The opportunity to live outside of the countless mind’s conflicts is inexplicable and unspeakable. The ordinary mind has the difficulty to accepting its self-limitation, so it won’t give up its self-confidence and notice its limitation so easily. The mind won´t accept to be told it is unreal.
Who are you when you wake up, walk or drive a car? If you hear a voice telling you this is just an appearance of a functioning mechanism, that everything is happening without a present identity, your mind will reject it right away. It cannot notice its self-limitation so easily, because the very own structure of all mind’s beliefs lies in the illusion of present identity within the experience of talking, walking, driving a car and so on.
When you study music, you learn there is something called “tonal center” around which the music happens. Similarly, this supposed identity you believe to be has a central point around which all its movements take place. What central point is that? It is what I have been calling as "imagination." This false identity believes to be talking, walking, driving, choosing, acting… and the illusion of a personal and private central point must be present for this movement to exist. This sense of a separate individuality, this central point, is what I have been naming as "imagination."
Therefore, your feelings, thoughts, emotions, sensations, and actions are not yours, they are not "someone's.” In fact, the body and the mind are functioning, but there is no particular, individual central point, although there is an individual brain with seemingly particular experiences. You are “functioning,” but there is no present entity within that act of functioning. The act of “functioning” is entirely part of the Existence, that I have also named as Consciousness.
Our work here is for you to find out That in a straightforward way. We are not dealing with one more idea or set of beliefs. This is not another concept being shared to you so that you believe in it. This is the non-duality, non-separateness Perception, in which there is no "person." So, when we talk about walking, talking, driving a car, thinking or feeling, all this is happening but not the way thought believes.
I know the thought of being a “person” is very subtle. "I saw”; “I exist”; “I am”; “I have”; “I do…" These are thought’s expressions and experiences’ descriptions, but they are only a form of belief. All this is just this “me,” a reference to explain what happens. The point here is: Existence needs no justification for what It does. However, the mind needs to create an explanation, and it does that through imagination. This way, the mind creates a “me” to feel or to do, to be a hero or a victim, to choose, to decide, to be responsible for or not, to take responsibility for or to get rid of the guilt of the responsibility.
So, things can go well or bad, but there will always be this illusion that they are happening to "someone" or being done by "someone." Some people may even say: “I am not the one doing this. Now I am free, there is no ‘me’.” However, these statements are still imaginary. The belief now lies on the non-existence of a “me” while previously it lay on the existence of a “me” – that is, the concept is still present. The truth is that if there is still any sense of a “me”, be it gross or subtle, even if you proclaim yourself a free, realized or enlightened one, even if you call yourself "Buddha," "Christ," or "Supreme Truth," those denominations will be just more ideas, more concepts and beliefs. This notion of a "me" assumes there is a separate entity, separate from Reality, from the Existence itself, from the Consciousness. Once you are able to see That, you can no longer play the game. This is the game of conceptual illusion, in which you can be on one side - of those who believe in the existence of a separate entity - or on the other side - of those who do not believe in a separate identity. However, the game is the same and goes on. There are many circles of discussion, many places where this issue of non-separation or non-duality is addressed, but everything still revolves around this same game, as it is not possible to solve this issue in this manner: having a belief as the reference, be it the belief in the “me” or in the “non-me”.
Who are you when you wake up, walk or drive a car? If you hear a voice telling you this is just an appearance of a functioning mechanism, that everything is happening without a present identity, your mind will reject it right away. It cannot notice its self-limitation so easily, because the very own structure of all mind’s beliefs lies in the illusion of present identity within the experience of talking, walking, driving a car and so on.
When you study music, you learn there is something called “tonal center” around which the music happens. Similarly, this supposed identity you believe to be has a central point around which all its movements take place. What central point is that? It is what I have been calling as "imagination." This false identity believes to be talking, walking, driving, choosing, acting… and the illusion of a personal and private central point must be present for this movement to exist. This sense of a separate individuality, this central point, is what I have been naming as "imagination."
Therefore, your feelings, thoughts, emotions, sensations, and actions are not yours, they are not "someone's.” In fact, the body and the mind are functioning, but there is no particular, individual central point, although there is an individual brain with seemingly particular experiences. You are “functioning,” but there is no present entity within that act of functioning. The act of “functioning” is entirely part of the Existence, that I have also named as Consciousness.
Our work here is for you to find out That in a straightforward way. We are not dealing with one more idea or set of beliefs. This is not another concept being shared to you so that you believe in it. This is the non-duality, non-separateness Perception, in which there is no "person." So, when we talk about walking, talking, driving a car, thinking or feeling, all this is happening but not the way thought believes.
I know the thought of being a “person” is very subtle. "I saw”; “I exist”; “I am”; “I have”; “I do…" These are thought’s expressions and experiences’ descriptions, but they are only a form of belief. All this is just this “me,” a reference to explain what happens. The point here is: Existence needs no justification for what It does. However, the mind needs to create an explanation, and it does that through imagination. This way, the mind creates a “me” to feel or to do, to be a hero or a victim, to choose, to decide, to be responsible for or not, to take responsibility for or to get rid of the guilt of the responsibility.
So, things can go well or bad, but there will always be this illusion that they are happening to "someone" or being done by "someone." Some people may even say: “I am not the one doing this. Now I am free, there is no ‘me’.” However, these statements are still imaginary. The belief now lies on the non-existence of a “me” while previously it lay on the existence of a “me” – that is, the concept is still present. The truth is that if there is still any sense of a “me”, be it gross or subtle, even if you proclaim yourself a free, realized or enlightened one, even if you call yourself "Buddha," "Christ," or "Supreme Truth," those denominations will be just more ideas, more concepts and beliefs. This notion of a "me" assumes there is a separate entity, separate from Reality, from the Existence itself, from the Consciousness. Once you are able to see That, you can no longer play the game. This is the game of conceptual illusion, in which you can be on one side - of those who believe in the existence of a separate entity - or on the other side - of those who do not believe in a separate identity. However, the game is the same and goes on. There are many circles of discussion, many places where this issue of non-separation or non-duality is addressed, but everything still revolves around this same game, as it is not possible to solve this issue in this manner: having a belief as the reference, be it the belief in the “me” or in the “non-me”.
*Online meeting transcription, originally held on the night of April 13, 2020 - First published in Portuguese on August 11, 2020. For further information about the meetings and how to participate, click here.
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