So, what is the objective of this meeting? You know this meeting is known as Satsang, which means “encounter with the Truth.” But what does Truth mean? If it is the Truth, then It is beyond every explanation, denomination and characteristic, including being aware of what represents the Void. If we are talking about Reality, we are dealing with Something beyond everything the mind can understand and explain.
The point of this meeting here is the Awakening of your True Nature, your Real Identity, this Reality, but how can we address That using words? If this Reality or Truth precedes every phenomenon, It cannot be described. So, this is the first point: you need to abandon what you know and try to not understand intellectually what we are addressing here. You cannot reach That intellectually, as It cannot be learned by the mind. Everything you know lies in the sphere of the phenomena. The very idea you have about yourself is imaginary: the idea of an imagined identity.
So, this space called Satsang is the real way to approach the encounter with the Truth. Something inside yourself knows that sensation of being present and aware, and that is your True Nature – This is what we are dealing with in Satsang. That is Reality but, for sure, beyond reason, explanation, the known; it is unknowable as an object; it is beyond the mind. In these meetings, we usually use the expression "Being", but Truth does not concern "being" or "not being" – it is unknowable, beyond all that!
Your problem here is the temptation to consider Truth as an idea – the idea of “Being,” of “Consciousness” or even of a more objective thing. For example, people look for peace, for the feeling of peace, but they are actually looking for their idea of peace as a state. That is also how it works with freedom or happiness. If you know this state of peace, freedom, consciousness, it is objective. Isn’t it? So that is the point: what you are looking for is still objective, known, and not what we are dealing with here. I am saying What You are is beyond what is known, and This is not a state of peace, of freedom, of consciousness you know, that is still part of the mind.
This is a very interesting aspect, since people practice meditation to find peace, but they end up finding the “peace of meditation,” which is only a known state and still part of the mind. Through some technique and emptying some mind’s content, a state of peace can be experienced and therefore people go after that desperately. Nevertheless, it is not a real state yet, since it is not the Truth; it is only a state. Truth is not a state.
The peace you know through meditation practices is a state that disappears when that meditation is not present. So, this meditation technique or practice benefits this state of peace or freedom, but that is not Reality, the Truth of your Being, your True Nature yet. What You are is beyond every state and experience, beyond everything the mind can catch, explain or experience. Something inside there precedes this known “peace” and “freedom,” as well as the so-called “being” or “not being.”
No matter how subtle and appreciable these states are, they are still part of the known, therefore still within the mind. These states are experiences that can be apprehended, understood or recognized, and that is not what we are talking about in Satsang. Here, we will “clean this land” completely, for we have to get rid of all this. Here, I am talking about non-conceptual, non-descriptive, non-experiential Consciousness, unknown by the mind; the Consciousness preceding that "awareness,” that "peace" or that "freedom," which are only states.
So, this Consciousness, synonymous with Truth or Reality, lies not within the experience. It is the basis of everything, but also beyond everything! You are beyond every experience as pure, absolute and supreme Consciousness. This primordial, non-conceptual Reality is not limited, conditioned, attached to time. It is that non-conceptual Consciousness, the pure and absolute Consciousness. You are Consciousness before being aware of, before knowing this “I Am”.
What I am talking to you comes from direct experience here. This is the Vision of Reality or Truth; it is not Ramana Maharshi’s, Nisargadatta’s, Buddha’s, Jesus or Gualberto’s vision. This is the Vision of Reality, of What You are, that precedes absolutely everything! The Reality or the Truth of your Essential Nature cannot be understood, explained, achieved nor lost. What You are never stops being, and what you are not, will never be!
When you wake up in the morning, “consciousness” woke up. In this "state of consciousness,” which is only a state of Consciousness, you perceive the mind, the body and the world, exactly in that order. You have first the perception of the “me;” followed by the perception of the body and of the world. However, the perception of “me, body and world” is only this awakened “consciousness” – consciousness as a state, as a mind-body-world experience. These states are only appearances, only credulous phenomena of the mind, in the mind, and not What You Are. None of this is What You Are!
When you identify with any of these appearances (mind, body and world), you give rise to that misconception of “person” – the illusion of an individual, separate identity, having “free will,” choices, wills and determination. The search for liberation itself is also another illusion to this entity. This search causes all suffering, all doubts and fears. All of this is simply the awareness of coming and going states and phenomena.
That state of consciousness disappears in deep sleep or under drug effect, so it is clearly a transitory state that comes and goes. At some point, it appears, and at another, it is no longer there, so that state is only an experience, and What You Are is beyond that. It should be clear to you: this is a state that creates the notion of time and space, of body, mind and world. Time, space, body, mind and world are linked to this phenomenon called “state of consciousness.” What You are, is beyond the mind, the body, the world and, therefore, beyond this “state of consciousness” that comes and goes, that disappears in deep sleep or under some heavy drug effect.
The wonder of these meetings called Satsang lies in dealing here with the Real Awakening, different from the awakening from a sleep state in the morning, when you become aware of the world, the body and the mind. The beauty of this Real Awakening is the direct experience of your Real Nature, which is the Reality, the Truth.
It is like the Sun... The Sun reflects nothing, but everything reflects the Sun; everything shines with it, but the Sun shines with nothing. Wherever you find light, there will be the Sun, but the Sun itself is always alone. You can see every object under the sunlight, but the Sun is its own light, its very own light. If an object appears, you notice its light, but the light of that object is the sunlight reflected in it. This object’s presence is provided by the Sun, yet nothing provides the presence of the Sun, but itself. So is your True Nature, God’s Nature in Yourself, the Nature of Reality, of Truth, which is in Itself self-effulgent, self-shining, self-resplendent and unnamable.
In this Real Awakening, this Intelligence, this Wisdom, this Vision of Truth is self-effulgent. In It, You now, as Consciousness, need no borrowed light; you do not need the light of experience, knowledge, practice or knowing, as you are like the Sun, you have your own light. When you Realize the Self, You are in your Unconditional, Original position. That is your Original State, your Natural State of Being! Your Nature is essentially pure, non-conceptual; You are the Truth or the absolute Reality!
The point of this meeting here is the Awakening of your True Nature, your Real Identity, this Reality, but how can we address That using words? If this Reality or Truth precedes every phenomenon, It cannot be described. So, this is the first point: you need to abandon what you know and try to not understand intellectually what we are addressing here. You cannot reach That intellectually, as It cannot be learned by the mind. Everything you know lies in the sphere of the phenomena. The very idea you have about yourself is imaginary: the idea of an imagined identity.
So, this space called Satsang is the real way to approach the encounter with the Truth. Something inside yourself knows that sensation of being present and aware, and that is your True Nature – This is what we are dealing with in Satsang. That is Reality but, for sure, beyond reason, explanation, the known; it is unknowable as an object; it is beyond the mind. In these meetings, we usually use the expression "Being", but Truth does not concern "being" or "not being" – it is unknowable, beyond all that!
Your problem here is the temptation to consider Truth as an idea – the idea of “Being,” of “Consciousness” or even of a more objective thing. For example, people look for peace, for the feeling of peace, but they are actually looking for their idea of peace as a state. That is also how it works with freedom or happiness. If you know this state of peace, freedom, consciousness, it is objective. Isn’t it? So that is the point: what you are looking for is still objective, known, and not what we are dealing with here. I am saying What You are is beyond what is known, and This is not a state of peace, of freedom, of consciousness you know, that is still part of the mind.
This is a very interesting aspect, since people practice meditation to find peace, but they end up finding the “peace of meditation,” which is only a known state and still part of the mind. Through some technique and emptying some mind’s content, a state of peace can be experienced and therefore people go after that desperately. Nevertheless, it is not a real state yet, since it is not the Truth; it is only a state. Truth is not a state.
The peace you know through meditation practices is a state that disappears when that meditation is not present. So, this meditation technique or practice benefits this state of peace or freedom, but that is not Reality, the Truth of your Being, your True Nature yet. What You are is beyond every state and experience, beyond everything the mind can catch, explain or experience. Something inside there precedes this known “peace” and “freedom,” as well as the so-called “being” or “not being.”
No matter how subtle and appreciable these states are, they are still part of the known, therefore still within the mind. These states are experiences that can be apprehended, understood or recognized, and that is not what we are talking about in Satsang. Here, we will “clean this land” completely, for we have to get rid of all this. Here, I am talking about non-conceptual, non-descriptive, non-experiential Consciousness, unknown by the mind; the Consciousness preceding that "awareness,” that "peace" or that "freedom," which are only states.
So, this Consciousness, synonymous with Truth or Reality, lies not within the experience. It is the basis of everything, but also beyond everything! You are beyond every experience as pure, absolute and supreme Consciousness. This primordial, non-conceptual Reality is not limited, conditioned, attached to time. It is that non-conceptual Consciousness, the pure and absolute Consciousness. You are Consciousness before being aware of, before knowing this “I Am”.
What I am talking to you comes from direct experience here. This is the Vision of Reality or Truth; it is not Ramana Maharshi’s, Nisargadatta’s, Buddha’s, Jesus or Gualberto’s vision. This is the Vision of Reality, of What You are, that precedes absolutely everything! The Reality or the Truth of your Essential Nature cannot be understood, explained, achieved nor lost. What You are never stops being, and what you are not, will never be!
When you wake up in the morning, “consciousness” woke up. In this "state of consciousness,” which is only a state of Consciousness, you perceive the mind, the body and the world, exactly in that order. You have first the perception of the “me;” followed by the perception of the body and of the world. However, the perception of “me, body and world” is only this awakened “consciousness” – consciousness as a state, as a mind-body-world experience. These states are only appearances, only credulous phenomena of the mind, in the mind, and not What You Are. None of this is What You Are!
When you identify with any of these appearances (mind, body and world), you give rise to that misconception of “person” – the illusion of an individual, separate identity, having “free will,” choices, wills and determination. The search for liberation itself is also another illusion to this entity. This search causes all suffering, all doubts and fears. All of this is simply the awareness of coming and going states and phenomena.
That state of consciousness disappears in deep sleep or under drug effect, so it is clearly a transitory state that comes and goes. At some point, it appears, and at another, it is no longer there, so that state is only an experience, and What You Are is beyond that. It should be clear to you: this is a state that creates the notion of time and space, of body, mind and world. Time, space, body, mind and world are linked to this phenomenon called “state of consciousness.” What You are, is beyond the mind, the body, the world and, therefore, beyond this “state of consciousness” that comes and goes, that disappears in deep sleep or under some heavy drug effect.
The wonder of these meetings called Satsang lies in dealing here with the Real Awakening, different from the awakening from a sleep state in the morning, when you become aware of the world, the body and the mind. The beauty of this Real Awakening is the direct experience of your Real Nature, which is the Reality, the Truth.
It is like the Sun... The Sun reflects nothing, but everything reflects the Sun; everything shines with it, but the Sun shines with nothing. Wherever you find light, there will be the Sun, but the Sun itself is always alone. You can see every object under the sunlight, but the Sun is its own light, its very own light. If an object appears, you notice its light, but the light of that object is the sunlight reflected in it. This object’s presence is provided by the Sun, yet nothing provides the presence of the Sun, but itself. So is your True Nature, God’s Nature in Yourself, the Nature of Reality, of Truth, which is in Itself self-effulgent, self-shining, self-resplendent and unnamable.
In this Real Awakening, this Intelligence, this Wisdom, this Vision of Truth is self-effulgent. In It, You now, as Consciousness, need no borrowed light; you do not need the light of experience, knowledge, practice or knowing, as you are like the Sun, you have your own light. When you Realize the Self, You are in your Unconditional, Original position. That is your Original State, your Natural State of Being! Your Nature is essentially pure, non-conceptual; You are the Truth or the absolute Reality!
*Online meeting transcription originally held on January 24th, 2020 - First published in Portuguese on October 20th, 2020. For further information about our meetings, please, click here.
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