Joel Goldsmith | A Parenthesis in Eternity | Self-Investigation | Atma Vichara | Marcos Gualberto

GC: Hello, everyone! We are here for another videocast, and Master Gualberto is here with us again. Thank you, Master, for being here. Today I'm going to read an excerpt from Joel Goldsmith's book called "A Parenthesis in Eternity." In an excerpt from this book, Master, Joel makes the following comment: "Observing our inner thoughts and feelings, keeping our consciousness aligned through the continuous recognition of God." In this excerpt, Joel Goldsmith talks about observing our thoughts and feelings. Would Master share his vision of what self-investigation is, which Ramana Maharshi called Atma Vichara?

MG: Gilson, Atma Vichara, which is Ramana Maharshi's proposal, the expression "Atma Vichara" means investigating yourself, the direct observation of the Atma, which is this "I." Hence the expression "Atma Vichara." Getting closer to yourself requires looking at your reactions, at what is happening to you. The position of the human being in life is the position of the one who responds to the present moment, to the experience of the present moment, from a background of response and reaction of memory.

At every moment you are asked to give an answer to what is happening here, at this moment. And your way of approaching this moment is usually from thought and feeling, and you are not aware of this process while it is happening. The expression "Atma Vichara," which some translate as "self-inquiry" or "self-investigation" also, I prefer the close, more literal view of it, which is self-observation, which is observing, becoming aware of the "I," of the movement of the "I," at this moment.

So, we are not aware of what is happening to us while the process is present. Thus, every reaction, every response, every answer to this moment, in relation to events, situations, people, including the relation with ourselves, when a thought is present, or a feeling present, or a sensation. Self-inquiry, this self-observation, is becoming aware of yourself, becoming conscious of yourself, of what is happening to you, of what is happening to you at this moment, in this contact with the moment, in this contact with life.

As long as we are merely reacting or expressing a response to this moment in an unconscious and therefore automatic way, without this self-observation, we will maintain the continuity of this ignorance about who we are. This ignorance places us in the space, in the field, in the dimension of the illusion of separation. So, the sense of being someone present in life is to be someone present separate from life; this is the condition of ignorance, and in this condition we do not have the Awareness of God, the Awareness of Truth. And without Truth, we do not have this Freedom, we do not have this Love, this innate Happiness. Here, it is strange, paradoxical also, the fact that in an internal way, in an innate way, we already carry this Freedom, this Love and Happiness, but we do not realize it, because we lack Self-Awareness.

So, we lack this look at ourselves, this self-study, we lack the awareness of what is present at this moment in order to go beyond this unconsciousness, this mechanicalness, this way of acting in life based on the past. The problem with this is that life is happening at this moment and our actions are the actions of repetition, continuity, and permanence of the past. Thus, we never have a true answer for this moment in "my" relation, for example, with my wife, with my husband, with people around me, or "with myself," because there is this illusion of someone who is present, while, actually, I do not know who I am. See, I do not know this aspect of the sense of ego, of person, of personality, and I do not know this Divine Reality, beyond this person, beyond this "I," beyond this ego.

To approach life is to approach yourself, an approach that is possible when you become aware of life happening without the "I." However, to become aware of this life happening without the "I" requires that you first recognize the presence of this "I" through self-observation. This is when, through Self-Awareness, we are able to discard what is present within us, which is illusory, which is this way of thinking that we bring from the past. For example, your way of feeling about people, about events, about yourself, is a learned way of feeling - something from culture, something from society, something within this model of the world.

You don't have a real way of approaching the present moment because you are living within a plan, a program, a mental conditioning, a psychological conditioning. The final result of this is problems, the various difficulties we face and don't know how to deal with, and they end up becoming problems. So, our minds are full of problems. Every type of situation that arises, these situations cannot be dealt with as they need to be dealt with and they turn into problems, due to the absence of this vision of life, which is the vision that Intelligence brings. I refer to this intelligence that is born from Self-Awareness, I refer to this Intelligence for Wisdom, this Intelligence that gives you this vision of God.

We do not know how to respond to life due to the absence of this Intelligence, and if it is not present, our psychological condition is one of confusion, it is the condition of suffering, it is the condition of this illusion of someone present, separate from God, without the Awareness of this Truth, which is the Divine Truth. Here, getting closer to oneself is through Atma Vichara, through this looking, through this observing, through this becoming aware of these present reactions. Note, it is not to correct this, it is just to verify it. Then, a new quality of action arises in this realization - this is when this liberation from the ego, this liberation from the "I" occurs. The vision of Truth is the portal to this Freedom, to this Awareness of the Reality of Love, of Happiness, to the Awareness of this present State, which is here and now, which is the Reality of your Being, which is the Reality of God.

GC: Master, we have a question from a subscriber here on the channel, César, who asks the following question: "How can I discover who I am?"

MG: Gilson, that is exactly what we are discussing here with you. We are, with you, approaching, through this self-investigation, through this self-observation, the answer to this question "Who am I?" So, when you ask: "How do I know who I am?" . By becoming aware of who you are, at this moment! Learning to look at this moment, at what is happening, at what is processing, at each and every reaction, response, inclination, tendency, feeling, emotion, and sensation present; learning to look at this. There is nothing in life as important as this art of self-observation. Self-observation is discovering what it is to look at this "I," learning about it, learning how to deal with thoughts, feelings, and emotions; it is not learning what to do with them. Learning here to deal with this means learning to observe without getting involved with them. The moment you learn to observe your reactions, without getting involved with them, you are beyond them, you transcend them. You in your true nature reveal yourself as something beyond these reactions.

So, the basis for Self-Awareness is this learning about ourselves; this is what reveals this "I," this "Who am I?" There is something present here to be verified. It is something similar to watching a movie. When you're going to watch a movie, you're not going to get involved with the movie, with the scenes, with the episodes, with the events; this is something for the actors, this is something for the characters. All of this is within the movie, all of this is happening because of the presence of the director's idea. You have nothing to do with what happens in the movie, your place is that of a spectator. You are watching the movie, you will watch, you will be a spectator of the movie. Here, there is something to reveal - this something is this movie.

We are the human movie, the movie of humanity; everything that is present in humanity is present in us, everything exactly. Everything that you see in a movie, that is present there, is what we have in humanity, and what we have in humanity is present in each one of us. And we need to look, observe, be a spectator of this, without getting involved. That is when, in fact, we break with the movie, we break with the content of this human movie. Then, there is the flowering of something new, outside of this history of humanity; this is the Awakening of Consciousness, this is the Awakening of God.

The Divine Nature, the Nature of God, the Truth of your Being, is something that is outside of this context of movie. The production of this movie, everything that it contains, is within a context of the human mind, of the egoic mind, of consciousness of separation, of consciousness of duality. The beauty of an encounter with Truth is that Truth liberates, and you encounter Truth when you learn to be a spectator, when you learn to watch, when you discover that everything in the movie is within a dream, an imagination, a creation of thought - of ordinary thought, of human thought, of mental conditioning.

Then, this encounter with Divine Reality is the end of this story, it is the end of this memory, it is the end of this movie, or it is the clear vision of what the film represents. So, at that moment we have the awareness of the truth about this "I." Comprehending the truth of this "I" is becoming aware of something that is beyond the "I," which is this Divine Reality. Some call this "Spiritual Awakening" or "Spiritual Enlightenment," it is when life is present without the history of thought, without the history that thought has constructed. Then, our contact with this moment is a revealing contact. Thus, if your question is how to become aware, how to know, how to have clarity about who "I am": by looking, being a spectator, discovering what this encounter with Meditation is.

That is why we have emphasized the importance of Meditation. We need to discover, in life, what Meditation is. You reach 50, 70, 80 years of age, without approaching this study of yourself, mistaking yourself for the illusion of a present identity, which is the identity of the "I," which is situated in the mental life, which is this life of thought, which is this whole structure of dreams, of films, of human history. So, human beings live in ignorance because they live in illusion, because they lack the art of Meditation, the awareness of this encounter with the Divine Truth. And, here, Meditation is nothing like what people say out there about meditation; here we put the expression Meditation in a new way, too. That is why I have called it "Real Meditation in practice." This is what the presence of Self-Awareness is, of looking at yourself, discovering how you function - this is a real approach to Meditation.

GC: Master, we have another question from another subscriber here on the channel, Leandro makes the following comment and asks: "Master, after activating Kundalini energy, will it repeat itself or does it only happen once?"

MG: Gilson, this is a question - notice the concern people have. We were told about this energy, about this presence that we have within us, and that is dormant. They told us a lot about this so-called "Kundalini," and they told us about this Kundalini Awakening, and the idea people have about this Awakening is that it is an experience. So, we have the idea of Kundalini Awakening as being an experience, an experience that we will have one day. And then questions arise: "And when this experience happens, what will it be like?"

You see, we are here studying with you the Truth of the Awakening of Consciousness, this Awakening of Consciousness - I mean this Divine Consciousness, this Real Consciousness - this Awakening is in itself the Awakening of Kundalini. It is not an experience, it is not something that will happen once and for all, like an experience that someone will have. The flowering of your Natural Divine State is Kundalini Awakening, but it is not an experience for someone. It is exactly when the illusion of that someone, which is this personal consciousness, which is this consciousness of the person, vanishes. That is, the illusion of this present, active, thinking, feeling, acting consciousness ends.

We have, then, the awareness of this illusion. The awareness of this illusion is the end of this illusion, and this is the flowering of Kundalini. This requires a complete emptying, a total emptying of this egoic sense, this sense of separation, this sense of "I." This requires the presence of Self-Awareness, this requires a true approach to Meditation, this requires work. But I say again: it is not an experience, it is not something that is obtained, it is not something that is achieved, it is not something that is conquered, there is no one in it; it is exactly the end of this idea of being someone. This is the Divine Awakening, this is the Awakening of God.

The expression "Kundalini" points to this Presence, to this Real Consciousness, to this Divine Energy available. An Energy that, by the way, in this sense of the ego, of the "I," of this someone, we are constantly wasting in this mental world, in this world of the "I," in this egoic consciousness. Once a work happens - and this work is the work of approaching self-investigation, self-observation -, this brings you closer to Meditation. This reveals to you the power of Meditation, the presence of this Silence, this inner Stillness of the mind and heart. It allows, yes, this power of Divine Presence, which is the Real power of True Meditation, to emerge, to happen.

So, yes, there comes the Awakening of God, the Real Kundalini Awakening, but talking about Kundalini as an experience or as something that a person has to go through, or needs to go through, is an illusion. That which is Real Consciousness is True Kundalini, because Kundalini is synonymous with Real Consciousness. In turn, this is synonymous with Spiritual Awakening, with Spiritual Enlightenment. We have, Gilson, here on the channel, a playlist about this, about the Kundalini Awakening. Becoming Aware of the Truth about yourself is assuming the Truth of what this Awareness of God is, this is Kundalini Awakening. When this happens, the sense of separation, of egoic identity, vanishes, then suffering ends, because the illusion of this sense of separation is no longer present. Then, we have the Reality of God, we have the Divine Reality. This is what we are working on here with you, deepening here, with you.

GC: Thank you, Master, our time is now up; thank you for this videocast. And for those of you who are watching the videocast until the end and want to delve deeper into this knowledge, we invite you to participate in the meetings that Master Gualberto offers. These are online weekend meetings; there are also in-person meetings, including retreats. These meetings are much more profound than the videos here on YouTube, because in the meetings the Master answers our questions directly, and much more than that: the Master shares this state of Presence in which he lives, and in this sharing, we end up taking a ride on this Silence, this Grace and this Power. And this is an incredible facilitator for us to know ourselves, so that we can comprehend what is beyond intellectual comprehension.

So, the invitation is in the first comment, pinned, with the WhatsApp link to participate in these meetings. Go ahead and 'like' the video, leave a comment with questions for us to bring to the next videocasts, and if you are not subscribed to the channel, please, do it. And once again, Master, thank you for the videocast.

January, 2025
Gravatá-PE, Brazil
Further information

Self-awareness and Meditation | The Importance of Self-Awareness | The Awakening of Consciousness

I'd like to talk to you here about a fundamental issue for this approach to the Awakening of Consciousness: it's the need we all have - and that explains why we seek the fulfillment of this need - for space. I want to talk to you about Freedom and how fundamental it is for this encounter with the Truth of What we are, but it requires fulfilling this need, which is the need of all of us, for space.

Have you ever noticed that when you rent an apartment or buy an apartment, or a house, or rent a house, one of the main elements you look for in a house is space. If it's an apartment, you want a large living room, a large bedroom, with a good bathroom - and a good bathroom is a spacious bathroom. If it's a house, you look at whether it has a good yard - in general, houses have more space than apartments. So, we're looking for freedom, that's why we want ample space.

Wherever you travel, you travel and the first thing you aim to find on that trip is space. Notice, when you travel to another city and stay in a hotel, you look for a hotel where there is good space, a big room, a big apartment, it must have a swimming pool. Notice, our vision of space is something that is always at the forefront of our endeavors, of our goals, purposes and achievements.

We want space in a house, in an apartment, in a car. If we're going to a mountain, why a mountain? Because there's plenty of space. If we love hiking, it's because we find space there. If we go to the beach, there's space. We want to go to the beach not just because there's the sea, but because there's the sand and there's a lot of space there. We want space; always space.

And why do we seek space? Because we're looking for Freedom. Within each of us there is a longing for Freedom. So here we first have this search for Freedom, but the imperative need for space because it is space that shows us the presence of Freedom. Then, from an external viewpoint, we want the comfort that space gives us because of the Freedom we find there.

And from an internal viewpoint, how do we function? We have experienced internal states of conflict, disorder, heaviness, contraction, suffering, because there is no space. Human beings need space, not just externally, but first and foremost internally. When people talk about this search for inner peace, the presence of stillness, silence, the presence of joy, note, all of this refers to the presence of inner space. When there is inner space, there is Peace, Stillness, Silence, Love, because that space is the space of Freedom.

So, we are here with you telling you that in this Liberation in life, in this Realization of God, in this assuming the Truth about who you are, the presence of Love is something that requires Freedom, and the presence of Freedom requires space. So notice how important this is for our lives.

Why have we emphasized the beauty of Self-Awareness and Meditation? Because when we get closer to the Truth of Self-Awareness, we get closer to Meditation. And what is the Truth about Meditation? Meditation is space, space without a center. Note, that's what I said indeed: it's space without a center.

When you see an object, there is space around it, but it is from the object that the space is referenced. When you enter a room, we have a space there, but that space is present when you look and see furniture; it's the space left over when the furniture is present there, in that room or in that environment. So, it's a space that has for reference the presence of objects; they determine what free space we have there.

So, when you look at an object, you perceive that there is a space around it; so the object is the center, but there is a space around it. From a psychological viewpoint, the sense of "I," of the ego, of that person in us also works from a center, and there is a space around this center. The "I," the "me", the ego, that feeling-thought "I" is producing a space around it, it is being the reference of a space around it.

Now, notice, this space around the "I," the ego, this "me," this thought-feeling and sensation, which is the presence of the person, is a limited space; limited because there is so much involved present in this environment. So, this environment doesn't have much space. That's how we function psychologically; we're crammed - this environment is crammed - with this old model of thoughts, feelings, emotions, sensations, and forms of perception.

All this puts us, psychologically, in a condition where there is no internal space, and without this space we have no Freedom. The sense of "I" in each of us is the absence of a space without a center. So, we have a space, the space from the center, from the "I." Thus, our model of action is self-centered, our model of speech is self-centered, our model of vision is self-centered, our model of perception of others is self-centered, and our model of life is self-centered.

So, it's from a center, with a specific space, limited by that center, that this personal life is happening. Then, we don't have the Truth about who we are. Or rather, the Truth about who we are, at this moment, within this context of culture, of humanity, what we are is this person loaded with problems, contradictions, disorder, suffering, due to this personal, particular, self-centered pattern of limitation.

So, if we approach the Truth of That Which is You in Your Divine Nature, in Your Essential Nature, outside of this cultural, social "you," within the pattern of human culture, there is a Reality present, it is the Reality of That Which is You in Your Essential Nature, in Your Divine Nature. Therefore, this contact with Reality is Liberation. Liberation in this life is the awareness of your Being, it is the awareness of God.

Here we are with you, deepening this. With each meeting, with each talk, we are exploring with you the different aspects of this sense of personal identity and perceiving that this entity, this identity is based on a mistaken foundation, which is the foundation of a model of thought, of pattern, of the organization of culture, within this model of the world as we know it.

Thus, we're talking to you here about the importance of Self-Awareness, Self-Awareness and Meditation, and this is something that naturally requires a new look at yourself, a real and true approach to what is happening to you here and now. Meditation, then, is the emptying of all that old, ancient content which, within this environment, is occupying all that space.

There is a Reality present, but it's like when you enter a space occupied by furniture; you can't be aware of the real dimension of the space while the furniture is there. When you walk into a room and it's full of furniture, you have no sense of space. If the furniture is removed, the notion of space is present, but without it you have no notion of space. Any idea you have is just an idea. This gaze doesn't see space, it sees the occupation of space.

The awareness of your Being is the Revelation of God. So, when someone gets involved with a Meditation technique or practice, they don't comprehend that the Truth of Meditation is the emptying of all that psychological content, and not the search for something to add to him or her there, in that practice, as people generally do. So you try to concentrate on a certain thought, to push others away, you try to breathe in a certain way, different from the way you do in your day-to-day life, you chant a mantra, which you don't chant while you're driving your car, while you're talking to someone or watching television.

Notice, we're always adding something to this doing in the practice of meditation. You have to be in a separate environment, at a private time, free from your work, from dealing with your children, your family, or from business. So, you're in a different model from your usual day-to-day life. Here we are telling you that the Truth of the approach to Meditation is the awareness of perceiving your reactions here and now, at this instant, at this moment; it's not about adding anything, just becoming aware of these reactions.

When you discover what it is to become aware of these reactions, at this instant, and realize that this "becoming aware" is just that... Note, it's not about someone becoming aware, someone intervening, someone interfering, evaluating, judging, comparing, accepting or rejecting what they perceive here, at this instant, within these reactions. It's simply looking at reactions; looking without someone looking, perceiving without someone perceiving, feeling without someone feeling. In this way, we have direct contact, at this instant, with this "environment." That's Self-awareness.

Observing reactions, a thought arising, a feeling, an emotion, a perception, a gesture happening, something being seen, a sound being heard, in the relationship with him or her, she speaks and there is this listening, a scene is seen and there is only the seeing. So, there is only this looking or this seeing, without someone seeing, without someone looking. There is only listening, without someone involved in that listening. There is only perceiving what is present at this instant.

When we approach ourselves in this way, we are studying our reactions, and what happens internally and externally can be seen without an observer, without a center; and when this becomes clear, without this center, without this observer, a new space is present. Then, in that space, the Truth of this Being is revealed, because it is a space without a center.

We need to discover what it is to have an approach to Meditation, so that we can perceive the truth of this emptying of all content, we can just become aware of this emptying; it's when the mind quiets down, silences itself and a new space opens up of the awareness of non-separation, of non-duality. This encounter with the Truth of your Being at this instant, from this Self-Awareness, which is the acknowledgment of your reactions without the sense of someone being involved in it, the presence of this Attention, this Mindfulness on all this movement, which is the old movement of the center, of this "me," this "I."

So, the awareness of this movement is the end of the "I," it's the end of this center, it's the end of the ego." Then, this issue of the Awakening of Consciousness or this Blossoming of your Natural State requires this space, this Freedom, so we have the Presence of Love, the Presence of God. That's what we're working on with you, too, in online meetings here on weekends. Saturdays and Sundays we're meeting together online. You can find our WhatsApp link here in the video description to take part in these online meetings, where we can go deeper into this through questions and answers and work on it with you.

We also have face-to-face meetings and retreats. If what you've just heard makes sense to you and touches you on some level, here's an invitation. Go ahead, leave your 'like' here, subscribe to the channel and say in the comments: "Yes, that makes sense." OK? And we'll see you. Thanks for meeting us and see you next time!

January, 2025
Gravatá-PE, Brazil
Further information

What is thinking? What is thought? Learn about Self-Awareness. What is Mindfulness?

Here, these meetings of ours can take on a very, very special meaning and value, very significant for each one of us, when we put our minds and hearts to follow a speech like this. Since we are here dealing with issues that put an end to these various problems we have, these countless problems that, as human beings, we have, if they are investigated, comprehended, they will end. Because, you know, the word "problem," the meaning of the word "problem," we all know. We know what a problem means: a problem is an unresolved situation. We have countless unresolved situations, from a psychological viewpoint. So, here we need to have an approach that really brings us closer to this or that problem in order to investigate that problem.

Once a problem is comprehended, it is no longer a problem. Note that when you have a math problem, it is only a math problem until you find a solution to it. So, we can say, "Look, there is a math problem," but once it is solved, that problem no longer exists, it is no longer a math problem. Thus, psychologically, we have many and varied problems, but they are problems because we do not confront them, we do not look closely, we do not get intimately involved in the situation in order to comprehend it. Then, there is no comprehension, when there is no comprehension, we have a problem.

Here, with you, we are investigating all of this, becoming aware of all of this. That is our interest here, together, in this awareness of the truth about who we are, because it is ignorance about who we are that is the basis that sustains the various problems we bring. The math teacher gives a test to the students; of course, he poses math problems. In life we have countless questions, questions are problems, unsolved problems. Life does not give us a test like teachers do with their students, life is as it is. Yes, it constitutes a great challenge for each one of us, because we see ourselves as creatures separate from life itself.

Do you know exactly what a problem is? A problem is this situation that has not been resolved, but this situation that has not been resolved is the way we are dealing with that situation. That is what makes that situation a problem. We have a particular way of dealing with life. That particular way does not fit, it is not the appropriate way of dealing with life, but we have been taught since childhood to deal with life in that way. When you do not respond appropriately to a situation, once it has not been attended to, it becomes a problem.

This is how our contact with life is: we are responding inadequately to what life represents, and so we have problems. And why are we responding inadequately? Because our way of responding to life as it happens at this moment is based, within us, on a movement that comes from the past. If I meet you and what I have of you is memory, remembrance, is recollection about you, I am not having real contact with you at this moment. What is happening at this moment, in this encounter, is the truth of the moment revealing itself, and this state within me, of inadequacy, clashing this instant, this moment.

Why do we have problems, for example, in our relationships, among ourselves as human beings? Because we do not comprehend each other. And why do we not comprehend each other? Because the element present in me, just as the element present in you, is an element that comes from the past. So, when we meet, there is no real encounter; separation is established, a division is established, and, naturally, a conflict is established. That is the problem. The problem in our relationships consists of the fact that "I do not know who you are," just as "you do not know who I am." We only "know" each other!

To what extent do we know ourselves? The question is: do you know who you are? Do you know who you are? Do you know yourself? Or is what you have of yourself knowledge of ideas, concepts, beliefs, judgments, and opinions? So, when people relate to each other, they relate to each other based on the person. What is the truth about the person? This feeling of a person you have, this idea of a person you express here and now, is a set of thoughts you have about yourself. Here, our work, together, consists of this discovery, this verification, this learning about ourselves, this learning about Self-Awareness. As long as there is no comprehension of the truth about the person, as long as you do not comprehend yourself, there will be no Intelligence.

Here, I refer to this Divine Intelligence, this Spiritual Intelligence. The presence of this Intelligence is the Freedom to deal with yourself, to deal with others, without the false, without illusion. It is when there is false, it is when there is illusion, that ignorance is present. The importance of Self-Awareness - here we are with you seeing the importance of this - the importance of Self-Awareness is the end of ignorance and, therefore, the end of the false, the end of illusion. This encounter with the truth of what you are, is the discarding of this present illusion, this present falsehood, this present ignorance in the context of relation, because we have the end of this movement of separation, where this ignorance is present. It is in this ignorance that you see yourself in this context of life, as an element separate from it. This is the context of existence in this dream of existing as someone, of thinking, acting, speaking, doing, feeling. All based on this idea, which is the idea of the person.

You use the pronoun "I." What is the truth about this "I"? Here, with you, we are discarding this movement that predominates, that prevails in this particular life of this "I." The movement that prevails, that predominates in the life of this "I," of this person, is the movement of thought. What is thought? Follow this question here and let us examine here, together, the answer to this question. What is thought? Thought present in you, where does it come from? At first, the illusion is that thought comes from someone who thinks. So, notice, we have the belief that someone thinks, this someone is the thinker and this thinker arrives first, arrives before any thought. Then, it is you thinking. No, that is not true! There is no such someone, this thinker, this "you" thinking. What is present is the presence of thought.

Unlike what we believe, the thinker does not arrive before thought; thought establishes itself as a presence of memory, at this moment, and it appears. Something happens internally, in you, due to something you see, or hear, or feel. So, due to this feeling, this hearing, or this seeing, a thought appears, and this thought appears because it is part of a present collection. You carry this memory within you, the brain has this memory, so it communicates this memory to this consciousness - which we call consciousness - which we divide into conscious and unconscious. Then, at that moment, this thought appears in this mind, in this conscience.

There is no one, there is no you, there is no thinker bringing this thought - it is something that is appearing. When you are worried, you are not producing worries; when you are sad, you are not producing sadness; when you are happy, you are not producing joy; when there is a memory, you are not producing that memory; when there is an imagination, you are not producing that imagination; it is something that is happening. It is happening because of a background of memory. There is no you as an element of wanting, of volition, of will, of desire, of identity producing this. It is just something that is happening.

So, what is thought? Thought is an appearance of this brain mechanism, of this movement of consciousness, but we have the illusion of someone present in it. This "someone" is this "me," this "I," this person. See how important this is. We have just given two answers here to a single question. The question was: "What is thought?", but we have just had here the answer, also, to the question: "What is thinking?" We have just seen, here, what thinking is. Thinking is this mechanics when thought occurs; when there is thought, there is thinking. We only have thinking, we do not have the thinker, but we create the illusion of the thinker who wants to get rid of thought when it is unpleasant, who wants to hold on to thought when it is pleasant. Then, problem is established, conflict is established.

Thus, our relations with people, as the person we believe ourselves to be, are based on a relation with the past, a relation that is based on memory. Notice how important this is: we are alienated from the instant, from the present moment, because we are living in this thought that is the past. This is where this illusory, this false, this ignorant life of the "I," of the ego, of this "me" resides. Once you learn to look at this, to be aware of it when it occurs, you can discard this movement, which is the movement of thinking. Then, we have the presence of Silence - the Silence that arises when this space arises, which until then had been occupied by this moment of psychological restlessness, which is the movement of thought.

So, notice what we are saying here: anxiety, anguish, depression, fear, anger, sadness, worry. These various psychological states that accompany thought - I refer to these emotional and feeling states - they are functioning, or happening, in a dysfunctional way in this model of identity of the "I," of egoic identity, due to ignorance. This false, this illusion, this ignorance is taking over the truth about our lives. This "my life" is life within this condition of ignorance.

Once you discover what it means looking at these reactions, what it means learning about Self-Awareness, what it means bringing this look, this observation, to this moment, abandoning this psychological condition of unconscious movement as occurs in this mechanics - there is no awareness of this, so all of this is processed in an unconscious way - once you learn to observe these reactions, thought, feeling, an emotion, a sensation. your contact with him or her, your contact with yourself, your contact with the moment, the awareness that the past is present - this movement of which the ego is constituted - at that moment this way of dealing with the present moment undergoes a profound change.

So, we have the presence of Silence, due to this new space that emerges, and at that moment that which is outside this duality is revealed, which is thinker and thought, which is this "person," which is this "person" with their beliefs having the vision of that other "person" - which is a mere projection of the thinker itself, which is a projection of the thought itself in this idea of being someone, which is this "I," this "me," this person. Then, here we have an approach to this awareness that reveals this space, that reveals this Silence, this absence of this psychological form of existing as someone - we have the presence of Meditation.

This is what we are working on here with you. The real form of this approach requires the presence of this mindfulness. So, what is mindfulness? It is the approach to life at this moment; without what we have just described here, which is the model of unconsciousness that, for millennia, we as human beings have been living. The discarding of the egoic sense, the discarding of the sense of "I," the discarding of this psychological disorder, of this division, of this separation. The discarding of this sense, feeling, thought of a person in life, at the moment, at this instant, lies the beginning of something new, of something beyond the ego, beyond the "I."

That's what we're working on here with you. We have several videos here on the channel; we have meetings on weekends, where we're together on Saturdays and Sundays, going deeper into this here with you, in these online meetings on weekends. In addition, we have in-person meetings and also retreats. If what you've just heard makes any sense to you, here's an invitation. Go ahead, leave your "like" here, and please, subscribe to the channel, comment: "Yes, that makes sense," OK? And we'll see you. Thanks for the meeting and see you next time.

December, 2024
Gravatá-PE, Brazil
Further information

Stoicism and human relations. What is thought? Learning about Self-Awareness. Self-image.

Here our commitment together consists of this discovery of the Truth about who we are. Notice that when people have a concern, and it is the concern of how to learn to deal with their relations, they do not comprehend that the basis for these relations is themselves.

In general, we believe that relations are located outside, as if life were happening externally. The great truth is that there is no life out there; you are the contextual element of life, you contextualize life. There is no separation between you and life.

People want to study Stoicism to find out how to deal with the world, to deal with others, to deal with relations. So people talk about Stoicism and human relations, but people don't comprehend that the basis of relations, the basis for relations, is the presence of this sense of someone in the relation. So, let's look at some things together.

The first one is that there is no such thing as a separation between you and life and, naturally, between you and the other. So, this idea of adjustment. Let's look at a few things here right away. This idea that the world has to change, the other has to change or something has to happen out there for there to be freedom, peace, intelligence and comprehension in relations, that is completely false. The basis for all of this is you.

That is why here, with you, we are studying not the other, but ourselves, not the world, but you. Scientists study the external world, while you, in this work towards Divine Truth, study yourself. Here it is a matter of investigating the Truth about yourself. In a natural, real way, there is a vision into life and, really, into the other because there is no you, life and the other. In this sense, the greatest scientist is not the one who explores the external world, but the one who investigates the Nature of Truth present here and now, within itself.

Here we are together discovering how to learn about all this, and learning about it requires a new mind, a new brain, a way of looking at the present moment without the intervention of thought. And why is thought dispensed? Because thought is not the element that makes this vision of Reality possible, since thought is exactly the element that stands like a curtain between the Reality of the moment and you.

There is no such thing as separation between You in Your True Nature and life arising at this moment, moment by moment, within these relations; that's because life consists of relations. The relation with the other, the relation with situations, the relation with events, the relation with yourself is life, and this relation is the relation where the Truth of communion is present. There is no separation, except this separation, which is the separation that thought has established.

That's why we are here with you, investigating how to completely eliminate this psychological condition, which is the condition of this psychological complexity present in each one of us, the complexity of thought. What is the presence of thought in you? When you look at someone and you recognize that person, this recognition is memory; this is the presence of thought. Now notice what we are going to say: this recognition, which is the presence of thought, is the curtain between you and him or her, since this recognition is the past.

Thus, when you look at someone, you are not looking at the person, you are looking at the image, the recognition, the memory: that's the past. This is where the presence of thought in life is present. For some practical purposes, thought will always be present to give us a basis for relationships, at the level of contact, of experiences. Note, that's reasonable.

You recognize your car, this is very important because you will not try to get into someone else's car, you will get into your car because you recognize your car; this recognition is memory. If you leave the supermarket and enter the parking lot, you will not get into someone else's car, you will get into your car. At this level, thought becomes necessary. So, notice, we are using thought all the time for recognition. Thus, thought fulfills a functional memory function in life.

The problem is when thought is psychologically occupying the condition of an identity present in the experience of this Totality of Life. Notice the difference. I need the experience to recognize my car; this experience is knowledge, it is memory, it is remembrance, it is the image that the brain here has of the car. But do I need this quality of thoughts in our human relations?

Look at the question. Do I really need to remember all the bad, unpleasant, complicated, confusing, frustrating, disorderly, and suffering moments that I have experienced in the past in this contact with him or her? Notice that all these memories create a separation, a division between me and her. This quality of memory has formed, here, an image. So, there is an image that has been formed in this quality of memory; this is the image that I have of him, that I have of her. This image is formed in this self-image that I also have of myself.

These various internal states that put me in an internal position of feeling, emotion, sensation and perception of life, as it happens internally and externally, based on this quality of image, this quality of memory, this is establishing life for a particular life; this particular life is the particular life of the "I," of this "me," of this "person."

So, at one level, thought is needed, at another level, it is not only unnecessary, but it creates disorder, it creates confusion, it creates suffering in relations. Then, sometimes I like myself and sometimes I don't like myself. The element that is present creating this liking and disliking is thought. I like some people and I don't like others: it is the presence of thought.

The thought within us distorts reality, it gives us a vision based on this past. Thus, I do not meet the person, I meet the image I have of them. This "I" is also just an image that "I" have of myself. What is the truth of this "I?"

Thus, studying who we are, learning about Self-Awareness is our subject. Learning about ourselves, learning how we function psychologically, having a clear vision of what thought is. It has just become clear to you what thought is. Thought is this image, thought is this recollection, it is this memory, it is this past. Based on this memory, recollection and past you recognize your car in the parking lot, but on this same basis you do not recognize the person you are dealing with because you see them based on the past.

So, the husband does not know the wife, the wife does not know the husband. You do not know yourself because what you have of yourself are thoughts; these are producing internal states of conflict in you, of contradiction and suffering. You want to be happy, but internally the thought produces a desire for suffering. So there is a desire to be happy, but internally the thought is producing a quality of desire of negative self-appreciation, of negative self-image, of guilt, of someone frustrated, bored with itself, disappointed with itself, within a low self-esteem.

Thus, we are living in states of psychological contradiction due to the presence of this psychological model, which is the model of the "I." So, this subject of self-discovery is not a subject for stoicism, it is not a subject for psychology, for this model of organized religion, where there are beliefs, dogmas, mystical practices, and rituals. This subject is not a subject for philosophy. This subject is a subject for this self-discovery. We need to learn to look at what is happening to us, at what happens inside each one of us, to discard thought, to discard this memory, to get in touch with life at this moment, without the "I," without this "me," without this self-image.

Self-image: psychology touches on this issue of self-image, but notice the confusion we have created with the expression "self-image." We have discovered the existence of this self-image, and we know, within psychology, that this self-image is the image of the self, it is the image of the person, but we still do not comprehend that this self-image carries this duality, this weight of separation, of contradiction, of conflict.

Thus, for many people the idea is to improve this self-image, to perfect this self-image, to put it in a condition where it feels good about itself. We never ask ourselves if we can get rid of this model, which is the model of self-image, for a life free of this sense of contradiction, of conflict, and therefore free of this self-esteem and this low self-esteem.

Here with you we are investigating the end of the "I," the end of the "ego" and, therefore, the end of this self-image; it is when we can have contact with the other, with life, with the present moment without the past. Obviously, you have to remember your name, this is knowledge, this is the experience of the brain, with regard to this name that was given to you. Obviously, recognizing your car in the parking lot, this is part of a functional memory of experience, of brain memory, practical and objective.

But here, from a psychological viewpoint, can we live free from the ego and therefore free from this self-image, for a relation with this present moment, without this sense of separation, where there is this illusion between "me" and him, "me" and her, "me" and life, "me" and God? That is our proposal here for you: a life where we have the presence of Love, the presence of Freedom, the presence of Truth.

We need a new brain, a new mind, this quality of Being, free from this egocentric, separatist pattern, of existing as someone within this context of relations; that is when we have the Truth of relation. This Truth of relation is the presence of Freedom, of Communion. As long as there is this illusion of separation, this sense of someone present as the center of experiences, where there is this life centered on this self-image, in this condition there will be conflict, suffering, disorder, and confusion.

Here, with you, we are seeing together the possibility of a life free from the sense of "I," free from the sense of ego and, therefore, free from this pattern of thought. A response to this moment is a perfectly complete, singular, unique, perfectly adequate response when we have the presence of Intelligence and not the presence of thought. A response from this moment, within a real vision, does not create problems. But a mistaken vision of this moment, based on thought, will always be giving an inadequate response to this moment, within this context of relations.

Thus, the various confusions that we have in our relations, in our relationships, all these confusions are established in this pattern of inadequate response, within a mistaken vision, which is the vision that comes from the past based on memories, on recollections, in these relationships. Can we meet this moment without the past and, therefore, without this self-image, without this image of him or her? That's what we are here, with you, investigating.

We have these meetings here on weekends, Saturdays and Sundays, to explore this with you, to discover how, in this life, to become aware of this: this life free from thought, this format of thinking. Here in the video description you have our WhatsApp link to participate in these online meetings on weekends. In addition, we have in-person meetings and also retreats. If what you've just heard makes any sense to you, here is an invitation. Go ahead, give us your "like," subscribe to the channel and please, write here in the comments: "Yes, that makes sense." Ok? And we'll see you. Thanks for the meeting and see you next time!

December, 2024
Gravatá-PE, Brazil
Further information

Importance of Self-Awareness. How to learn to live? Intrusive thoughts. Spiritual Awakening

Here, the issue is to learn to live. How to learn to live? And why learning to live? Note, living is an art. Without this art of life, living as we know is conflicting, disorderly, full of sorrow, complications, and suffering. Here, on this channel, we are working with you on the Truth of how to flourish in life. A flower is not a flower until it truly blooms. When you look at it, you don't say: "Here's a flower!" You say: "Here's a rosebud," "Here's a rose blossoming, a jasmine blossoming, an orchid blooming." You only call it an "orchid" when it's an orchid that has bloomed, a jasmine that has bloomed, a rose that has bloomed. So, a rose in all its grace, beauty, opulence, is present when it blooms. Before this blooming, there isn't a flower yet.

Life is full of beauty. There is an extraordinary perfume in it, an indescribable grace when it blooms. The Awakening of Spiritual Consciousness, Spiritual Enlightenment, is the flowering of life. So, we have to find out how to learn to live. You drive a car today, but you have learned to drive; you brush your teeth and you have learned it. Look at a simple task, but you had to learn it first. Now it is simple for you, but in the beginning, it was not simple. Look, brushing your teeth is something very simple, but many people do not know how to do it. In fact, most of us do not know how to do it. (laughter) Driving a car is something simple, once you've learned it, but most of us do not know how to drive a car, although we are driving our cars - at least the way we know how to drive. We are brushing our teeth the way we know how to brush them.

But note, we are dealing here, giving here, now, two examples of purely technical subjects, which require knowledge, experience... And this is the way of learning that is needed for this technical matter, as functional as driving a car or brushing your teeth. But then we have thousands of things we do in life - of course, we do them our way - but we still don't know how to do them properly. And what about this issue of life? Look, this is no longer a technical subject, but a subject of great importance and of a completely different order from a technical subject that we need to learn and that we are doing, in life, because we have learned it. Taking a shower, combing your hair, making your bed when you get out of it in the morning... Note, you have learned everything in life, or you believe you have learned. (laughs) And what about this issue of life? What is life? Do we know what life is, have we learned how to live?

The one who learns to live - it is challenging what you are going to hear, but what we are going to say here is real for you: the one who learns to live is one with life; and when you are one with life, because there is no separation between you and it, there is something present that is the perfume, the beauty, the Grace of something completely new, of something that is not part of everything we know. Here we are talking about the Divine Presence, the Presence of this Being. The Truth about you is revealed when you learn the Truth about yourself. We don't have this Truth because we haven't learned anything about it. If there is something of great value and importance in life for us to learn, it is the art of living. This represents a new way of living, a new way of feeling, acting, thinking, of relating to the present moment. So, there is the Divine Truth, the Truth of God present in this art of living.

The thing is that we are not dealing with something technical to be learned. We are dealing with something that this learning here actually requires unlearning. Yes, that's right, an unlearning of this psychological condition in which we find ourselves. This psychological and internal condition in which we live is trapped within a model of culture, society, and the world, where we are moving through life, in this living, within ignorance. Notice how delicate this is. Every form of disorder, confusion and suffering is present in life, in our lives, due to this particular vision of life that we have, that we bring, present, in fact, due to ignorance, in reality, due to ignorance. When there is this ignorance about the Truth of ourselves, in this lack of awareness, we are living within a psychological, illusory condition, where all types of disorder, confusion and suffering are established.

We have a pattern of feeling, thinking, and acting that is confused, disorderly, problematic, and restless. So, this sustains this condition, this psychological condition of being someone as we feel we are, as we show ourselves to be, as we seem to be. Let us calmly look at this. We have to unlearn this. In this psychological condition of being someone, we are possessive, envious, greedy, jealous, ambitious, full-of-fear creatures. We have a pattern of thought that functions within each one of us, which is the restless, agitated, disorderly thought pattern. Thought within us is always taking us to a model of existence of separation, where we see ourselves as being someone - a someone who is, in fact, the center of our relationships, of our experiences.

Thus, we have an egocentric model of existence, we are unaware of the beauty of existence, of the totality of life, because we are egocentric, centered on ourselves. This is the psychological condition of this "me," of this sense of person we have. This is sustaining, in us, all kinds of egocentric behavior, generating problems around us and, internally, we are always internalizing conflicts and also situations of unhappiness. We need to unlearn all of this. This is present because we do not know the Truth about God. We have beliefs about God, theories about God, we have read books about God, we have heard various sermons, preachings and lectures about God. So, we have the belief, an image of what He represents, but all of this is still within this model of conditioning program of culture, society, and the world; there is no direct experience of this Divine Reality, they are just beliefs!

Our organized religions are all organized around words, concepts, theories, images, mental formulations, and beliefs. We use expressions like "love of God," "love the neighbor," "love of life" . These are words that we use in a very sentimental, romantic, poetic, mystical way, but in practice they have no real meaning in life. So, this is not part of this "knowing how to live," because we have not learned how to live. In practice, despite all kinds of beliefs, ideas, concepts about Love, Truth, and God, we continue as people; and as people, we are full of jealousy, envy, control, attachment, fear - fear in its various forms. All of this because we do not have a vision of Reality about who we are; we are stuck in the intellectual conditioning model of our view of the world and our view of life.

So, learning about life requires unlearning this model of merely existing as a person, so that the real existence of the totality of life is revealed - which is possible when the sense of ego is undone, when it vanishes. The Truth of this learning to live requires Self-Awareness, the importance of Self-Awareness. Being in touch with the comprehension of what is happening within each of us at this moment, reveals to us this model of duality, of separation between "me and life," "me and the other," "me and God." It reveals to us this egocentric sense of being someone, it reveals to us the end of this condition of possession, control, ambition, attachment, desires, fears, jealousy, envy. All of this needs to be undone, we have to unlearn all of this. Therefore, we need to discover the beauty of living, but the beauty of living, this learning to live, requires unlearning this old condition of merely existing as a person, of existing as someone.

Therefore, we have to get closer to the beauty of Death, this psychological Death for this "me," for this "I." The encounter with Real Life requires the end of this old egoic life; this is the death of the past, it is the death of this continuity for this ego-identity. This is what we are working on here, with you, on this channel and also in these online meetings we have on weekends, in retreats, in face-to-face meetings. Having a direct look at all this movement of the ego, of the "I," is to unlearn all of this, this requires the Truth of Self-Awareness. This is why we have emphasized to you, here, the importance of Self-Awareness. Note, in general, we are always complaining about intrusive thoughts, or compulsive, obsessive thoughts, or stress, depression, anxiety, the pain that jealousy causes. We are always complaining about these states of psychological suffering present in each one of us. But notice, this will always continue to be present as long as the sense of "I" is present, of this person, of this ego-identity, of this person in this mere sense of existing as someone separate from God, separate from the other, separate from life.

When you come and say: "Look, how can I get rid of this recurring depression? This pain of recurring jealousy? This pain of recurring loneliness? How can I get rid of all these suffering, disorders, and problems that I have?" By getting rid of the sense of "I," of the ego! This requires this art of living. So, the art of living is to be one with life; this is non-duality. This is a subject here, within the channel. An approach to this work requires a careful look at all of this, at this entire psychological movement that is the movement of the "I." I have recommended to people to come closer and investigate our playlists here, within the channel. We have several playlists here, one of them is this approach to the Truth about Self-Awareness, the importance of Self-Awareness, the Truth of Self-Awareness. Becoming aware of What you are and getting closer to Reality through Meditation, through Real Meditation - and I use the expression Real Meditation, not what people out there understand as "meditation" - it is the Truth of Self-Awareness, it is the approach to Real Meditation, which brings you closer to the true revelation of your Being, of what it is, in fact, to learn to live.

So, that's our topic with you here, on this channel, and also on our other channel called "Marcos Gualberto." Later, you can take a look here, in the video description you will find our link to get to know the other channel. In addition, we have online meetings on the weekends. On Saturdays and Sundays, we are together, through questions and answers, having contact with this approach, including with the awareness of Meditation, of Real Meditation in an experiential, practical way. You can find our WhatsApp link here, in the video description, to participate in these meetings. In addition, we have in-person meetings and retreats. If what you've just heard makes sense to you, go ahead, leave your "like" here, subscribe to the channel and write here in the comment: "Yes, it makes sense." Ok? And we'll see you. Thanks for the meeting and see you next time.

December, 2024
Gravatá-PE, Brazil
Further information