In
Satsang, we are facing something quite unique, for here we approach
the direct realization of the Truth about ourselves.
Sometimes,
when you have the opportunity to be alone, with nothing else, and for
some reason you are not busy with external activities, it is very
clear to you that, at this point, you experience tremendous internal
neediness, deep inadequacy, such "existential void," so to
speak. This is common to all and seems to be a common destiny to all,
producing the strong need of fulfillment, in order to “drown”
this lack, this emptiness. This is what leads us to an action, a
constant action...
To
let you know, what we consider great works built by the intellect or
by the emotion of man were born from this state of neediness,
insufficiency and pain. So, when you are amazed in front of a
painting - which you call a beautiful work of art - or in front of a
sculpture, a song, a poem, a written novel, a book, a great
bestseller, all this is a result of this search for internal
fulfillment, which has led the so-called "artist,"
"musician" to an activity that made it be born. However,
that, which is so admired, paradoxically, is born from much pain,
much suffering, much neediness... You can research it in the stories
of the great masters of painting, of music, of dance, and you will
discover what had motivated them in their works.
What
I am saying, in other words, is that Happiness creates nothing,
produces nothing. The mind produces, but the Self does not! Self does
not act, does not do anything. Self is pure Being, pure
Consciousness, it is what sustains the apparitions; It does not need
self-expression. This is quite different from the mind, which needs
it, needs to fulfill itself with expression.
A
man like Buddha, Ramana or Krishna has no need for self-expression
through the mind, because there is no mind there; there is no longer
this emptiness, this frustration, or this desire for action to
compose poems, sculptures, paintings and songs. I am not saying that
art cannot exist, but this is a completely different Art from what we
consider art arisen from this existential frustration.
Kabir,
Rumi and other saints and sages also made poems and songs. Some Sages
wrote books, Jesus left his speeches, Ramana left his Silence. But
the sages and the saints were not there. There was no "someone"
occupied with an action, with the construction of something; it was
only an event; so are the speeches that are born in Satsang, which
are born from this Silence, from this Consciousness, from this
Presence, and not born from frustration, neediness, or the desire for
self-expression.
So,
I am going to repeat this to you: this action may appear, but it is
not the action of frustration. The speech that is born in Satsang or
the actions that are born from this Presence, from this Consciousness
are the overflow of that Joy, of that Freedom, of that Happiness.
This is the true Art... it is the direct result of Meditation, of
that Natural State. The true Art is the Art of Happiness!
Whatever
you call art born apart from Happiness is not genuine art. Truth is
the basis of all genuine manifestation, but it is not the necessity
born of the desire for self-expression, of that general motivation
the mind knows to fill itself in the action. If we come closer to
this, we will see all this can only give ephemeral happiness, joy and
fulfillment.
To
be in Satsang is to stand before Life, real Happiness. This Life,
Truth, Happiness is something within You, but it is something beyond
the mind. This is the ultimate satisfaction, the ineffable Joy,
without reason, something always present beyond this illusion of the
"me".
Happiness
is what lives within us with all its freshness and purity, something
cannot be contaminated by the mind and its desires, projects,
intentions, premeditation. True happiness does not come, does not
arise from things. If Happiness would have come from things, it
should be greater when we had more things; less when we had fewer
things; and completely zero when we had nothing. But it is not like
this...
The
rich man is the man who possesses many things, but he is not
unfailingly happy, because, on the contrary, he has many more
concerns. Not even the poor one, who has very little things, is
necessarily unhappy for this. But when the poor and the rich ones go
to sleep, when they are both in deep sleep, they are in perfect peace
without any worry, without any suffering, that is, the poor one has
no debts, nor the rich one has concerns; neither of them is sick.
Everyone feels deeply happy when he/she is in deep sleep, preferably
without dreams - Ramana used to talk about it.
Happiness
is in the absence of the "egoic mind" and not in the
presence or the absence of things. It does not matter if you are very
rich or very poor: being in the ego is being in unhappiness and in
misery; being without ego is being in Absolute Happiness!
The
true Art of Happiness is the Art of Being!
My
invitation to you in Satsang is: abandon the illusion of the "me."
When you are free from this desire to get something or to get rid of
anything, you can go beyond this frustration, this neediness, boredom
and loneliness... you can go beyond this common destiny to all!
*Online
meeting transcription, originally held on September 27th 2017. -
First published in Portuguese on on January 25, 2018. Online meetings
every Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 10 pm (Local Time: Brazil BRT),
except during Retreat periods. For more information about Paltalk app
and how to participate, please access: http://mestregualberto.com
