Take Me for a Ride Part 44

It might be a heck of a lot more fun than some of the things I do...

"I've been very fortunate without one exception; all of the women I have ever met and have been involved with have been wonderful. Remarkable. Absolutely remarkable.

And I feel they have all been my teachers. As are all of you my teachers...

"But I think it's time everybody grew up. And stop being so petty.

About their own lives or other people's lives. And instead, turn their attention towards what matters: money! s.e.x is the preoccupation of adolescence. Money is the preoccupation of adults.

And Lakshmi is the G.o.ddess of money...

"So I think it's time everybody adopted a more professional att.i.tude about their lives. In other words, don't focus so much on your relations.h.i.+ps. Have fun with them. Or if you don't have them, you don't want them, have fun with that.

But don't bother with what other people in the Centre do so much...

"s.e.xuality, I think, is a little different for me than it is for most people in that there is almost no body awareness whatsoever.

It's just light...

"If you can't handle the fact that someday you might be enlightened, and still fall in love with people and love them and be with them, and if you can't deal with that, if you hate yourself so much and hate your s.e.xuality so much that you think it has no light in it...If you think it makes a difference if I have ten thousand sports cars, and ten million girlfriends, and lead a very flashy life, and eat at only the most fas.h.i.+onable restaurants, which I don't, but if that would make a difference in what we do, in other words, if you can carry my lifestyle to the most absurd proportions in your mind, and that would make a difference in the meditation process, then you shouldn't work with me. I don't think you should work with any teacher.

'Cause you don't know what it's all about yet. You should come to the fas.h.i.+onable restaurants with us and have a good time.

'Cause we have a good time. 'Cause G.o.d is in everything..."

Appendix D: Excerpts from Rama's Advertis.e.m.e.nts and Brochures

(from a full-page spread in The New York Times)

The Still Center of the Turning Worlds

"There is a still center of Eternity. A place where all pasts, presents and futures meet. This intersecting point of knowledge and experience, pleasure and pain, mortality and immortality has been described and referred to in a variety of different ways by mystics, prophets and teachers who have experienced it.

"Some have described it as G.o.d or Heaven. Others have referred to it as Nirvana or Tao. In Zen it is called Zen mind or Enlightenment.

"While names, descriptions and methods for reaching the still center of being vary greatly, the ultimate worth of this awareness is agreed upon by all who have shared it. The experience of the still center of being brings freedom, self-control, balance and power to those who have attuned their lives to it.

"Zen is the study of the Ten Thousand States of Mind and of Enlightenment, the still center which lies beyond the Ten Thousand States of Mind.

It is a highly personal study which brings clarity and purpose into the lives of those who practice it.

"Zen Buddhist thought has had a profound influence upon Chinese and j.a.panese history and culture. A great deal of the current success of the j.a.panese corporate mind stems from the effect of centuries of Zen practice in j.a.pan. Martial arts, dance, poetry, the tea ceremony and many other forms of personal, athletic and artistic expression have been given birth to by Zen mind.

"Zen is a highly refined and artistic approach to the meaning of life.

It isn't necessary to learn Oriental customs or to speak the j.a.panese language to successfully practice it. All that is required is an open mind, patience, a good sense of humor and an intense desire for self-improvement.

"I have written a free booklet about Zen for the 'computer age'

called 'The Zen Experience.' (sm) In it I discuss Zen in more depth and describe both contemporary and traditional methods I employ in teaching Zen at seminars and in private practice.

"If you would like to learn more about Zen and the wonders of your own mind, call or write for this free booklet..."

(from a RAMA SEMINARS notice; June 7, 1987)