Who is Mooji? WHO IS MOOJI!?!?
Exactly the same question I was asking, just two days ago, when I heard the name for the first time. Now, it's hard to believe that such a great spiritual teacher could be unknown to the general public. Of course, everyone around here knows who he is, but like so many Americans, I have been living in the dark.
One thing I have noticed, from my poking around a bit, is that many of the big teachers are no longer alive, but Mooji is, and in him, there is really the sense of a living legend. Besides the whole sort of production surrounding his satsang, which means something like "coming together in truth," there was a profound depth to his presence and clarity that leaves little to the imagination as to why he is all the buzz around here. That and he has been here putting on these daily Q&A like gatherings for quite some time, really allowing everyone to get their fill. But his crowd can't seem to get enough. Many people have been going everyday and will be very sad to see his streak of satsangs ending tomorrow. As for me, I am very grateful that I heard about him just in time to go to hear him talk. I was very moved and inspired by his teachings, but I'm not sure if I'll go back tomorrow or not. I guess for me, he is somewhat of a spiritual icon, and his message is clear. If you understand the message, you don't need the messenger.
So what is his message?
Well, as a Advaita (non-dual) teacher from the Ramana Maharshi lineage, his message keeps coming back to the source. It's simple really, but yet the mind loves to grab onto it. Instead of making spirituality about some sort of achievement, some quest for liberation, he brings the listener back to that place within, that place that is unmoved. With the constant flow of life, there is some underlying awareness that remains unchanged. If we identify with the flowing elements, what happens when they go away? Surely, we don't go away with them, so we must be there, "behind the curtain of the mind," as he put it.
When the mind tries to conceptualize what that means, which if you are living and breathing, it most likely will, we can observe that movement of trying to understand, without getting lost in it. Since every satsang with Mooji, from my understanding, is just in Q&A format, many people had an opportunity to ask questions in the 2.5 hour event. Many questions were in regards to people who were concerned that sometimes, they "got it" and other times, they would "lose it." We can see the sort of concern here, that these people have, but also, we can see that this is only a problem in the mind. It's not about "getting it." If anything, it is about "being it," but even that is a bit misleading. As he said, during his closing statement, try to imagine a world with no language, and see that you are still there. Trying to put it into terms is rather silly. We need to be careful not to think "you are still there" means that there is an individual entity there, it just means that there is a space there, an emptiness, an awareness.
If there are times when we feel like we are connected to this truth, and other times that we are struggling, and times are difficult, can we see that there is only an expectation here that is creating the problem? Who says life isn't supposed to be difficult? Who says spirituality is all about roses and rainbows? No one, that's who, because it's not. If we want to be real, if we want to see things how they are, we need to muster up the courage to admit that sometimes, things are easy and peaceful, and sometimes, they aren't. It doesn't make sense to always be happy, and if we were, I think life would be boring. So when we see that our lives are like a pendulum, moving back and forth from happiness to unhappiness, from clarity to confusion, from being grounded to groundless, can we connect with that which can see this? If we observe, "Now, there is unhappiness," we can keep our sense of calm and not let the unhappiness sweep us off our feet? The same goes for happiness, falling in love, dealing with anger, or being lost in thought.
Emotions, thoughts, feelings, moods, and states of mind come and go, but we don't have to let them control us. We can, by practicing observation, stay back, just watching them pass, and seeing them for what they really are. In the Buddha's teachings, all of these things, and all other conditioned phenomenon, have three characteristics. They are impermanent, unsatisfactory, and not who or what we really are. So when we get wrapped up in emotions or thoughts, we can come back to this understanding, to help us gain some perspective on the true nature of whatever it is we are experiencing. Most likely, without this perspective, we will find a belief that these phenomenon are us.
What it all boils down to is the problem of identity. We think we are something other than what we really are, so we continue to find resistance. To let go, as it turns out, is not something you can really strive to do, it has to be the absence of all striving. There are so many traditions and teachings out there offering detailed descriptions on how to let go, but we have to be careful to not let these teachings and techniques stand between us and our "natural state, as Mooji calls it. If we think it lies in the future, if we can just keep going we'll get there, we will never make it. It has to be in the realization that who and what we really are "can never go, because it never came in the first place." It is eternal, it is without limits, it is indescribable, it is without quality.
Rather than looking for it, or working toward it, we have to see that we are it. We have always been it, before we were born, and after we will die, it is the deathless. Now that we have that cleared up, the mind is still inclined to want to grab on to something, but if we keep watching the mind, we will see what is happening. The mind wants to create it into a view and put it into its little box and put its name on it, but there is nothing there to grab onto. Instead, we can connect with that feeling of being connected. We can see the mind's attempt to understand and not identify with its efforts. Instead, we remain unmoved, watching the play run its course. Afterall, it's all us, it's all that, it's all nothing. It's only when the mind is given too much credibility that we lose touch with the Ultimate.
As to whether or not we need to do anything, in regards to some sort of spiritual practice, in order to stay connected to our natural state, I don't know. If we need to keep observing in order to not be taken for a ride by the mind, it seems helpful to do some work in order to develop the capacity to observe. Otherwise, like some, you will need to go to Satsang with Mooji over, and over, and over, in order to be reminded of what you already know. As much as I love Mooji, I don't relate to the sort of iconic guru model, which tends to leave the followers unable to see the truth for themselves. From what I could tell, many of the people there had their head so far up Mooji's ass that they would be hopeless without him.
If you can keep watching you experience as it unfolds, connecting, but not identifying, with the infinite that you already are, you don't ever need to go to Satsang with Mooji, but I would highly recommend it, just to see him, he is quite the bundle of joy, and he will make you laugh, I guarantee it.
May all beings come to see that their true nature is not separate from everything else in the Universe.
May all beings connect with this place of silence, stillness, and wisdom within themselves.
May all beings be in control of their own awakening, not relying on another for their ability to directly see and understand truth.
For more information on Mooji, who is from Jamaica and travels the world teaching, please visit: http://www.mooji.org
"Satsang is the invitation to step into the fire of self-discovery. This fire will not burn you, it will burn only what you are not." - Mooji
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