S: Why is it that certain Jnanis have nothing to do with money, while others, like Ramesh Balsekar and Jean Klein have large organizations? What is the reason other Jnanis have nothing to do with money, workshops, publishing books, selling tapes and have no organization to support them?

Robert Adams: What does the word Jnani mean? It means absolute wisdom. One who is established in Jnana has transcended the I. If there is no I or no ego left, then why would they go out of their way to do workshops, to travel all over the world. There has to be some ego left who wants to do these workshops. The I must want to travel.

S: Couldn’t it just be compassion for seekers?

Robert Adams: The Jnani is compassion itself, and the Jnani is omnipresent. So if a person is in China, and thinks of a Jnani, they are saved. Therefore the Jnani doesn’t have to go anywhere. The Jnani is all-pervading. There is no one to go anywhere or to do anything. I never started this class. I never wanted to do this. It just grew and happened. So I am here.

It makes no difference to me if one person comes, no one comes, or if ten people come. But if more than fifty people come, I’ll act stupid, and they won’t come back.

S: Why?

Robert Adams: Because the masses are a joke. The masses are seekers. They go from guru to guru, and they never get anywhere because they don’t follow one procedure. Having one procedure, one guru, or your Self, is like having a magnifying glass. Sunshine is everywhere, but with a magnifying glass you can concentrate sunlight and start a fire. Having many gurus is like dissipating the sunshine, it becomes many, and it becomes weak. One guru concentrates it and becomes very powerful. A true Jnani has no ego, no I, no ambition, no desires, belongs to no one, and is totally free.

S: When Paramahansa Yogananda came to the United States to teach and go before great audiences, was that ego?

Robert Adams: I do not discuss other gurus.

S: That sounds like a yes.

Robert Adams: That’s what you say, I didn’t say that. I never discuss other people. You have to come to your own conclusions.

S: Why do you limit the number of people who come here to fifty people?

Robert Adams: Because I don’t need it.

It’s a bummer. Just think if we had twenty five more people how many more questions they would ask me. We’d be sitting here all night and all day answering questions. If it happened by itself, and it happened in the right way, it might work out. But, they wouldn’t fit in here anyway.

S: Back to the question about money. Why is it that some gurus elevate themselves and charge a good deal of money, and charge $400.00 for a weekend intensive for esoteric knowledge, and others do not charge? Does the money just come?

Robert Adams: OK, O.K, we can talk about this a little. Every teacher should be supported. For some teachers it is the only income they have. There is nothing wrong with supporting the teacher, but that should be done in silence. Those who understand will always take care of the teacher.

When it comes to advertising, when it comes to expansion and having ashrams all over the world, that is a different story. The more you organize, the more money you need to make the organization grow, and the focus is on growing. It is like having church buildings. You are always adding new or bigger buildings, and the guru has to have a Rolls Royce. It gets out of hand.

Your heart should tell you what is right. The Rishis of old never charged for anything. There should be no charge for truth. Truth is free. As far as intensives are concerned, most of the Indian teachers laugh at westerners, because most westerners believe that if they have a three day intensive they will become self-realized. It doesn’t work like that. So there are intensives where you are charged four, five, six or seven hundred dollars, and everybody runs to them and nothing happens. I have no more comment on those things.

Your heart has to be your guide. If you are sincere, you will know where to go and what to do. If you are working out of your ego, you will find fault with everything.

Ask yourself for those answers. I can tell you this much, everyone is in their right place.

There are no mistakes. None have been made, none are being made. Those people who are with certain gurus belong right where they are, for the time being. Turn within and your heart will tell you where to go.

Excerpt from Robert Adams: The Collected Works

Excellence Reporter 2020