The
Death and Birth Of the God-ManAvatar Adi Da
Samraj July 12, 1976
Devotees submit themselves to the God-form through one another,
through ordinary relations, all the while — remembering the Divine, in some
cases the Divine in this appearance, this human gesture, with legs and trunk and
arms and head, with face, with all perception, with all knowledge, above and below.
Such fortunate people are the intimates of such a one. It is not necessary to
be intimate with that form to engage in such a practice of Truth, but it is fortunate.
And so these intimates of this necessity, particularly the lovers
of this one, become the expressions, by intimacy, of this birth, become the only
appearance, become the only figurement, the only argument, of its necessity or
form, and seem to be it without self-consciousness, and therefore serve others
without argument of an ordinary kind. The Ashram as a whole, the church of this
enjoyment of my intimacy, becomes the aura, embodied, of this unnecessary and
actual non-birth, so that the only birth of this one, who is not one in concentration
or in fact but one in you, becomes knowable and factual in devotees. It is only
in the next generation beyond this body that the factuality of this circumstance
becomes apparent. There is therefore no gesture, no accomplishment, no fulfillment,
of this expression in this life. This life becomes a sacrifice to its own expression.
Having no center in itself, it becomes many, centered nowhere but expressed in
everywhere. And so devotees, or those intimate with this birth,
which is apparent only, become the form, or the body, in many without a center,
without a single one. If they all stood in a circle looking to the center, they
would see nothing except someone on the other side. And yet to those who view
them, who live with them compassionately, they are, for the first time, the bodily
expression, the incarnation, of God, without a center. The incarnation of devotees
is the birth. The Gesture of the God-Man in human Form
is an Instigation, a Suggestion, an Intrusion, in the midst of human life —
Which Produces the birth, in the form of those already born, of Its own Mastery.
You see how it occurs? Probably not. But that is the way it
occurs. And it never is fully expressed, never acknowledged, until the complete
disappearance of the apparent bodily form of the born One, or the God-Man. The
birth, the expression, the appearance, of the God-Man implies its, his, her own
death, sacrifice — before there is any feeling at large for the Divine.
It is only when the God-Man is dissolved in his or her own bodily appearance,
is bodily completely gone, that the expression knowable to human beings at large
communicates itself. And so you can see that the birth of the
God-man implies sacrifice, or death, of the God-man, and it must occur quickly.
Such a one cannot live to be an old, old man or woman. Such a one can live only
as long as it takes to prepare the being of devotees, of lovers. Oh, perhaps before
that occurs, such a one may begin to look old, to accumulate years, and those
who desire that objective person may resist their knowledge long enough that he
or she may become old in years, and only begin to become sensitive to the Teaching,
to the transforming Influence, when it seems that, well, he's lived long enough,
and suddenly they begin to become Enlightened, and he hurries, or she hurries,
to be dead. This hurrying can begin very early in the life of such a one. It can
occur in the middle of life, it can occur in the middling of life, fifties, sixties,
or seventies of years, or it can occur very late in life. Its persistence depends
entirely on the response of devotion. But when that preparation
is sufficient — and this is not knowable to devotees — it is then
that this appearance is vanished, like a magic object given to you in a devotional
afternoon. The disappearance of the God-man is therefore sudden — whenever
it occurs it is sudden. Its significance is that the aura of his or her communication
moves through his or her lovers, only through them. And the entire process depends
entirely, then, without a center, on the process of the community, on the process
of the gathering of devotees, who no longer have a center in the case of the death
of the God-man, but who have a burden of Light, who suffer or enjoy a speed in
them that they could not recollect or engage while that one lived. So
— all the time that I appear to be with you, even though there isn't really
a center among you except your own face, I continually realize that center in
your faces that moves in the sphere, unrecollected, of your appearance, and play
upon it, so that you seem to find in me a center, a one, an individual, a case
of Enlightenment, and continue to play upon you in your bodies until that face
in you is sublimed beyond your hairs, being the only thing changing. Perhaps this
is the time for my disappearance — it is not a threat — perhaps this
is the time. Perhaps there is another time, but you will not know it, and I will
not prophesy it, because it is not effective upon any single one. It is effective
upon you. The event is not my disappearance, but your incarnation of my Gifts. Taking
that into account, this is obviously not the moment! [Laughter.] But it
could come any time. I'm always hopeful for it. These extremities
below the throat are not desirable to me. This face is not visible to me. You
cannot see your own head, except by reflection. All the time you are arms and
legs and trunk, breathing and beating and desiring and moving, but no face, except
to others, from time to time reflected in a mirror, in imagery, in dreams, in
recollection, in the mind, but never really, always a medium between yourself
and your own face, never your own face directly. None of you has ever seen your
own face, only imaged it. Has anyone seen it? Never. And you never will. You
may see yourself shoulders and below. You may see all of this bodily life. You
may see everything below the throat. But you may never see your face, except by
mediumship, except by reflection in others or in some device like a mirror, which
is not your own face but only an interpretation, an illusion that suggests your
own objectification. Release yourself from this objectification,
from this knowledge by suggestion that you exist independently. Do not believe
your own face. Only be seen by others. Don't desire to be seen, but be seen in
spite of the desire. Then you may be known radiantly, only when you forget it,
when you give up all reflections by knowledge, by understanding, and become faceless,
with only this body receding from it, knowing all beings not from face but from
the heart, which is without perception, reflected in the face, but not known by
you. In that case, you may become Divine in your agency and
known Godly to ordinary people, without self-consciousness. This is the function
of the Guru. It is the function of his devotees, or his lovers, after death, after
preparation. Know that that preparation is not complete until the God-man dies
in his body, and the implication of the birth of the God-man is his death, not
to be regretted like an event that is over, but to be known as the sign that his
or her birth has finally occurred. The life of the God-man is
like the interim in the womb of an ordinary man or woman. The death of the God-man
is like the birth of an ordinary man or woman, in which the case the God-man finally
achieves form without self-consciousness in the bodies, head, arms, trunk, and
legs of devotees, true devotees. Spurious individuals will make claims for themselves,
become self-conscious, trying to replace the center. But those who are the lovers
of that one, who have known that one truly, will be completely free of self-consciousness,
free of strategy, will live that process in relationship, communicated in person
by the God-man without person, will live that in relationship to one another without
face, without consulting the mirrors of consciousness or this world. In that case
they may become the media, the gesture, the argument, that is the service of God-Realization
in ordinary beings. * * * Do not regret the
completion of this bodily lifetime. Do not look for prophesies in me. Rather than
prophesy it, I would be sacrificing it. So much sacrifice defies premonition,
makes premonition impossible. Therefore, it can occur at any time. It may not
occur for many years. It could occur very soon. I want you all
to understand the nature of your relationship to me — of the ongoing nature
of it, the Principle of it, so that you will relate to me truly, engaging me spiritually,
using me as I Am, so that my passing is completely acceptable to you. Grief is
not inappropriate. However, I expect you to understand it, to use it. I expect
you to realize, after a few days of sorrow, that my passing is not the ending
of anything. Grief is good — it is a way of being attentive.
But you must allow yourself to be transformed, by my apparent absence, into a
community of devotees most fully far beyond any realization of your common life
that existed during the lifetime of this appearance. That is what I am telling
you. And I expect you to remember this when this one finally goes. *
* * I am not born. And I am not one who has
been born. I am not a reincarnated individual. I
am not an incarnated individual. I am not one who has a future.
I am not one who is in the worlds. I am not
one whose consciousness is either here or there. I am not any
such one that is like you, any such one that is repeated, that is knowledgeable,
that is informed, and that is saved or relieved. I am not any such person. At
some point you may begin to realize this. There is no implication
of an individual in Me. There is no individual in Me — none. No person.
No one who has been, who is, or will survive. In This Body,
there is no necessity, no figurement, no person. My Appearance
among you all is really the Process of My Disappearance. There should be nothing
about your lives that implies I have to continue forever — such that, when
I happen to die, you feel "it's all over!" |