Quotes and excerpts from the book “The Collected Works” by Robert Adams
Disciple of Sri Ramana Maharshi, Robert Adams (1928 – 1997) was an American teacher of non-dualism, widely known among those investigating Advaita philosophy and among Western devotees of Bhagavan.
His teaching was based on the path of jñāna yoga, with an emphasis on the practice of self-inquiry (Atma-Vichara). Adams did not write any books or publish his teachings as he did not wish to gain a large following, instead preferring to teach a small number of dedicated seekers.
Adams stated that there was no new teaching, and that this knowledge can be found in the Upanishads, the Vedas and other ancient scriptures.
Awaken And Be Free
The turbulence, the chaos that seems to be in this world, is not the truth. It is not Reality. It is something that comes and goes. This too shall pass. But your center is God, Consciousness, Absolute Reality, Brahman. That is the peace that exists.
We get so entangled in the world. We think things are real. Everything bothers us. We get angry. We get upset. But the truth is, you are not maya. You are the Absolute Reality. You are Consciousness. You are Being. Know who you are and awaken.
“For whom do difficulties exist? They are also imaginary. Difficulty and pleasure exist only in relation to the ego.”
Ramana Maharshi.
Do not cling to what your body is going through. Keep your mind above it, keep your head in the sky and your feet on the ground. I want to tell you a secret. There are no problems. There never were problems, there are no problems today, and there will never be problems. “Problems” mean the world is not spinning as you wish.
Only Reality exists and you are It.
But, in truth, there are no problems. Everything is unfolding as it should. Everything is right. You must forget yourself and expand your consciousness until you become the entire universe. The Reality behind the Universe is pure Consciousness. There are no problems. And you are that. If you have Jnana (the Knowledge – Consciousness of Truth), you are at peace with yourself and with the world, for all the happiness that exists, all the joy that exists, all the peace that exists, all the love that exists, are names for Jnana. Therefore, to the extent that you awaken, to that extent you discover that everything is well, wherever you are.
“Problems” mean the world is not spinning as you wish
All the solutions, all the wisdom, all the happiness and bliss you have been seeking, is within you. Dive into the center of your heart. Sit in silence. Everything will take care of itself. The secret of peace of mind is not to identify with anything other than your true Self. And then, problems do not exist.
“If you identify with the
body, you will see the world around you, but if you identify with the divine
essence, everything will also be divine.” Ramana Maharshi.
Stop identifying with your body and mind! Don’t think you are so important that you have to overcome a problem. That’s what you do when you think you have a problem to overcome. That makes you feel important. “I have to solve this problem, I have to get over this situation.” As if ‘I’ were someone important. ‘I’ does not exist. If ‘I’ does not exist, then your problem does not exist either. Your problem exists because you believe in your ‘I’. When you realize that ‘I’ does not exist, everything disappears.
That’s what I mean when I sometimes say to you: “There are no problems, there never were problems and there never will be problems.” But as soon as you start to think, problems will arise. Don’t try to change anything. Be yourself. Work on yourself. Begin to see things in a new light. See your situation differently.
There are no bad things, there are no good things. But thought makes it so. Stop thinking in extremes, good and bad, right and wrong. Instead, look at yourself. Stay centered. See yourself as a Divine Being, an Infinite Being, completely free. Always remember, deep in your heart, that everything is well and that everything is unfolding as it should.
There are no mistakes anywhere. What seems to be wrong is simply your own false imagination. That’s all. We live in a universe of Brahman, of Absolute Reality, where there is perfection, perfect life, perfect ecstasy, perfect Being. This perfection knows nothing about right and wrong, good and bad, happy and sad.
It knows only itself as Perfection. And you are That. The place where you are at this moment is the right place. This is the beginning. Stop wanting to be someone different. Stop wanting to change your life. You are in the right place, now, exactly as you are. The wise person does not seek to change anything. Only Reality exists and you are It.
Only Consciousness exists and you are It. Only Love exists and you are it. If you only realized who you are, you would be the happiest person who ever existed, and I speak of a complete happiness, an unchanging happiness. Does such a thing exist? Yes, it exists. Unchanging peace. Unchanging love. But you chose to identify with Maya (the illusion), with unreality, and that is why you think you suffer. You believe your life is not what it should be.
The secret is to quiet the mind.
You compare yourself to others. You want to make changes. As you should know by now, when you make those changes they last little, and then you return to what you were before. For most people, to be happy there must be a person, place, or thing involved in their happiness. In true happiness, there are no things involved.
It is a natural state. You will remain in that state forever. There is always happiness. There is always peace. There is always love. It is not something you need to acquire. It is your true nature. The truth is that you can never suffer. There is nothing in this universe that can make you suffer.
If you are suffering, it is your mind telling you things, about someone, or something, or some place, or some illness, and that is why you suffer. You allowed yourself to think. You are believing your thoughts. Your thoughts completely control you, absolutely. The secret is to quiet the mind.
Your true nature is self-realization. When the mind is quiet, you simply return to your real nature, to what you have always been.
Really, the only thing you need to do is quiet your mind. It is only in silence that supreme truth reaches you. When the mind is subdued, there is only eternal peace.
Whenever you think, you prevent reality from flowing. Whenever your mind is quiet, calm, tranquil like a still lake, you reflect your own divinity. And you become pure, happy, and all your problems disappear. When your mind is quiet, you find happiness. Your work is to relax, to be calm, to be at peace.
Start spending more time diving inside yourself, observing, witnessing. When thoughts arise, simply ask yourself: “For whom do these thoughts come? To me. I see them. Who am I? What is the source of the I?” By doing this, my friend, I can assure you that a wonderful change will happen in your life, sooner or later, and you will become free.
For whom do these thoughts come? Where do they come from?
You learn, therefore, to hold your thoughts, practicing self-investigation (Atma-Vichara), or observing your thoughts, becoming the witness of your thoughts, observing yourself thinking. Thoughts have no power. They seem to have power. You gave them power. You yourself gave power to your thoughts by believing in them, by worshiping them, by doing what they command.
But the wise person stops, thinks, looks within and asks: “For whom do these thoughts come? Where do they come from?” Discover and you will realize that they never existed. It is an optical illusion.
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