consciousness of Brahman is ever new it's the one kind of feeling and experience and recognition that is never old it's always like the first time it's the only experience human beings can have this always like the first time so there's nothing more exhilarating and more thrilling and more satisfying and more enriching than Awakening to this step Dimension that I'm W to to that I'm speaking about it never gets old and it's always new it's always like the first time it's always absolutely convincing and uh overwhelming and uh liberating beyond belief so let's all do everything we can to actualize our own individual and Collective Awakening so we can get busy with this co-creative Enlightenment that that can create a a beautiful future for the interior of the universe what do you think sound like a good idea I think so it's very funny you know when you awaken to a aligned awareness and someone awakens to aligned awareness in a way that is authentic you can't help it you can't help it keep speaking about it keep speaking about it keep speaking about it I realize I keep repeating myself all the time but I can't help it because the deepest part of me wants all of you all of you and everyone as many people as possible to come kind to understand this miracle and to embrace it the second is the evolution of the interior of the universe itself so I feel like a helpless Pawn in this process to be honest even though I'm not [Laughter] helpless but um the enlightenment is always is always the Awakening to always the experience of a miracle come true when it's an evolutionary context is then it's an evolutionary Miracle come true it's evolutionary miracle coming through coming true through us and yeah it's all inspiring so in music music as in with jazz or any other kind of music the music is the vehicle but in with with the with the evolution of Consciousness with the awaken to enlightened awareness you and we are the vehicle no third party and that's very self implicating I think for all of us be the vehicle for which through all this happens so we're not playing a violin or saxophone or drums or anything like that playing the we're playing our own body our own body mind and personality and seeing how good we can how good we can make it and that's what's so that's what that's what that's what makes it such a big confrontation with reality because we are the instruments through which most beautiful possibilities can emerge in all our imperfection we are the instruments through through which this miracle wants to happen and when you realize that it's a profound confrontation with the all the egos bad opinions negative thinking so we have to be we have to be ready in all our imperfection to kind of make this big leap beyond the mind take responsibility for what that means so we can actually actualize these these miraculous possibilities through the imperfect Body Mind personality of ourselves that's when I believe we're really doing God's work and if you're able to do God's work in this way that that it can help to uplift other people you can become an Exemplar for other people through the through your own through the miracle of your own greater depth and our Consciousness and you're doing God's work and God would love you even more because you're not living a selfish life anymore you're not living this life for yourself but you're living this life for everyone else and that's a big part of what what the goal is all about I think so thank you for bearing with me and just sit quietly for a minute or two and then if you have any questions I'll be happy to try and answer them if you have questions you can write them in the chat window at the bottom of your Zoom window and I will read them out loud and if you don't have any questions that's totally fine because the questionless state is the higher state of consciousness quot say to Consciousness which you have questions because when you when your soul receives the answer questions disappear and then you just feel you're in a state of well-being it's free from desire and free from fear and free from needing to know no more the ego always wants to know more I need to know more I need to know more and suddenly you don't need to know anymore in order to experience perfect happiness because that's that's a of Consciousness being is that more than enough that's called the question the state and it is to repeat it's a high state of conscious Consciousness than we want and we we still think we need to know more information when the need for more information have to fade away it's a good sign that the ego is being transcended the question this St is a state of perfect contentment and the mind becomes very quiet there's as I said there's no fear no desire no frustration no confusion no ambivalence no ambiguity no doubt just Joy so I enjoy e there are no questions in that's because we're all in question the stage which is even better that's good I don't have any questions either e e e e e thank everybody thank you very much