Is There Anybody Out There?

Sat Yoga is consciousness realizing itself. It is consciousness from which all illusion has fallen away. This includes the illusion of multiplicity, the illusion of a world, the illusion of an ego, the illusion that there is anything but consciousness. What falls away in that realization is all attempt to interpret reality, because reality is understood as only consciousness at play with itself. So there are no Sat Yogis, and there is no one who attains realization of the truth of consciousness, because that realization is precisely the understanding that there was never anyone in illusion—that was the illusion.

The ego’s tendency to appropriate language to serve its own incomplete concepts often results in the misinterpretation of the dream field and its signifiers, emotions, and dreams. This can only be overcome by keeping the mind so still and free of egoic thought (like a hermetically sealed vessel) that its tendencies are burned away. In this selection of Q&A’s, we learn that keeping the mind free of contradictory egoic thought is the surrender required to open to the higher wisdom and divine love that can endure the ego’s burning away and accurately understand and navigate the winds of change.

This documentary screening is framed by an introduction from Radha Ma weaving themes of Russian culture, the union of earthly and spiritual realms, and the living symbols that ignite the soul’s evolution. The evening also featured an introductory essay from Shunyamurti offering a visionary context for Nicholas Roerich’s life and work—a journey through art, mysticism, and the perennial tradition that points us toward the heart of the world.

Once language is installed in our mind, and we identify with a body image via the name it has been given, consciousness finds itself detoured into an unreal plane of representation. From then on, an endless stream of mental chatter carries off the attention into memories, fantasies, reveries, and various sorts of delusional orientations, confusing projections with reality, and living through a fictional character, without noticing our alienation from the Real. Clear discernment and dispassion are necessary to extricate our awareness from the inauthentic self. This is the first obstacle that must be overcome on the spiritual journey.

Question:

I’m grateful for the chance to pose a question to Shunyamurti that, personally, seeks validation for my perspective. There’s a new Christian movement on social media labeling anything not in the Bible as satanic, including yoga and meditation. I’ve read the Bible, often using it to reconnect with God, but I also explore the Bhagavad Gita, practice yoga, and meditate daily. Personally, yoga led me back to God. I guess why this movement triggers me is due to my ego’s attachment to the spiritual practices that keep me in God’s presence, which they demonize.

Sadly, I have experienced many in my network following along this movement and therefore now seeing me as a follower of Satan for continuing my practices of yoga and meditation. I work on letting go of this attachment and to care how others view me. I’d love to hear Shunyamurti’s thoughts on this movement and why they choose to demonize practices like yoga and meditation. His teachings have deeply resonated with me over the years, and his reply means the world. Thank you in advance, namaste.

Shunyamurti’s Reply:

The answer is in the Bible: “Father, forgive them. They know not what they do.” The people you speak of no doubt mean well. They do not attack yoga or meditation, but rather the false projections they have about those terms. If they knew that meditation is equivalent to what Christian mystics speak of as the highest state of contemplative prayer, in which the mind is silenced and the soul is absorbed into the Divine Presence—then they would alter their opinion.

Perhaps you should tell people that you practice contemplative prayer, instead of using the term “meditation”. And instead of using the term “yoga”, since the word means union, why not say you practice being in union with God.

Nearly all conflicts stem from misunderstandings of what words mean to others. This is magnified when the words come from different language systems. This is why many great sages taught only in silence. Silence is the real message, in any case. Prayer and meditation have the purpose of bringing the mind into peace and stillness, so that the Voice of God can be heard in one’s heart. So, you can tell others you now only practice silence and God’s peace, that passeth all understanding.