The Importance of Silence

In these meetings, we are dealing with just one thing: the importance of Silence! If your life is superficial, which is the life in the world of the mind, there is not maturity, there is not Silence. In this superficiality, if you look closely at this, what prevails is a profound lack or discomfort, a constant pursuit of some form of fulfillment. If you really have this perception, without any justification, idea or concept, this becomes an invitation to something totally new and unknown. Because the state of mind is so repetitive, this model of being scattered, trying to orchestrate or bring organization for this mental life, ends up being very tiring.

Thus, the only thing that really matters is the Silence of your Real Nature, where all these projections of the mind that create your world can disappear. Actually, they completely disappear when there is this Space, this Silence of your Essential Nature. As long as you are engaged with the mind, you will remain trapped in that dimension of the known, living within time.

The mind divides itself into subject and object, creating, in an imaginary way, a world for it to live. A world produced by the mind, by ideas, by beliefs, by concepts, is a superficial tedious world of images, where the own egoic mind projects itself.

Actually, there is only one Truth present, which is the Truth of this Silence of your Real Nature. Anything else is part of the production of the mind in this division between subject and object. As long as this remains, there is not Truth, Peace, Beauty… there is not Consciousness of the Presence of Grace. This way, the mind goes on searching for answers to the matters it creates.

Another aspect also present is the permanence of this psychological pain, which is like an alarm. This repetitive feeling that something is missing assumes a tedious form. Although you try to find an escape, such as the search for a psychological, philosophical or spiritual interpretation of this pain, this does not work. In reality, you are in this approach to Satsang because this pain has been pointed out. Everyone is experiencing this pain, for it is the pain of the sense of separation, of the mental life, of the life of this false “me,” with an objective world projected by itself, but you are present here because this was highlighted to you somehow.

I am not talking about pain as an idea, as another belief or imagination of the own mind, but as a very notorious alarm. So, when I say that suffering is illusion, I do not mean pain is not present for the one who feels it. It may seem the same, but, actually, it is not. Suffering is illusion, but as long as you do not perceive what exists behind it (I am talking about a direct perception, and not just another idea), this pain will continue. The truth is that if this illusion disappears, this pain cannot remain. However, we cannot talk about the end of illusion if you have a mere intellectual understanding or another belief about this.

So, I am not talking about pain as a concept, but as a perception, a direct sensation. It is very real until it has no reality. Once you have understood the Truth about Your Self, suffering cannot remain present there and this pain also disappears. This way, all that energy previously located in this pain is completely liberated and dissolved. It disappears in the Source of everything. We are working on this in these meetings! Mind must disappear in this Silence, becoming completely free from its movement of images, from its fears and beliefs.

It is also important to say this is not possible through a process of repression. It seems that the spiritual disciplines work a lot with this repression thing, and the various forms of disciplines applied to the mind are, in general, in this direction. So, it is not through repression that the Silence becomes possible, but through observation. Observation is the base of this investigation, of this “seeing” without beliefs, opinions, judgments, and comparisons. You need to observe every thought, feeling and reaction that arises without qualifying, condemning, judging them, doing nothing with this.

This is the state of unmotivated attention. Any motivation is just another movement of the mind, therefore, another movement of inattention. When there is full Attention, there is not motivation, there is only the own Attention, which is present when the ego is not present. Ego is synonymous with mind, and mind is synonymous with interest, with intention. One of the basic things in this Awakening is to find out the beauty of living without intentions, without interests, free from every form of ambition. So, when there is Attention, It naturally leads to the disappearance of this false “me,” of this illusion of the mind that divides itself in subject and object.

In this way, you may unpretentiously watch every thought, discontent, restlessness, image, feeling and thought that arises. In This a Perception of Totality appears. And since there is not this game of interest anymore, this subtle movement of the ego, every form of conflict disappears. How does it sound to you? You are only going to understand This by realizing This, observing everything with complete Attention.

This needs to become your real model of life. It cannot be a mere habit. It must be your breathing! You need to become aware of yourself, perceive yourself, until only this Attention remains. And Attention is the very Consciousness now! Only then does the word “Silence” make sense, which, as I have said in the beginning, is the only thing that matters. Now you know when there is only Silence, there is not the observer and the observed thing, subject and object, nor a thinker with his/her thought. This Real Silence, which is present when there is no sense of an experiencer with one’s experience, is Meditation.

The Natural State of Being is Meditation! Meditation is the Being in Its Natural State! So, this Intelligence, this Freedom, this ultimate Truth, is present, That, which is outside of the time, of the mind, this nameless “Thing.” This is the Truth of God! It is a complete Transformation without any decision, choice and resolution of you.

Life is not happening based on thought, but as a Mystery. When there is this Acknowledgment, you stop caring about understanding what happens, because you are not there anymore to be busy with this. There is not separation between You and this Mystery, this Manifestation of the Unknown, this Reality of God! This is the end of this life of superficiality, of lack, discomfort, boredom… It is the end of this mental model!

So, without this Natural State of Silence, of Truth, of Consciousness, nothing makes sense. And after this full Silence, this Truth, this Sense of Totality is present, once again, nothing makes any sense. Notice that it seems to be the same – before, life made no sense and today it keeps on making no sense or without meaning. Although, something has changed now: remembrances and thoughts may arise, but you know there is only Consciousness, and It is present permeating everything! It is a State of non-state, completely free of any burden, weight and direction. Here is the Mystery, the Truth!

*Online meeting transcription, originally held on October 11th, 2019. First published in Portuguese on March 24th, 2020. For more information about how to participate, click here.

The Truth About Who You Are

What is singular in this Realization is the fact that we are not facing anything we can describe in a positive way. We can point out what it is not That, and not what That Is. It is not like pointing at an object and saying, "Self-realization is similar to this." Self-realization is always beyond what the mind can describe, explain or translate.

The focus of your attention is always on things, ideas, situations, and people. So, you never find Yourself. You do not bring this focus to Yourself. Your focus is always on ideas, which are thoughts, objects, experiences, and perceptions. When you are working on this Realization, you need to become aware of your own Existence, of the importance of your Existence, and to bring your focus to Yourself.

Every habit, culture and addiction of yours is about turning to the exterior, to what is external to You. You are working to obtain an external fulfillment, to achieve what is outside. So, you do not have focus on Yourself, on your own Being, on your own Existence. You have to see how you work, to observe the motives and results of your actions. This way, you can go beyond that prison you created for yourself, for pure unconsciousness, for not knowing who You are.

Now, notice how interesting this is: by knowing what you are not, you can recognize your Real Nature, the Truth about Yourself. So, if you know, due to this investigation, that you are not the thoughts, the experiences, the sensations, and the external accomplishments, you can recognize your True Nature. This is how to make this prison - which you have built around yourself inadvertently, unconsciously – disappear.

You always carry this sense of "I Am," but this “I am” is immersed in external experiences, in the experiences of the mind, then you lose the real purity of that sense. So, this "I Am" is just something lost inside this prison of the experiencer, the thinker, the doer, which is an illusion. There is no experiencer, no "doer," no thinker. Here is the illusion! So, when you discover you are not this, you are in direct contact with the Truth about your Real Nature.

It is not enough just saying, "I am Consciousness," "I am God," "I am the Divine Presence." This is also another thought of the thinker. We are not interested in this here, because this is also illusion, belief, idea. One thing is sure: what is Real is not an imagination. It is not a belief. It is not a conclusion. It is not an idea. We are currently facing a moment in which many ideas about the Truth are being spread out, which is just another illusion. This is still inside the prison. Here, you cannot be interested in ideas! If you are interested in knowledge, you are in the wrong place.

What is Real is beyond knowledge and ignorance. Only the intellect is interested in knowledge. Your Being does not need to know, does not need to understand, does not need to learn. Once you are clearly aware of this, that no teaching can tell you anything about the Truth, about your Being, then you are ready to go beyond the imprisonment of theories and beliefs of knowledge.

Does that scare you somehow? All you need to do is to get rid of this tendency to seek definitions about who you are, to attempt to have an idea about That by listening to speeches and reading books, which would be just another imagination.

A piece of gold covered by dust continues to have the same value. The dust, in this piece of gold, does not threaten at all its value and beauty. What I mean is that all the illusion you have about yourself does not reduce at all the Truth about who You are. Every illusion, fear, misery and suffering does not diminish the present Truth of God. When that obsession with your mind and body disappears, there you are in your Real Nature, in your Being! All you need to do is to get rid of these tendencies of mistaking yourself for the mind and the body, of being focused on the outside, on exteriorities. The difference between the Sage and you is that the Sage is aware of his/her Natural State, of his/her Natural Being, while you are mistaking yourself for the illusion of a doer, a thinker, an experiencer.

Participant: How to become aware about That? How can the gold piece get rid of all the dust?

Master Gualberto: You discover this by being determined, being persistent, questioning it daily, in every moment. This must be your only purpose.

You are like a leaf going down the river. If you lose the purpose, this leaf will cling to one of the banks and stay there for a while. When you are back again to the purpose, the leaf detaches itself from the bank and continues to go down.

In Satsang, before a living Master, you are like a leaf going downstream. This leaf may even try to stop at one of the edges, but then a larger volume of water comes and washes down that leaf once again, detaching it from the bank again. Every time you try to remain in the old model of the egoic mind, there comes a new volume of water from that river, which is the Guru, Life, the Divine Presence, to drags you back into the water. Whenever you try to get attached to your old fears, desires, purposes, and outward accomplishments, a volume of water again releases you from one of these banks... You have to “go down” a little further.

This flowing with the river, with Life, with the Guru means acceptance, not resistance, and surrender. You find out that you cannot be attached to anything, absolutely anything, for things, people, and relationships come and go, experiences come and go. If you are attached to one of these things, you are stuck, standing on the bank of the river. In front of the presence of the Grace, you discover that all these are just clouds: experiences, sensations, thoughts, emotions, feelings, objects, people, places, achievements... Whatever of these things can imprison you! This is the old, the old dust; the very old dust over the piece of gold.

So, this prison you built around you can only be destroyed by a deep, honest, determined investigation of this illusion.

* Presential meeting transcription, originally held in Ramanashram Gualberto in Campos de Jordão city-SP-Brazil; on March, 2019. - First published in Portuguese on April 23th, 2020. For more information about how to participate, please click here:click here.

What is the “me”?

Participant: Is there any proof that we are puppets, that we do not have the power of choice and free will?

Marcos Gualberto: This work requires serious investigation. You need to understand all this in a direct way. You may ask a lot of questions and get a lot of answers, but none of this will matter at all, experientially, in a practical way. Thus, you have just theoretical and verbal explanations. After all, who is this one who asks for proofs? And to whom is this “me” asking for proofs?

All these questions are for this “me,” who carries all these dilemmas and problems, but you do not investigate its nature. So, you may have many answers, but this will only be in the intellectual level and will not solve the fundamental question: what is this “me”? It is this “me” that says you are happy or sad, you know or you do not, you had something and lost, you were born, you are going to die, you are fine or bad… It is always this “me”! These are only a few examples of thoughts centered on this “me.”

As you can perceive in yourself, thoughts are always centered on this “me,” revolving around this sense of “me.” That is, all the problems revolve around this “me” and you never wonder what it is. Is it real or an idea? For you, this “me” has free will, choice, and it can do things or not. We can keep theorizing and philosophizing about this; however, here I am inviting you to a direct investigation of the real meaning of the word “me.” What does it represent?

So, the question is: Who are you? What is this “me”? What are you being happy or sad? What are you knowing or not? What are you having something or losing it? What are you? What are you, who were born and will die? What are you feeling good or bad? You are constantly, all day long, saying “I”: “I was there,” “I came back,” “I arrived yesterday,” “I will go tomorrow,” “I was fine,” “I was sick...” all the time, every day! You use this pronoun many times!

However, what “I” are we talking about? You are identified with the body and with the experience that it is living, mistaking yourself for feelings, emotions and thoughts. That is why you use the pronoun “I,” but this is just a belief. You believe you are inside this body and there is a “me” living the experience. You may say, “It is me, because I feel it and the others do not.” So, once again you are mistaking the experience of feeling for a real entity present in it.

It is evident that this feeling is present in this organism and not in another one. However, this does not prove that you are a real entity in this experience. The only thing it proves is that this mechanism has the ability to feel, in particular, a sensation, an emotion, an experience.

So, you are constantly using this expression “me” without knowing what is the Truth about yourself. Thus, you may carry for many years or for a lifetime the idea that you are “someone,” because there is the feeling, the thinking, the sensation and the perception in this organism, in a particular way. To trust in this is to trust in illusion! This is not real! I am not saying the experience is not real; I am saying the “experiencer” is not real, which is different. I am not denying your experience. I am questioning the truth of “someone” present in it, the existence of a separate entity in it. That is what we investigate in Satsang.

From the moment I question this “me,” this “me” questions itself, it doubts itself. Then it allows room for doubts and it frees you up to Real Intelligence, above  the ordinary movement of the intellect, of the  beliefs, deductions, conclusions and logic. When it happens, you can discover the Truth of this Freedom, beyond the problems linked to this sense of “me.” So, all this suffering, questions and dilemmas linked to this sense of “person” may disappear.

You are not going to find the answer about Who You are. You are going to discover the illusion of the question, of the dilemma, of the problem linked to this illusory center, to this false center of the experience. This is what I called “to discover the Truth about you.” I do not tell people they will find the answer, because, actually, you can never find an answer in your mind, for this would be completely useless. An answer for the mind is its own answer, so it cannot be Real either.

*Online meeting transcription, originally held on January 10th, 2020 - First published in Portuguese on March 16th, 2020. For more information, click here.

There is only one way for real meditation to happen

Why are you here? What brings you to this meeting? When you look for a reason, you find out a feeling of deficiency, a kind of dissatisfaction or hunger for something that, at first, you do not know what it is. This places everyone in a movement of search. Your desire is to end this lack, this inadequacy, which ends up bringing you to Satsang. The most curious thing is that when you arrive in Satsang, you discover there is nothing missing, there is no such deficiency, there is nothing to obtain, to gain. The moment you perceive this, the search is over.

So, you are not in Satsang to seek anymore, but to rest in your Being, in your Divine Nature. To be in Satsang is no longer a movement of search, but of the joy of an encounter with yourself. This dissatisfaction, inadequacy or lack is something peripheral. Satsang is a process of self-investigation, of Realization, an encounter with the Truth that you bring. Here, you become free of that egocentric motivation. As the search always carries an egoic motivation, it is not the real path to the Truth. The search drives you away, it is the very own separation. That is why it takes some time for you to understand there is nothing to look for in Satsang.

Satsang is a process for you to see What is already here and now, something that is already complete and perfect! I am here to communicate this to you! There is not subject or object. There is only this unique Reality, this Consciousness, this Presence, the Truth of your Being. There is not meditator and meditation practice, nor meditator and objects. All this belongs to philosophy. These are concepts, beliefs, judgments …

So, all you are here for is to see this present Reality, which is the Truth about Yourself, this Consciousness that is already here and now. There is no need for search! In fact, the search wards you off from It. The truth is that you cannot know Who You are. The word “self-knowledge” is completely wrong, because you cannot know Who You are. The only thing possible is to Be Who You are. Knowing presupposes subject and object, observer and the observed thing, presupposes separation. In separation, what is seen is the illusion, the conflict.

This is not like knowing something... You are the Knowledge, not the known or the one who knows! You are the unique Knowledge, without "someone" to know what It means. So, it is not about search, movement, but about rest. Satsang is this rest, is the very process of Awakening, of recognizing the Divine Truth, the Truth of God here and now.

If you listen to a teacher, he/she will talk about progress that is achieved through a step-by-step process, from step 1 to 100, that is, that you will “progress until you get there.” Here, it is not a matter of “getting there” but of “disappearing.” I speak of the disappearance of the duality “subject-object,” “knower and known thing.” Only Knowledge remains, What It Is. This transcends duality, the separation between what you see and what is seen, between what you know and what is known. This is the core, the center of Real Meditation.

Every experience belongs to the subject, presupposes memory, knowledge, the past, but we are not interested in the experience. Remember this: experience presupposes knowledge, remembrance, memory, past. What was known by the subject presupposes, then, the one who knows. We are not interested in “being someone” in the experience, because this is within a reference of the past, of memory. What we are, is pure Knowledge here and now. It is neither known nor the knower. What we are cannot be experienced, and it is not possible to capture, to reach That, to grasp the Truth. Truth is your Being. It is your essential and timeless Nature. It is Meditation.

How is This seen? How can This be perceived without “someone” perceiving? How can this be seen without the observer? I have an answer for that: you need to listen to! Stay in that “listening” where everything is heard! Stay listening to what the thought, emotion, sensation and perception say. Do not interpret them, just listen. If you interpret, you enter the game again, but if you just listen to, the Truth is revealed. This is Meditation!

Meditation has nothing to do with exercises of expelling thoughts and forcing the mind to be silent. You can have an experience by doing this, which you will remember later. Every experience requires memory, past, subject and object, in which the object is the experience and the subject is the experiencer. Here we throw all this away and stay in this “listening to” what is going on inwardly and outwardly.

Notice that all the time I am showing you what Real Meditation is. When there is this “listening to,” everything is revealed in this Knowledge that You are. Notice this: it is not the knower knowing, it is Knowledge revealing itself... That Knowledge is synonymous with Truth, Wisdom, Consciousness. Isn't that beautiful?

There is only one way for real Meditation to happen: "you" cannot be there! Meditation only happens when “you” are not there. When “you” enter, Meditation is not there; when “you” do not enter, Meditation is there. Meditation reveals itself totally and completely in this “listening.” This movement is totally different from holding something. You cannot hold anything, because there is nothing to hold on to.

The problem is that the main belief you carry inside yourself is that there must be a time to work on this. That is, a condition and an opportune moment for that. You believe while you are working, you cannot do this; while you are in some intellectual or physical activity, you cannot do this. This is not true.

“Listening” is present while a thought, a speech and a physical movement take place. While an activity is going on, there is a “listening” to that activity. So is about talking, a thought, a sensation, an emotion, a perception...

However, you have to be like the fisherman, who does not control the fish or the water. He remains quiet! Is it not like this? The fisherman does not control the fish or the sea current. He just remains quiet. He throws the hook in the water with the bait and keep quiet, totally attentive! If he does not pay attention, he loses the fish. So, you have no control over "water," you have no control over the "fish,” but you can "be listening to." “Listening” is like the attention of the fisherman. He remains in that “listening.”

Meditation has nothing to do with what happens internally or externally. It is completely independent of what is happening right now. What is real exists on its own, and nothing can prevent It from remaining here and now, from Being what is. So, it is not a matter of gathering, accumulating... This is not like the work of the scientist or a scholar, who is gathering, accumulating some sort of knowledge. Meditation has nothing to do with accumulating anything, and you learn nothing from It! Real Meditation is present when there is only Knowledge. In fact, there is nothing to know and nobody who knows. There is only Knowledge. It is not about learning anything, accumulating anything, doing or stop doing anything. This is Meditation!

*Online meeting transcription, originally held on October 2nd, 2020. - First published in Portuguese on February 1st, 2020. For more information about how to participate, click here.

The relation between suffering and imagination

The person’s suffering is just one thing: to not accept what is presented here and now, to come into conflict with what is. What is, is! This is greater than this “me” and its desires, volition, intentions, motivations, imaginations… People are in suffering all the time because they are imagining all the time!

If you go fishing, you imagine catching a big fish. So, while this fish does not come, you suffer! Then, when the fish comes, you suffer too, because it is not what you expected. If you catch a bigger fish than you expected, you can say you do not suffer for it, but I tell you have suffered until this moment. The bigger fish has just come, you have a peak of satisfaction (you can count in the clock how long this great peak lasts, the great moment of satisfaction, of accomplishment), but when this moment is over, thought says: “Now, I have to catch one bigger than this!” But sometimes a smaller one comes, and then an even smaller one…

So, the movement of the mind is always for acquiring and then getting tired of. It was like this in your marriage, it was like this when your son was born… You had a moment of great joy, but today you see it is not the same thing anymore. The movement of the mind is always of winning and losing, of searching for sensation. This is the movement of the “person.” The “person” lives in this condition of psychological story, of imagination, in all aspects of this so-called person´s life. Whatever it desires, it is not enough! The mind always wants that and a little more. It suffers until it gets that, and after getting that, it finds out it was not exactly what it needed. Or apparently, it may have achieved the wish and felt satisfied for a moment, but then the movement of the mind comes to say that it needs to be different, it can be better, it is still bad. So, the movement of the mind is always dissatisfaction. It never fulfills itself, is never complete, because if this happens, it stops, loses importance, and imagination stops running. That is why you, in your Natural State, do not live in imagination, you are not in this “flight of fancy,” in this identification with the psychological movement of “me” – “me” as an object and a world outside to be achieved. Everything is present here, now. So, if you go fishing, you just go fishing…

I notice that the surprise is the element that has been assuming the place of imagination in my experience. So, you go fishing and the surprising element is such an interesting entertainment that it casts out the imagination element. “Let us see which fish will come!” So, there is no pain. Pain would be installed in an expectation, in the demand for catching a fish that might not come. So, this element of curiosity and surprise is very interesting!

Life with the element “surprise” instead of the element “imagination” is much more interesting, because the conflict is not needed, the pain of a frustrated expectation is not needed. This pain is always present for this unreal element, maintained and sustained by imagination, in this mechanism called “me.” So, you may have fun and, in fact, everything becomes surprisingly funny when there is no need to create an imaginary expectation about the next moment. Thus, the surprise, the unusual, the unexpected element, is much more interesting. This is present when we do not know, when we do not search for knowing, when we are not interested in knowing, when we have no psychological need of knowing; that is, when there is no imagination.

To live without expectation is to live without anxiety, without psychological future. People suffer because they are not here and now! They are in the past, in the future, and this is nothing but imagination. They have what to gain and what to lose. What can be lost causes fear and what can be gained is in the fantasy of a fulfillment of eternal happiness. This is the world of “me”: suffering! You won, caught the big fish (and this big fish may be anything: marriage, child, the own house, car…), “accomplished” it, but you did not realize Yourself! It is the nature of the mind! In its imaginary movement, it is natural to be dissatisfied, unhappy, and miserable. This is only possible when there is the illusion of time.

There is never Joy outside of the Now! You have the illusion of being able to be happy in a few minutes or within a certain time. Until then, you are sad… You are sad just because you are not happy yet! The mind is stupid! Joy is now! If Joy is not there, it is precisely because you want It to be here! For you, a goal needs to be achieved so Joy can be present, and this is pain, desire, anxiety, expectation, conflict!

So, everything you expect is frustration. I did not say that what you are going to find is frustration. I said that the movement of waiting is already the movement of frustration, for it has already placed you in the idealism outside of the present Reality, here and now.

If you do not find what You are, you are going to imagine what you are not! All you can do is to imagine what you are not! Actually, you are looking for Yourself, but you do this by moving in the imagination of objects, whereas what you look for is here and now, in what You are! But the mind does not know this, because it has been moving outwards for millennia, towards the senses, towards the experience, and not towards That what is out of the experience.

However, if you are Here, in your Being, the experience is beautiful! But if you are absorbed in this experience, you are completely alienated from Consciousness, which is Meditation. So, you live in frustration, because you live in expectation. If you discover what is to be Here, it does not matter where you are, you are always Here! Otherwise, you remain in this illusion of psychological time, always waiting for Joy, without ever asking yourself: “Who is this one waiting for?”

*Online meeting transcription, originally held on December 9th, 2019 - First published in Portuguese on March 08, 2020. For more information about online meetings and how to participate, click here.

The mind cannot capture That!

The mind is very curious and its search for knowledge is tireless. The mind is always looking for something that can feed itself, and nothing is more appetizing than understanding, which is born of knowledge. When there is knowledge, understanding happens; and for that, there must be descriptions, that is, words and images are necessary. And this is food for the mind. This constant hunger, this insatiable thirst for knowledge is common in the egoic mind.

When we speak of “egoic mind,” we are talking about the sense of separation, which is prison. Therefore, knowledge is within that prison, and that is why you cannot use it to understand what is Liberation. This is outside of mind! So, we are not dealing here with something to be understood by the mind.

Thus, we come to a point here: This cannot be understood, and therefore This cannot be seen until it reveals itself. The mind does not achieve this, because it will not "get there." This shows that an action of a totally unknown dimension is necessary for What is outside the known - that is, outside the mind - to be revealed. That is why Wisdom is not the result of knowledge, but of this revelation of the Unknown that I have called "Intelligence."

So, when we talk about Enlightenment, we are talking about the Awakening of the Unknown. It is something outside of what the mind knows. Here is the importance of Grace... Grace is this mysterious element capable of revealing itself as Liberation in this or that mechanism, organism. Then, this Liberation is an action of this Grace, which cannot be understood by the mind but can reveal itself and make itself known. This is the Mystery of Christ, of Buddha, of the Enlightened One.

So, no idea, no thought, no word can reach That! No thought can create a model about It. No idea can define It. No word can describe this Mystery called Liberation. Ideas and words cannot define It, and the mind cannot capture That! Now we are facing a paradox: the mind, which is an imagination, an overlap of Reality that is already present, may have the impression that this “Thing” is far away.

However, the only Reality is Liberation, That, which is here and now, present as your Natural State, which is the Grace. Every effort and movement is only a departure from That, which is here and now, present as pure Consciousness, as this Liberation unreachable by the mind, ideas, words, or thoughts.

Then, to realize This, is only possible in this self-revelation, in this very own action of Grace. This Liberation has nothing to do with the mind and its movement. It is this movement indeed that needs to stop for That, which is already present, to reveal itself.

What I am saying is that Liberation is covered, hidden by this movement of the mind. It is the mind that is hiding, camouflaging and making invisible What is already present as Consciousness, which is Liberation. It is like Liberation did not exist and the mind were real! That is a paradox! But it is only so for the mind, because it is the mind that sees it this way.

The mind sees itself as being real, as if it were the light, while the truth is that Consciousness is the Light, the Presence. It is like the moon believed it had its own light, that the light came from itself, while, in fact, it comes from the sun. That Consciousness is the sun! Let me translate this for you in a simpler way: you see yourself as a person and this is very real, but this is a mistaken view of the mind, because there is no "person."

This whole movement of listening, speaking, feeling or thinking is only a phenomenon of this Consciousness. That is, the real light is the sun and this phenomenon is only a movement of the moon with a borrowed shining light. So, the mind lives within this constant movement of searching for a meaning, and Liberation is the end of it.

The mind is searching for understanding life and its meaning, while Liberation reveals the meaning of Life. It is Life itself! This means there is no mind present in It, that is, there is nothing to seek or understand.

Thus, there is no meaning at all! If that becomes clear, the illusion ends and so does suffering, which is the mind in this constant search for life and its meaning. This movement of the mind is basically separation and, therefore, duality, which sustains all forms of conflict, confusion and suffering.

When I put this here, it is for you to see This! Language, by its very nature, only describes duality. It speaks of events, experiences, thoughts, feelings, phenomena... So, there is no language, no verbal or thought expression that can describe That, which is outside of duality.

So, the Real is not being explained in this meeting. I am pointing out the Real, but I am not describing It, because the Truth cannot be described. I talk to you about the Unknown, but This remains unknown, unless It reveals itself through Silence, through Consciousness itself, which is "the Sun," that Real Light.

The instant that Light, this Sun, which is Consciousness, predominates, illusion is no longer important. So the “moon” can no longer try to pass for what it is not. There is not "someone" there! That is why in this Awakening, this constant sense of “being a person” looking for the meaning of life, loses its importance completely, ends immediately.

All are quite addicted to this search for the meaning for what happens, for what they believe to be and to do. So, they spend many years busy with the “person,” judging, comparing, interpreting, and they don't realize they are just small pieces of a chess game or puppets.

There is an invisible hand moving these pieces, playing with these dolls, giving these puppets an apparent life. Have you ever seen a puppet play? Those dolls look like they are alive! They talk, move, dance, but there is a pair of hands doing that.

That is life: a game. A puppet play is just a game, funny for those who watch it. There is nothing serious going on. One puppet sings, the other dances, other talks about "important" things, another one represents an intelligent teacher... You see all kinds of things there!

What I mean is that there is nothing serious happening, that you are not living "your life.” There is only one Life, and It is playing as being "you." You are not real. You are just a little doll who believes that can resolve, decide and choose things.

I know it is disheartening to hear this. You will seek a second opinion to find out if this is true, but you will not discover it in the mind, because only Grace can reveal It. This revelation of the Grace is an expression of Consciousness, which is Meditation.

In short: you only have problems because you believe you exist! You only suffer because you believe you have or can have things! Nisargadatta said that the world is full of hooks and the person is always stuck on them. By this, he meant that no person has freedom, that the “sense of person” is necessarily a prison. So, everything you "own" imprisons you, all you "have" is your prison.

*Online meeting transcription, originally held on October 28th, 2019. - First published in Portuguese on February 5th, 2020. For more information about how to participate, click here.

An invitation to this Freedom of Being the pure and timeless Consciousness!

The only thing that matters to you at this meeting is to be in this Attention, which is the basis of Consciousness. Follow not only the words, but also where they happen. Words are like inks on a canvas representing something. While the words are happening, there is something present prior to them: the Silence. So, when we are in Satsang, we are seeing words being put at the service of this investigation, but the present Reality is this background of Silence, which carries no history. You call as “mind” these images appearing, being registered in this present Reality, which is the basis of everything. This basis, this Silence, this Consciousness is the unique Reality.

The purpose here is for you to have this direct contact with Reality. You are discovering the importance of the end of the personal history, which is what causes the impression that there is someone doing things and making decisions, choosing; whereas, actually, this “someone” is an illusion. Since there is no reality in the “person,” your personal history is not true, but this is what causes all this impression.

What I am saying is that there is no “someone.” Life, the Existence, or whatever is presented, is a phenomenon of this Consciousness. Thought has personalized this, bringing the idea of a character present in this, but this is not real. You are Consciousness, not a character with a history. All agitation, problem, confusion, disorder and suffering arise because of this identification with the idea there is this “someone.”

So, while this remains, agitation remains, as well as frustration, suffering, fear, lack, this psychological pain… This is the inheritance of the character, of the illusion of “me.” Because of this belief, which has a very strong base of identification with the body, this psychological disposition, this contraction, this sense of “person” takes place. All ignorance is this history, and all history is this ignorance. It is just like this.

In Life, everything is happening as it needs to and must happen, within its own way. There is no one making this happen. This “I,” this “me,” this “sense of person” with all its history, is just part of what is happening. Does it make any sense to you? This is not how you see and perceive Life, because you are seeing everything from a point of view based on the belief there is an entity present in this illusory sense of a present “me.”

So, this “I” that has a name, a body and a history is pure identification with a belief, with this contraction in the body sustained by feelings, emotions and thoughts. Meditation is the art of remaining free from this contraction, from this identification with feelings, thoughts, emotions and sensations. The truth is that everything is happening but without any purpose. Everything is just a manifestation of this Consciousness, without any specific purpose.

For the egoic mind, for this “sense of person,” everything has to be happening within a purpose. This idea of a purpose is the sense of history, of the private and personal history, but this is not real.

While this individual sense of “person” is being felt as something real and present, the history is important and must carry some purpose. This because there is a sense of a “me” going somewhere, accomplishing something, conquering or getting rid of something; whereas, in reality, all of this is just a game, the game of life, and none of this is as it seems to be. Life is What is, and what happens is only what happens, without any purpose. There is no “someone” in this! It sounds very weird for the egoic mind. Therefore, this “reality” called “past, present and future” is, in fact, only made by ideas, concepts and beliefs.

Freedom lies in the Nature of Being, which is this Presence, this Consciousness without purpose. So, time, space, cause, effect, action, reaction, goals and purposes are mental concepts. Your Being is Free, remains Free and does not know this history of the mind, of imagination. Therefore, there is nothing to be obtained, learned or understood. Anything that is obtained, learned or understood is still part of the mind and its history, then it is still part of illusion.

I want to invite you to this Freedom of Being the pure and timeless Consciousness! This is the Divine Reality, the Reality of God! In India, they call This Moksha, which is Liberation. To be in your Being is Liberation! The nature of thought is imagination, whereas the Nature of Consciousness is Freedom! The mind lives within this model of thought, whereas your Being is out of it. Meditation, as your Natural State, reveals this.

I am not saying that the thought, the sensation, the perception and the emotion represent a problem. What I am saying is that this phenomenon is part of time, which is this notion of past, present and future, which is still in the mind. All this is not You, your Being, your Real Nature, but just a phenomenon that comes and goes. Therefore, it has no reality.

The problem lies in mistaking yourself for these phenomena, in not having a Real Realization about Yourself, a "remembrance" of your Real Nature, of your True Being. So, you end up in this confusion, in this mistake.

Some have been dedicating their lives in search of this Liberation, but they are doing this within a story. So, they dedicate their lives in a constant search for spiritual experiences, in several practices. However, this is another illusion, because it implicates the idea there is “someone” who can achieve this Liberation through some action or extraordinary spiritual experience. Actually, there is no “someone” to achieve This! The truth is there is no “someone” and there is not anything, anywhere!

You are this Consciousness! Our work together is for you to have this Direct Realization. Being is your Nature! This private history is full of conflicts, crises, dilemmas, problems and adversities. Disidentify from this, from this private history. There is only What Is, and this is not personal. It does not carry history. Abandon this thought about a future Realization, a spiritual evolution or an extraordinary experience. All this is part of this model of thinking, of this search for a purpose that the thought creates, that the egoic mind creates.

*Online meeting transcription, originally held on December 9th, 2019 - First published in Portuguese on February 20th, 2020. For more information about online meetings and how to participate, click here.