What Is Satsang?

Is Earth The Fastest Place To Evolve?, Parents, Are Parents & Children All Learning?, Why Do I Have To Love God To Be Happy?

10/13/89 Satsang (Discourse) With

Maitreya

Maitreya: I hope you all had a good day today and a full day. If you have any complaints anyway they can wait until tomorrow night. Saturday night is the night for complaints.

Well, we welcome all the newcomers today. Welcome! Have I met your mother? I never forget faces. I might not remember your name but I will never forget your face.

This is called Satsang. Satsang basically means good company, company who gathers for the purpose of talking about God. And no other talking is done, just higher talk. If you do not understand my accent, you can just tell me, I'll repeat it. When you are in the company of those who talk about God, that's good company because it helps you to come to higher thoughts instead of lower thoughts that the world is trying to get us to. The world is trying to bring us down. If you remember our lecture about the three gunas today, one of them was called tama guna. It's trying to crudify us, bring us down to earth, bind us, bring us to our lower nature.

So Satsang is a kind of shower. If we don't take a shower for a couple of days, what happens to us? We become dirty.

If the body becomes dirty so fast, just imagine how fast the spirit becomes dirty. We go out there in the world and there are so many feelings that are not very spiritual, such as greed, etc. So what do we do? We just absorb these feelings, we pick them up.

Then in the evening we are just like the rest of the world, we are unhappy and tired. We come home and we feel, What is this? I feel so low. My energy is gone. I felt so good when I woke up in the morning, I had so much good energy, what happened to it? It was just sucked out, it's no longer there.

Satsang is a kind of sitting in the shower of the Lord. The shower comes and cleans your Spirit, and you take a shower. After we talk about God, I hope you're going to feel that you're clean and pure, you are in the presence of the Spirit. Hopefully in the Communities of Light we're going to have Satsang every night, so we can take a spiritual shower every day. We cleanse, take a shower and are clean. But right now we don't have many Communities of Light created yet so we have to settle for as much as we can have.

Usually in Satsang we take questions. Since we asked if you have any questions, you already put them in the Satsang box. We can gather the questions there so I can take a look at them. Then when we gather here we can go ahead and see what the questions are and answer them. If you have any follow-up questions, fine, you just go ahead and ask what you want to ask, any question you have.

Question: When we leave this plane and go on, I've read that we also learn and grow, but is this the fastest place to evolve?

Maitreya: If you have read our teaching, you'll remember that creation was evolved after the First Begotten Son reached Pure Consciousness. That was a very hard process for him and for God to bring that unit consciousness to Pure Consciousness, because in the ethereal level we don't have this "I," this body, this feeling, these senses which are much stronger to make us realize the external world. In the ethereal level you almost can create your own universe, because in the ethereal level the mind is very strong, is very powerful.

That's why the people who go to the ethereal level sometimes become very scared. They return to their bodies very fast. The reason is that they take their impurities with them. So when they go to the ethereal level they create a very scary scene for themselves. That scary scene makes them rush back to their bodies, and usually they wake up shaking. They say, "I had a nightmare," or things like that.

So because the mind is so powerful in the ethereal level you might even create a universe for yourself and become trapped in it. That's why when people go to the ethereal level, they meet some masters, or these beings who are there. These beings think they are the masters of the universe and they try to persuade these people to follow them. They are the beings who have been trapped in their own creation.

Because of so many traps in the path to reach Pure Consciousness, God decided to create this creation. This creation is the place to learn and grow the fastest possible. So that's why we are here. We are here to learn in this lifetime from our experiences, tests and trials that will come through our lives.

Anytime something happens to us that is not very pleasant, why isn't it pleasant? What happened? Why wasn't it good? Or when something is pleasant, why was it pleasant? That is a part of the meditation. We meditate on the things that happen to us, and we try to understand the reasons behind them.

If we don't meditate, usually we just go along and we make the same mistakes over and over and over. After awhile they become a pattern in our lives because our subconscious mind is set. That is the way we're going to react to this situation. Our reaction to this situation is this way, so this situation is going to end up the same way. We're going to go on and do the same things over and over.

But if you meditate, what happens? You create a keener awareness. You say, OK, look at this situation. I really messed it up, didn't I? Why? Why did I mess it up? Then you realize, Oh, OK, these things I did are not according to the Spirit. The Spirit has already given me the way to do things and if I'm not following the Spirit, then these things are happening to me.

So you become more aware of the ways of the Spirit in this body. Of course, the key is to meditate. The key is to become keen, to become more aware of your actions and the reactions that are created by your actions.

A lot of us are not aware of how our actions are affecting other people or ourselves. If we really become keen and create that awareness then we can realize how our actions affect ourselves and others. So, the less we make mistakes the more perfect we become.

What's perfection? Perfection means the lack of mistakes doesn't it? The less mistakes we make the more perfect we become. The moment we reach perfection, we don't even know we are perfect, we just are.

That's one of the questions people ask me, What is Pure Consciousness, what is perfection? A lot of people say, I want to become perfect, I want to reach Pure Consciousness. I say, Well when you are there you don't know that you are there. You just see everything you do is blessed by Spirit and is prosperous. That is when you understand, I can't do those things by myself, there should be a reason behind these wonderful things happening around me. Probably the Spirit is behind it.

I am not the doer, I am just a channel. I'm a pure channel for that energy, whatever you want to call Him. You want to call Him God? You want to call It Om? You want to call It Jehovah, Yahweh? It doesn't matter, you can call Him Nothingness, Atman, whatever... That Thing, That Indescribable Spirit, or Energy, is doing it because He wants it to be done. That is His Will.

So I am just the enjoyer. You see, as long as I am saying, I am the doer, who is the enjoyer? God is the enjoyer. God sits back and says, Hey look at this child, he thinks he is the doer. He just laughs and He enjoys. But the moment you say, Oh no, I am not the doer, God is the doer, what happens? Then you are the enjoyer and God is the doer. He does everything perfectly. So you can sit back and laugh and say, Look at that, God does such a great thing, and you enjoy it.

This world is upside down. We think we know because it feels good to us. It looks good. We have a desire to do it and we want to do it, so we do it. But what looks good is not necessarily good. That is the difference.

That was how Eve felt, didn't she? She saw the tree, it was good, it makes you wise. Why not eat it? So she went and ate it. But God told them don't eat it. Of course, it is symbolic.

Just like us, we see things we desire and in the moment it looks good. We want to do it, so we do it. But the question is, is it good? Then how do we know if it is good or not? So we need a yardstick, don't we? We need some way to know, something to measure against. Are my actions good or not? That is when the Word of God comes in, when the Scriptures come in. This is a guideline for us, how to do things. If it looks good to me, is it good for me?

There is one difference in this creation now though, because we go through the life and through this body. Sometimes we don't learn our lessons when we are in the body because we are so busy. Our mind is so engaged in day-to-day life. So what we do is, when the time comes and we leave our bodies, the death is a perfect meditation.

Then you are in perfect stillness. That's what death is. Because you are in perfect meditation then you see where you went wrong in your life.

That is why after we die and we come back to another body we're usually more aware of our mistakes from previous lifetimes. We will usually, especially if we meditate, become more aware of what we are doing wrong, or what we have done wrong. So in a sense, in that level, we face ourselves squarely.

Many us don't want to face ourselves, it's a very scary thing. A lot of people say, Yeah, I want to know myself. But truly, most of us don't, we really don't want to know ourselves.

Knowing Self is a very powerful thing, and you have to be a brave person to really want to know yourself, to really face yourself and say, I really want to know the Self. What is really making me do the things that I do? Knowing Self is knowing God. Many are scared of God.

But at that state when you leave the body you have no choice. That is when you have to face yourself. So in a sense, in that moment, you probably progress more than you did in the rest of your life because you're in perfect meditation. In perfect meditation you face yourself. You see yourself completely. So in that sense, yes, but at any other time there is no place in the universe that you can progress more than in this body that you're in right now.

See everything is here and now. Either you do it here and now or you will have to do it a couple hundred of more lifetimes before realizing Self.

This creation is not going to stay here forever. God goes to sleep once in awhile. That original energy that created this universe eventually is going to wind down. There was an original energy that burst out as creation. They call it the big bang. That energy is eventually going to become tired, it will be finished. Then it's going to collapse back to its origin. Then you will have to wait billions of years before another creation is created.

Nothing is permanent in this creation. The only thing that's permanent is your Soul. Whatever else you glorify is not going to go with you when you go. You're going to leave it all behind. The only thing that is going to stay with you is your Soul. That's the only thing you take with you, nothing else, not your body, your name, your fame, your wealth, your Greatest Sign, nothing. But if you have it in your Soul you can take it with you.

So the answer is, This is it. You are in the right place, do it!

Question: Since we pick our parents in each lifetime, does that mean that we can evolve faster that way, or are there problems from past lives that have to be resolved?

Maitreya: The first question is, who says that we choose our parents? We could, if we have a strong desire to be with special people, and in this lifetime they are away from us. If we have a strong desire to be with them, we might be permitted to come back and be with them, because of our intense desire. We have a desire and it has to be fulfilled somehow.

See desires are either fulfilled or we realize, we really don't need them. There are two ways to get rid of them. That's why there are two paths: there's the path of realizing what is good for us, what desires are good or want to be fulfilled, and the path that we go through desires and at the end realize, "No, that wasn't it either."

"I want this big beautiful place." And you gain it, you move in and two months later you're not happy again. You're still the same person and unhappy. Moving to that new place did not help much. It was again temporary. Everyone longs for the permanent happiness.

Everyone knows that permanent happiness exists, otherwise we wouldn't be looking for it, would we? If there wasn't any happiness that really exists and we know is there, people wouldn't look for it. But everyone looks for that happiness. Where is it? Is it in your house? Is it in a big car? Is it in going on a great vacation? Is it having a lot of money? Is it having a boyfriend or girlfriend?

I'm not saying that having a nice house, having money, having a nice husband or wife or anything is bad. No. But if that becomes the focus, if that becomes the only thing you want, then you are putting your focus on the wrong place.

That's why, if you have a strong desire to be with some people, as your parents, you might become their children.

But if we leave it to the universe, the universe is going to choose for us the parents that are the most suited for our progress. Also, as I said, that strong desire to be with some people, of course, has a karmic reason or problem from past lives. Probably we could put it in the terminology, karmic bonds, the same thing. These are problems in our past lives, things we have to work out with one another.

So then, of course, you have to come back, be together, work those things out together, and eventually reach a point, "What was the lesson? Why do I have to be with these people again and solve those problems?" But if you reach a point where there's no karma left, there's nothing left to work on in the relationships with other people, you will go to a higher level of relationships.

For instance, I have a relationship with everyone who comes to the Mission. And I have seen this, that people become connected with me for a reason. For example, we were talking today about, Does reincarnation really exist? Or should we accept it as part of our faith? But I said, "To me it's not of faith anymore because I have seen it in action. That's why I meditate."

When you meditate also, you will see, strange things happen that you can't explain, but they make sense about your relationships with others. Then you will realize that you have had some experience, some relationship with these people in previous lifetimes. There is a bond there.

We have been gathered here for a definite reason. We're not chosen randomly. There is a Spirit working. It is just an appearance that we see each other like bodies. Something greater is behind it. That is what we have to realize. That's why we shouldn't be deceived by appearances that we are here together.

The differences we have, there is a reason for these differences. It's just like, what is more beautiful, a bunch of flowers that are all the same color, or a bouquet with different colors, different fragrances? That bouquet is more beautiful.

That's what brings unity to us. We see the difference in each other, at the same time the unity, the oneness in the Spirit which is behind it unifies us. We cannot be unified any other way but in God.

So children and parents have a very, very close relationship together. Parents are chosen for a beautiful Dharma. What a beautiful thing to bring a child into this world, to help him grow, to give him or her love and bring him up.

But they are not ours. They belong to God. Eventually we have to realize that we are just channels. That doesn't mean that we have to disconnect them from ourselves, but we have to connect them to God.

It is just like a spiritual teacher. What is a spiritual teacher? A spiritual teacher is supposed to connect you to God. If a spiritual teacher connects you to himself, then it becomes what? It becomes a cult doesn't it, a personality cult? If a spiritual teacher is not doing his work and doesn't connect you to God, then he's not a good spiritual teacher.

The same thing is true about parents. The best, most beautiful parents are the parents who connect their children to God, or at least provide them opportunities that they can be connected to God (like finding a true spiritual teacher for them). If they do their Dharma, then they have done very beautiful work. Also the children are going to love them forever, because, what are we looking for? We're looking for that lasting happiness. Where can we find it? In God. That's the only way, in Spirit. And if we can connect our children to that happiness that everyone is looking for, aren't they going to be appreciative for the rest of their lives? They're going to love us forever.

Question: Although the universe put the children with this particular family, is the family also learning? Are they learning from the children? All members and everyone are learning from one another?

Maitreya: Oh yes, sure, exactly. Actually a good teacher is a good student. If you cannot learn, how can you teach? And children are the best teachers because they are so connected, they are so one with the Spirit.

Question: Maitreya, I know God loves me but I have problems to understand why do I have to love Him and follow His Path to be happy? I don't like to say this, I know it's not true but it's like He is selfish because He would give me happiness just if I do what He wants me to do, if I think the way He wants. I know I have the free will but can I call it free will if I know that I won't be happy if I don't think of Him? I don't know if you understand the real feeling of my question but I would like you to talk about that. Thank you.

Maitreya: Well, the question is really, Is God selfish in asking us to follow what He commands us to follow? And the answer is that God doesn't command us to do anything unless it's good for us. If He says to follow these rules, it is because He created us and He best knows the universe. That is why He says if you go this way and do these things, you will prosper, you will be happy, you will find Self within yourself, and you will reach the happiness and fulfillment of the life that you have been created to realize. It is not a selfish request, but He is asking us to do something that is good for us.

A lot of things look good to us and we want to do them because they look good, but they might not be good for us. That is why God sends the way that we can reach that happiness, that we can create something for ourselves, an environment that is pure and connects us to our Spirit. But the human likes to do what they want to do, their way.

See that's exactly what many of us say, don't we? We say, "Not Your Will but my will, our will." God says, "Fine, you want your will, you have it." He doesn't care. He doesn't care in the sense that as long as you want to follow your own way as an experiment, He says, "Fine go ahead and do it. But the way you are going you are going to get hurt, you are not going in the right direction."

"You want to go that way, fine, I have no objection, go ahead, do it to see where you go." As Christ said, "The door is small and the path is very narrow, and few find it. The door is wide and the path is wide that leads to destruction." God wants you to go to the narrow way, not because He's selfish but because He knows man, He knows ego.

As long as you're God-conscious where you are, you are one with the universe, you are one with the Universal Mind, you are in the Spirit of oneness. The moment you become self-centered, what happens? You become disconnected, you fall into the illusion of separation. You fall into Maya.

I hope everyone knows what Maya means. Any question about Maya? No? Maya means illusion, illusion of separation from God. As it is said, Maya is as strong and powerful as God Himself. So it's pretty powerful, isn't it?

The moment you become disconnected, that is it. You fall into the quicksand of the world, and you are lost. Suddenly you wake up one morning and you don't even know who you are. You don't know where you want to go, why you are here and for what purpose you are here.

God says, OK, if you don't want to do that, you don't want to become lost, this is the way to go. He's not selfish about, "Oh, think only about Me." It is not that, "I need you to think about Me," but that is the way to your salvation. That's what He's trying to let you see, that if your focus is on God all the time then you are connected with the Spirit. If your focus is not on God, is on something else, on yourself, your boyfriend, your girlfriend, this and that, then your focus is on the wrong place. But if your focus is on God then you'll find a good boyfriend, a boyfriend who is Godly, who is God-conscious. You'll find a girlfriend who is God-conscious. You find prosperity, but that prosperity is for God. You use it to also guide others to God and higher consciousness, and help them to become more aware of their Spirit.

So God is not selfish. He doesn't ask you to do anything because He doesn't need anything. You are a part of Him. He doesn't separate Himself from you. You are already one with Him, from His point of view. You are not separate from God from His point of view. It is our ego that separates us from Him. So even when you say you don't want to follow His Path or His Ways, or you don't want to think about Him, still He thinks about you, and He Loves you. You may not want to love Him, but He still Loves you.

You see? This human mind is selfish. The very word selfish doesn't exist in God. It doesn't have any meaning. How can He be selfish? You're already one with Him. How can One be selfish by Himself? He can't be selfish. See this is our mind that brings this kind of question. But if you see things the way God sees them, you will see there is no streak of selfishness in Him, because how can He be selfish about something? There is nothing out of Him. He's not like us that if He needs something He has to go to the store on the corner of the street and buy it. Everything is within Him. There is nothing out of Him. So how can He be selfish?

If you can imagine the way I can see it, all of us are one with Him and He is already one with us. How can He be selfish? Can you see that? I don't know but I can see it. It's very hard to be selfish, like being selfish about one part of our own body. Can it be? This molecule says, I'm selfish, you have to think about me. So it doesn't happen that way. But I can tell this cell or this molecule in my body, Hey, if you don't cooperate with the rest of this body, what are you going to do? It's going to be rejected by my body, isn't it? It's going to get diseased. It's going to get spoiled, and it no longer is one with the body. It falls to the Maya.

It's the same thing with God. He says, "If you want to be one with Me, I'm already one with you. This is the way to do it: focus on Me, put your life in God all the time." Seek Him, seek His Will. What is His Will for me? Not my will but Thine Will be done.

I don't know, my will is so small, probably if it was my will I never would have started this Mission. I would just go get a job and make a lot of money and have fun. Why should I put so much effort for ten or twelve years and still very few people respond?

Even when I received this revelation, I thought it was a wonderful revelation. I thought in one year everyone's going to be all over to get this wonderful revelation done, which unifies all the religions of the world and brings everything together and says, Hey, we're already one, we come from the same Source. It doesn't make any difference if you are a Hindu, or a Buddhist, or a Moslem, or a Jew, or a Christian, or a Baha'i, you came from the same Source. You have a different message. Take your message and find out about other people's messages also, so we are one.

I thought in one year everyone's going to say, "Hooray! That's it! You got it." What happened? Everyone said, "No, his hair is white, no good. He doesn't walk the way I'd like him to walk. He has an accent," or this or that. Come on. I'm not here to be a superstar. I have a Message here, listen to the Message.

So that is the way it is. That is my will. But the problem was when I started the Mission from the very beginning I thought, Never give up, Never suicide. Those were two phrases that came out of my mouth when I started the Mission. I have bound myself right there, not to give up and not to suicide. So I am here to stay [all laughing].

That is why God asks us to do what He asks us. He's not selfish, we are. He Loves us. He's already One with us. He meditates on us. Shouldn't we meditate on Him?