Number One:

A true Sage avoids name and fame like the plague. If a Sage has transcended the ego why would he or she need name or fame? If a Sage claims to be enlightened why would that being want to be known? To have a following, to write books, to advertise, to go into magazines, television. Can you imagine a real Master doing something like that? For what purpose? If you inquire of a person like this they would say, “Well I’m here to help people.” Bullshit! The only way to help other people is to become self-realized and leave everything alone. Why a self-realized person is all-pervading, omnipresent and automatically people find peace by the person being self-realized. You don’t even have to be in the proximity of a saint, a Sage, a real Master. There is no reason being in close proximity to a person like that. That being is all-pervading, everywhere present.

Such a one has found total peace within the Self. They’re not looking for anything. They’re not looking for students to impress, followers to follow them. They avoid this like the plague. The only reason you see me around every week is because I’ve got a contagious disease. So think about this. A real Sage needs absolutely nothing from people. It is true where devotees gather devotees take care of the Sage. This is a different story. But a Sage feels at home wherever he or she lives wherever they go. A Sage can be happy in a cave or in a mansion, it makes no difference. It makes a difference to the onlookers. They always see something wrong and talk about it. But a true Sage is total freedom, totally happy within himself.

Number Two:

A true Sage has a great compassion for humanity and is filled with loving kindness automatically. Total compassion! A Sage never says, “I have come to bring you peace,” or “I have come to destroy you.” A true Sage does not come from anywhere. He’s always been here. There is nowhere for him to come from, to bring you anything. The Sage and the peace go hand in hand. The real Sage is the peace and the joy and the happiness and the love and the understanding and the compassion. So he really has nothing to say, nothing to do. A true Sage is a lazy fellow, real lazy. He has trouble blinking. He just exists, so-it-appears, to other people that he exists.

Number Three:

A real Sage never gets angry. Never has tantrum… tremors, tempers. Never becomes excited over anything except in certain cases. When a Sage is dealing with disciples, devotees, sometimes the Sage has to put on a little act for the person, because this is what the person needs at the time. This is why it is written, “Never judge a Sage.” You have no idea what the Sage is going to do or how he is going to act. What this means is you have to make sure the Sage is real. If you feel the Sage is real then you have to sort of throw yourself at the Sage. By “throw yourself at the Sage” I mean you must come into the sage’s consciousness and trust the Sage forever without judgment, without criticism. Yet most westerners are not ready to do something like this, because there are so many people claiming to be Sages in town it’s difficult to know what to do. But if you pray within yourself, to yourself, you will know what to do.

~Excerpts from Robert Adams: Collected Works

Excellence Reporter 2019