Dharma Talks by Rama ~ Dr. Frederick Lenz

There are four major paths to self realization. Of the four, jnana yoga, from the point of view of the beginner, is the most difficult. Jnana yoga is the graduate school of self-discovery. Discrimination means seeing that which is real and knowing that which is unreal. That which is real is that which is eternal, that which lasts forever. That which is unreal, or less real we might say, is that which is transitory, temporal, that which does not last, but erodes in time. The yoga of knowledge is a way of reflection. The central question that we ask ourselves again and again is: "Who am I?' To find this out it is necessary to meditate, to still our thoughts and to go within. We discover, ultimately, that we are the self, we are eternity. Please visit http://fredericklenzfoundation.org for more information.

Why aren't you happy? Why aren't all of you happy when there's so much to have and so much to be? The reason is very simple. At the root of all problems we find one causal answer-self-giving. The reason you're not happy, the reason the world lacks peace, the reason that we cannot find ourselves, is that we lack happiness-happiness that comes from self-giving. We have two choices in life. These are the north and south poles of our existence. One choice in life is to fulfill ourselves, the limited self, to do things that make us feel better, to do things that give us pleasure and not pain, to fulfill our desires, to get the things that we want each day, each year, to make ourselves happy. The other alternative is to make others happy, to forget ourselves, to ignore our wants, to not be concerned with whether we're happy or not, but rather to take the time and energy that we would utilize in fulfilling ourselves and use it to make others happy. These are our two choices. Please visit http://fredericklenzfounda

There are four principle pathways that lead to enlightenment: the yoga of love, the yoga of service, the yoga of knowledge and the yoga of mysticism. Each of the yogas is a way to eternity, to eternal realization. In the course of an individual being's evolution we will practice each of these yogas. In one incarnation, in one lifetime, we may just focus on the path of love, in another the path of service, perhaps in another knowledge or mysticism. One path is not superior to another. Each path has something special to offer. It is a way, a bridge between the finite and the infinite, between here and eternity. The path that is followed by most persons in the beginning of their spiritual search is the path of love. Love is the easiest and most effective way to begin our search for self realization, for our selves. Love is the highest of all qualities that we can experience. The more we know about love, the more we experience love, the happier and more complete we are. Please visit http://fredericklenzfoundati

Humility is the conscious awareness and acceptance of eternity as your own body. Humility is the time that you spend in love-in love with existence itself. When you don't love existence, you feel that you're separate from existence, you're separate from this world and you stand back from it. You hide. Humility is courage in that it's the open acceptance of your own perfection. Humility is the ability to see through darkness and perceive light, not only on the other side of darkness but in darkness itself. Humility means that we're willing to take tremendous chances with our life, with our death and that which lies beyond. Humility in its simple form is an image that is applied in the I Ching-a mountain within the earth, the hexagram of modesty or humility. The mountain exists within the earth. We don't see it, but its strength and power are there. So humility is something that exists and has a strength and power but is unseen. Please visit http://fredericklenzfoundation.org for more information.

Tonight I'd like to talk to you just a little bit about purity and its importance in the inner life. Purity is meditation. When you meditate, purity radiates through you. Purity is light. Not just an ordinary light that we see in the physical universe, but a transcendental light. Without purity it's impossible to realize God. To realize God means to see your own eternality in all things, in all places, at all times. We have a lot of different ideas about what self realization is, what God consciousness is, but in order to go beyond ideas to direct realization of that which is and will always be, it's essential to have a great deal of purity. The easiest place to see purity at work is in nature. When you go for a walk in the woods or out to the desert or by the ocean, when you look at flowers, it's very easy to get a sense of that which is pure. Please visit http://fredericklenzfoundation.org for more information.

Meditation is the art of life. All of life is meditation. Meditation is not simply a practice. It is an experience, an awareness, a way of perceiving and also a way of life. All of life, from the personal point of view, is dependent upon our perception. When we can perceive life as it really is, then no emotional cloud or discordant melody from the world can distract us from our own original, perfect being. If we trace life back to its source, we find perfection. Life itself, in essence, is light and consciousness. Beyond this world and other worlds, beyond time and space and dimension, beyond what we call duality, is God. God is not a person. God does not have a history. God does not have a future. God is beyond definition. We can say that your perception of this world is God. We can say that this world is God, that perception, this world, and you who are having the perception are all part of God. As a matter of fact, there's nothing that isn't God. Please visit http://fredericklenzfoundation.org for more