Two Discourses from MSI

The One

The One is the Ascendant. There is no difference. When you call it the One, though, then you mean, One without a second. You mean the root of everything that is. You mean the One source and goal of all life. The One is the root of everything. It’s the basis of all that is. It causes the stars to shine. It causes natural law to function. It causes life to be. Without the One, there would be nothing. The One is everything. The One is the absolute root of everything that is, and it’s so solidly One, ha-ha!

It’s so unified, you know? It’s the same wherever you tap into it, wherever you are in the universe, wherever you are in evolution, the One remains the same: unbounded, pure, eternal, infinite. The One is everything. We look out and seem to see a world of diversity in which there’s lots of contrast, lots of different impulses, lots of different people, but the reality is, they’re all connected in the One. They’re all the same. They’re all identical. And since that’s so, the ability to touch and know the One anywhere in space or time is there. Anyone, anywhere, always, can know it, regardless how jaded the nervous system has become.

The One underlies every thought, every feeling, every action. Every impulse of creation consists of nothing other than the One. So wherever one is in creation, one can tap into it, regardless of how it might feel, even if the feeling is like life has been ruined or whatever. It’s just a feeling.

The fact is the One is always the same, it will never let you down, it will never disappoint you, it will never pull you out of yourself. The One will always give you everything. It’s simply a matter of getting out of the way and letting its power manifest for you.

The One is the greatest concept of the human mind. Indeed, it is the greatest reality in the human mind. It is the ultimate vision of every philosophy, of every religion, of every science. And the true beauty of it – any human can experience it at any time. It’s not difficult to do. When one knows the One, one knows everything there is to know. When one knows the One, one has mastered creation. There is nothing more one need do. So looked at in those terms, life is very simple. Instead of focusing on the diversity and a lot of confusion, focus on the One unchanging. Life becomes very simple, very easy, and changes very quickly from addiction to the boundaries to freedom, eternal freedom. The One is everything. There are many names for it, but it’s One.

The Wish-Fulling Tree

One day, while trekking through one of the more heavily forested areas of India, a man was suddenly overcome by fatigue due to his arduous efforts to reach the next town by sunset. It was mostly the intense heat that had caused him the most trouble, so he decided to find a shady spot away from the scorching sun. As he looked around for such a place, he noticed a beautiful, grassy area beneath a huge, old tree which looked most inviting, so he kicked off his sandals and sat down to recuperate. As he was sitting there, he realized that he had not had a drink for hours and was beginning to feel somewhat dehydrated. He turned his head to search for a stream or perhaps even a puddle to sip from, and noticed a shell filled with fresh cold water. Although he had not noticed it before he sat down, he gave it no thought and proceeded to gulp it down. It was the freshest and purest water he had ever tasted in his entire life, and as he drank it he noticed that there was no end to the supply.

“How wonderful!” he thought. “If only food were so plentiful in this forest.”

Almost before the thought left his mind, a huge table appeared before him, filled with every delicacy imaginable. A king could not have manifested a more splendid feast. The man was astonished by his beautiful creation and realized that he must be sitting under the wish-fulfilling tree which had been spoken of in the ancient myths of his people. With that realization, the man decided to test his good fortune and wished for more wealth than the richest man in all of India. Before him there appeared more gold coins than he knew existed in the world.

The man was overcome by excitement which quickly turned to fear as he noticed that the day had almost ended and he was all alone in the jungle. “It’s getting a little spooky,” the man thought. “I hope a tiger doesn’t come by and eat me.”

Unfortunately for the man, nobody told him that desires must be stated clearly; that nature is trying to fulfill every desire. It is important to state what we WANT, and not what we DON’T WANT. The universe does not hear negatives, and so, based on this reality, a tiger came by and ate the man for dinner.