A prisoner of the mind

Once you start trusting what thought says... Notice, this is something happening since childhood. From the earliest age, you give credibility to thoughts. All we do is trust in what thought says.

We even carry the illusion we are the authors of these thoughts, that these thoughts are our creation, which in fact isn't true. Thought is something learned. Thought is something copied.

Another thing about thought is that it is just a transient appearance, while You are immutable, although your body changes and the whole psychological structure is constantly changing. You remain unchanged in your Being.

So, your Divine Reality doesn't alter, doesn't change, but thought is something constantly changing, just like feelings, emotions, and bodily sensations.

So, once you start trusting thoughts, which is what happens since childhood, you become a prisoner of the mind – that's the expression. Mind becomes a prison.

Then, your Being that, paradoxically, remains entirely dissociated and free…It temporarily experiences a prison.

Once you're identified with what thought says, you become a prisoner of the mind.

The observation of this movement, the attention on this movement is the basis for Meditation, for the discarding of this identification. Then, you can dissociate yourself from what You are not.

So, this story thought has about who you are, throughout this time, has formed an image within you, which is the image you have of yourself. Based on this image, you are in a prison.

Your work of Self-Realization is the work of acknowledging your Divine Nature, which, by the way, will not be self-realized. It remains completely dissociated and already free, but, paradoxically, I repeat, this is not the way you see yourself since you see yourself based on this self-image, in this prison, the mind's prison, in which you move like a prisoner.

Therefore, anxiety, loneliness, anguish, any form of psychological suffering, lies in this ignorance. The basis of these lie in the fact of this present illusion, the illusion of a supposed entity, and now I can say, a supposed prisoner of mind, moving like this.

Self-investigation, which is the basis for this Meditation, which is this attention to all this internal movement, inside you, is what allows you to see all this illusion, everything that thought has engendered, has shaped, has produced based on the illusion of this self-image.

Here lies the possibility of a straightforward answer to the end of this internal confusion, for the end of all this disorder, for the end of this suffering, for the end of this anguish, these states of pessimism, defeatism, negativism, as well as the end of the illusion of pride, envy, of showing partiality to people, of the illusion of being a person and so forth.

So, here the point is: find out the Truth about who You are and go beyond the illusion, this illusion of prisoner, of a mind's prisoner, of a prisoner of everything that mind represents.

January, 2022
Gravatá-PE, Brazil
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How to observe the mind?

The question is: how to observe the mind? The question is here: how to observe the mind? By becoming conscious of the mind!

So, let's put this in a simple way: the acknowledgement of the Truth about who You are lies in the attention you pay to yourself. The condition of the egoic mind, the condition of the ordinary mind, the condition of this sense of separation, which is the sense of "me"… First, you need to see this, you need to become aware of this. You'll never be aware of this if you don't become aware of mind's movement!

Then, I say: you don't exist as you believe you do. You're not a person. The "sense of person" is a fraud, an illusion. So, you listen to it and you may, at first, find it strange or even interesting. But as long as you don't pay attention to this internal movement, which is this movement of observing every proposal of thought, of everything thought represents, everything it means, all the internal floating of remembrances, memories, feelings, emotions… as long as you don't observe this, you don't really become aware of the simple Truth that there is no "person" present.

You move with this "sense of person," just as a condition of memory. This memory condition has formed an image of itself. This image of itself is what you believe yourself to be.

Thus, when you refer to yourself using the pronoun "I," actually, you don't know what it represents. You are referring to this movement of memory, to this sense of personality that was acquired through these years.

So, if you ask me: "How to observe?"… Observing! You need to pay attention to yourself. Thought is not who You are. A feeling is not who You are. An emotion arising is not who You are. Therefore, all of these can be observed. Just like you can observe a cold sensation in the body – and you get a blanket to be warmer, naturally searching for comfort – this cold sensation can be, in the same way, observed in the body. And if it can be observed in the body, whatever is in your mind can be observed as well, because, just like your body is not You, this Consciousness that witnesses, observes and watches sensations in the body, this same Consciousness is the Truth that witnesses, that observes, that can be fully aware of the so-called "mind's movement."

This is fundamental, essential! You'll never know the Freedom of your own Being, the Happiness of your True Nature, which is the Divine Nature, while you remain mistaking yourself and getting tangled up with… I've been using the expression "identifying" with the egoic mind. In the same way, once you identify with the mind, you end up also identifying with the body.

I've used the example of the cold just now. A hot or cold sensation in the body is a sensation in an object witnessed by Consciousness. As this habit of identifying with the mind is so ingrained and so strong, you also end up mistaking yourself for the body.

See, the body is an appearance in this Consciousness, as is the mind an appearance in this Consciousness, but this Consciousness that is You, your Real Being, your Real "Identity", doesn't mistake Itself for this.

Observing mind's movement is important… It will give you, over the course of time, the liberation of identifying with the body. You disidentify with the mind, you disidentify with the body. This identification with the body is broken. This identification with the mind is broken. Then, if your question is: "How to observe the mind?"… You pay attention to this!

When thought arises, when feeling arises, it is the same for a bodily sensation arising… It can be observed, witnessed by Consciousness. Then, the way to Liberation from this egoic complexity, this suffering, this false identity, the way is this attention, this observation about "who I am," or about "what I am," here and now.

January, 2022
Gravatá-PE, Brazil
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The Wisdom of Silence

I have been emphasizing the matter of Meditation. Meditation is essential since Meditation is the basis for Wisdom. Meditation is what gives you the Acknowledgement of the Truth about who You are.

So, completely free from all the illusion thought creates, you are in a direct contact with the Wisdom of Silence, which is the Wisdom of your Being.

Your Being is Silence! This is the Truth of who You are: Silence, the complete absence of story, of memory. This entire story, all this memory, is attached and connected to this physical form, to this mechanism, to this organism, and there is no "you." Your Nature is Silence. I'd say your True Nature is the Wisdom of Silence.

Thus, Meditation is the basis for this Acknowledgement. The authenticity of your Divine Being is this Silence. When there is Silence, in this Silence, Intelligence shows itself, Intelligence reveals itself.

It's interesting to say that Intelligence is synonymous with Love, Real Love. When there is this Intelligence, which is this Silence, we are before True Love, the Unconditional and Real Divine Love.

I've been emphasizing the importance of this work in yourself. You are here to realize This, to realize the Acknowledgement of this Silence, the Silence of your Being, the Silence of Wisdom.

The Divine Comprehension, God's Truth, this Unicity, this Divine Reality, is the Reality of Meditation. See, it's not Meditation as a technique or practice. This is not what we're talking about. We're talking about Meditation as an appearance, as an emergence that, actually, we could put better as the flourishing of your Being.

This is your Real, Natural State, of Meditation, which is Consciousness, which is what I've just called the Silence of Wisdom, the Silence of your Being, the Truth of who You are.

Every suffering you experience, or you've been experiencing until now, is because of this separation, the separation from the Truth about yourself. When busy listening to the mind, you ward yourself off from Truth and suffer. It's the suffering of a false identity, which is not You since your True Nature is the Nature of Silence, which is Wisdom, which is Love, which is Peace, which is Happiness.

January, 2022
Gravatá-PE, Brazil
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Live without worries

My recommendation is for you to live free and keep yourself free from psychological occupations.

The basis of all concern is psychological occupations. All the mind does is to create psychological occupations, and with that, it survives under its own condition.

The Freedom of Being What You Are frees you completely from this psychological occupation. And therefore, It frees you from all forms of worries. Worry is just thought anticipation of some negative situation that may occur, but that will not necessarily happen.

What I mean is that many of the psychological occupations you have, may or may not happen, and thought is creating that all the time.

One of the strategies of the ego, of this false identity, is to keep itself alive through suffering, and the thought of a negative anticipation, which is what produces worries, is one of the ways the egoic mind uses to stay alive inside you.

The measure for that is, once again, to become aware of this movement, which is the movement of this ego-identity, the movement of this false center, this false "me." Mind lives and is reinforced by conflicts. Ego lives and is reinforced by problems. And thoughts are problems. Your Real Nature, your True Nature, dismiss the movement of thoughts. It is assertive with what happens here and now. In an intelligent, lively and real way, It always knows and can deal with what happens here and now.

But what does thought do? As a matter of habit, you have already, for a long, long time, been identified with this process of thoughts, especially negative thoughts, of failure, of defeat, of inadequacy, of non-results... But, in fact, thought is always thought. Whether it is positive or negative, it is actually useless from the viewpoint of Consciousness, from the viewpoint of Reality.

Learning to deal with yourself, learning to respond to the challenge that presents itself here and now, is something you need to do. This is something that naturally happens when you are in your Being. It is something precise. It is something complete. It is painless.

So, my recommendation to you is: live free from worries. Live free from the mind. Live in your Being. Remain in your Being. Silence is the result of that. Silence is what brings you, straightforwardly, the appropriate response to this or that situation.

Life is complete. Once you surrender to the Divine, surrender to the Truth, It will take care of everything. In other words, God is the Truth of your Being. God is the Truth in everything, and He is the One who takes care of everything. What room, what place, has your concern, your anxiety? What place, what room, has your thought pattern? So, abandon thoughts! Live in your Being! Then, this action will be the action of Grace, the action of Intelligence, the action of the Truth.

We can't change what happened, and in our illusion… I mean in the illusion thought creates, speaking here as a representative of humanity… we have built a model in which we believe we are capable of doing things. This is not true! There is only one Power doing everything. There is only one Power resolving everything, solving everything, putting everything at stake, and always doing as it pleases Itself. That Power is the Divine Power. It is the Power of Grace. It is the Power of Truth. Remain there, remain in That, and everything finds its right place, its proper place.

So, don't worry. Trust in Grace. Surrender to the Truth. Live the Truth and be Happy. That's your Nature, that's what you're here for: to live This, to live the Truth, to live in God!

January, 2022
Gravatá-PE, Brazil
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Pleasure and fear

Notice, fear is something inherent in this sense of duality, in this sense of separation. So, as long as the illusion of an identity separate from life, separate from existence remains, fear remains.

Fear is something that bothers. It's something that disturbs. It's something that afflicts. Fear is a very dense, heavy form of suffering, but that suffering is something inherent in this psychological being, in this false identity.

So, we can't get rid of fear, as a "person." We abandon the illusion of "personhood," and that's the end of fear.

There is a constant internal movement in this "sense of person," in this "sense of an I," of a "separate identity," which has already become clear, for it, the difficulty of dealing with fear. So, to overcome this, it lives in a constant, continuous search for pleasure. Then, it will always try to replace fear with pleasure. It will always seek to find more satisfaction, more accomplishment, more fulfillment in pleasure, to ward off fear, and that doesn't solve it!

So, we actually have fear and pleasure as two sides of one single coin. This coin is called "sense of separateness." Your pain… your pain, which is the pain of fear, which you try to overcome through satisfaction, through the fulfillment of pleasure, this is the same coin. The coin of the sense of separation, of that sense of separateness.

So, it is inherent to this duality, to this "me," to experience pleasure and fear, to live in this constant search to ward off fear, in this constant search for pleasure. So, we are dealing with something inherent to this psychological sense of being, this false center. Thus, the ego is basically that. We can also replace the word "fear" with "pain." Then, here we have pleasure and pain or pleasure and fear.

We can go beyond that, we can understand what this represents, and that is the way of setting free or liberating from this condition of pleasure and pain or pleasure and fear. When we are dealing with pleasure and fear or pleasure and pain, we are dealing with something that is part of the illusion, of this "sense of separation." So, Enlightenment, Awakening, or the Blossoming of your Real Nature is the end of this.

When my Master appeared, he showed me that Liberation was in the recognition of the Truth about who I Am, and this recognition is the end of the illusion of who I believed to be. So, that's what we're dealing with you. The recognition of the Truth about Yourself is the end of the illusion, of the idea, of the belief, of the image you have about who you are.

So, if we have a real interest in the Truth of who we are, we are already mature enough for Happiness, for the end of fear. Fear is present, I repeat, in this "sense of separation." So, the cause of all this, the reason for all this, for this constant search for pleasure and escape from fear, is in this illusion: in the illusion of this false "me." That's basically it. It's basically like this.

January, 2022
Gravatá-PE, Brazil
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Resistance to changes

It is very common some people approaching and asking about the importance, the importance of changes and this issue of resistance, resistance to changes. See, my focus here with you is not on that issue.

The egoic state is a state of inadequacy, and because of that, it suffers, and this is the alternative it creates: the alternative of a supposed need, the need for change. And then, this state gives rise to this other issue, the issue of this whole resistance to changes.

So first, this state believes it needs a change. Then, it sees the difficulty and says: "Why is there so much resistance? What is the reason for this resistance to change?"

My focus here with you is for you to pay the attention to this egoic movement, and not trying, searching or seeking the change of this egoic pattern. If it changes, it's basically the same but in different way.

The question I want to ask is: what would happen if you just witnessed this movement, if you put Consciousness over this unconscious movement of the egoic mind? We are interested in That in Satsang.

This Consciousness over Yourself becomes responsible for the end of this old and ancient condition. I wouldn't call this change. I would call this the recognition of Truth.

You have behaved and you have had a whole posture centered on this false identity due to ignorance. This ignorance is unconsciousness. This is the ordinary state of this ego-identity, which you mistake yourself for, which you identify with.

But if you pay attention to this movement, which is the movement of the mind producing these images, these beliefs, and these patterns of behavior, all of these are broken, all of these are undone, all of these disappear, since the basis of this is unconsciousness.

So, what you need is not a change, but rather the recognition about who or what You really are, "what am I?" "who "Am I?" Until this isn't clear, you will constantly mistake yourself for, identifying with what you are not. Because of that, there is this misbehavior.

This behavior is an externalization of this internal mistake, of the identification with all this internal, psychological confusion. So, mistaking yourself for this false center is the cause of the disorder, the cause of suffering. Then, here the question is: "Who am I?" instead of: "How should I be?" "What do I need to be?" "Where do I have to go?" "What do I need to do?" "How much do I need to change?"

Therefore, it's not about that. It's basically about this recognition of What You are, here and now. And that's the answer. This is where this confusion ends. That's what matters. The recognition of the Truth about Yourself is all you really need.

January, 2022
Gravatá-PE, Brazil
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Your True Nature is Happiness

So, here we go.

When we refer to the word "person"… You have it in my speeches, you find it in the videos, you find it on my blog, you find it on my website… I always refer to this sense of a present identity, this sense of being "somebody."

There is a huge internal confusion in this "sense of person," because basically you don't know who you are, who you are. So, you get confused with this sense, with this "sense of person." This person's normal state of consciousness is something like a dream.

At first, you will not understand this very clearly. As time goes by, approaching yourself in this self-observation, you will find out what this expression "dream" really means. So, at first, it would be interesting for you to listen to this with an open heart for investigation.

The first thing here is the comprehension that this dream, or this dream state, is a way of identification. This dream condition, the condition of this state, is something considered as identification. It is a way of being absorbed by a set of beliefs, ideas, memories, recollections, and thoughts.

And why do we call it a dream? Because there is no attention. You are not Self-Realized, or you are not Awakened. And now we have another very interesting term here. Your Real State, your Natural State, is the Awakened State. It is the Self-Realized State. It is not this dream state. It is not this state of identification with mind and what it represents.

Mind represents memories, remembrances, recollections, and experiences. You identify with them and sleep, and naturally you experience this state you call vigil, but which is actually what I call "dream state." So, this condition is not the Real Condition of your Being.

In Satsang, we are always dealing with the Natural Condition of your Being. Your Real Condition, your True Nature is Happiness. That is the Nature of your Being. That is the Condition free from the dream. It is the Condition free from this state, which is the ordinary state, which is the state of the "person." So, you mistake yourself for the "person." What I want to tell you is that there are no people. "Person" is a belief, a concept, an idea, a formulation created by memory itself, by thought itself. You mistake yourself for that, and that is the dream state.

Your Real State is the Awakened State. It is the Self-Realized State. This is your Natural State, and this Natural State is the State of Happiness. It is the State of Peace. This is the State of the Truth about who You are.

So, what we've been saying in Satsang, what we've shared in these talks, these meetings, is the clear vision of the recognition of who You are, this recognition of who we are. When This is clear, when This is seen, the statement "there are no people," "people don't exist," becomes very clear.

You are Consciousness. You are Presence. You are not a "person." You are a Reality with Life. This Reality with Life is your True Nature. The True Nature of yours is your Real Nature, and that is Happiness.

So, every complication revolves around this "sense of person." Every difficulty revolves around this "sense of person." All confusion revolves around this "sense of person."

So, as you look within yourself and see the confusion of this "absorption," of the identification with this movement of the egoic mind, with mind's movement, which is memory, which are recollections, which are experiences, once you become aware of this lack of vigilance, of this lack of attention to yourself, to your own Being, this starts to disappear.

This Consciousness, which is your Natural State, Awakened and Vigilant State, is Love, Peace, and Happiness.

Then, Self-Realization – some call This Awakened State, Enlightenment or Divine Realization – is That. It's You in your Real State. It's You in your Natural State.

So, it seems to me that psychology deals very little, it has, in my view, a very small approximation concerning this, since there is no basic understanding that this "sense of person" is not real, that this "sense of person" is a belief, a formulation upheld by memory. Then, we stay into this game, we stay into this game, and this is not understood.

So, I'd like to put this here for you. Your work, or the work that can be done on yourself, is this work of disidentification, which is the end of this illusion of a sense of separation, and this has the purpose of revealing your own Being.

You may have even started having some glimpses of That. You may have already felt, at some moments, that this dissociation of this "sense of person," of this "sense of personality," with its history, its memory, its recollections... you may have already realized that this dissociation is possible, that this identity is not who You are.

So, my invitation for you is to have this approach: the approach to the Truth about who You are, the Truth about Yourself, the Truth of your Being.

Definitely, there is no "person." There is no "person" here. There is no "person" there.

We have been living, we are living within this condition because of this unconsciousness, what I have just now called a "dream," which is to be absorbed by these memories, recollections, ideas, beliefs, conclusions, and everything else.

So, remember: it's possible to recognize yourself, understanding the Truth about yourself. And this Truth, which is the Truth of your Being, is your Real Nature, is your Divine Nature, which is the Nature of God.

January, 2022
Gravatá-PE, Brazil
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Disidentification with thought

The fact is that the suffering present, now, at this moment, in your life, is because of ignorance. You ignore the Truth about who You are. You do not know this Truth! Thought has warded you off from this Truth. You are continually identifying with the stories thought creates about what is going on in your life. And here the idea of "your life" is the idea of what happens externally. All of this has an internal representation. Thought is creating internal representations of what is happening externally.

Actually, it is apparently external since, in fact, this is happening internally. The whole afflictive burden, all this burden of suffering, lies in this ignorance. You ignore the Truth about who You are, but you are very sure – this because of an image that has been formed, internally, over all these years… You are very sure of the ideas about what the world around you, at this moment, represents and who you are within this context.

And I want to tell you that this is completely illusory. This is happening because of your identification with thoughts. Being identified with thoughts is the basis of this condition. I want to invite you to disidentify with what thought has created about who you are, in this relationship with this so-called "external world," where there are people, where there are situations...

There is no Peace, no Freedom, no Stillness, there is no Silence since there is no Truth. What prevails is ignorance. Ignorance in the sense that you are completely ignoring the Truth about who You are, relying entirely on what the mind says about who you are and what the world represents to you at this moment.

Satsang is an invitation to the Realization of the Truth, the Truth about who You are, which represents a complete disidentification with everything thought says. And here, when I use the expression "thought," I also mean the feelings attached to those thoughts, those emotions that come along with those feelings and thoughts.

The Truth of your Being is the Divine Truth. When I came across my Master, I faced this answer: the answer to the question that we rarely ask, ask ourselves. The question is, "who am I?"

There is so much confidence in what thought says, in what mind says. This is taken for certainty, absolute and great certainty, that we never ask this question. And so we remain ignorant, ignoring the Truth of who we are, and naturally ignoring the Divine Truth we are.

Therefore, I want to invite you to be in Satsang, to have a realistic approach to yourself through self-investigation, meditation, and surrender, surrender to the Truth about Yourself.

I wait for you in Satsang. You can find, somewhere down below, the link. You can contact us. We have online and in-person meetings. Take a look at the channel and you will find out how to contact us. And I wait for you.

December, 2021
Gravatá-PE, Brazil
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“Person” is an illusion

Another point I think is important to be consider is this very common idea: the idea of the "person," of the existence of the "person."

We have this belief, we believe we exist as a separate entity. So, we believe we are a person.

So, there's this idea, the central idea of a "person" present. This is completely false! This is just an idea that finds a supposed identity. It shapes and forges an identity.

This way, what we call as "person" is just an idea, a concept, a belief. Actually, an imagination. So, thought creates a fiction, the fiction of a present identity, of this "person" that "I" believe I am. There is no such "person." There is no such "I." This is just a fiction created by thought.

The mind is given a name. It is given a label, a tag. It is called John, Mary, Joseph, and mind believes in it. So, thought makes an image of itself, engendered by itself, a self-image. "Person" is just a creation, an imaginary creation of thought.

So, as this mechanism, this organism, starts talking, acting, making choices – I mean apparent choices, because there is no one in those choices. There is this choice, but not this "someone" in the choice. Everything that happens only confirms the presence of that "person." However, this "person" is an illusion. A "person" who thinks. A "person" who speaks. A "person" who makes choices. A "person" who resolves. A "person" who has the fruits of his actions, positive or negative. This just confirms this central idea, the idea of a "person" present.

The problem with this is that all the confusion, all the suffering, all forms of anxiety, fear, worry and difficulties that this "person" faces, is assumed to be real.

The work of observing yourself, the work of investigating the Truth about who you are, will undo that belief. So, this imaginary entity will disappear, because in fact this imaginary entity never actually existed. It's just a false center.

The beauty of approaching this work of self-inquiry, meditation and surrender, surrender to the Truth, is that it completely destroys, completely nullifies this false center, this false "me." It ends that illusory identity, finishes that.

So, you see, what we call "ego", "person", is an imagination. However, thought has engendered it in such a way, built it in such a way, that it seems to be very real. This is real only in the identification with this mechanism, this body-mind.

If you observe the movement of the mind, you can see the construction mechanism of this false identity, this false center. And once that's done in a true way, in a legitimate way, once you start working on that in yourself, that false identity, that false center disappears. And with its disappearance, all there is, is Freedom, the Freedom of Being, of Being That which You are, of Being That which you "were born" to Be.

This whole idea of birth – that's why I put the word "born" in quotation marks – applied to this identity, is completely false as well.

Your Real Nature is the Divine Nature, the Nature of God; and It has neither birth nor death, but this is something for you to see. That is your work, your work of discovering the Truth about Yourself, about Yourself. So, this approach is fundamental, this look at What we are is fundamental.

We have expressions in our culture, expressions like "soul," "spirit"... But they are expressions we use without any awareness of what they represent or what they mean.

Here, I am pointing out the importance of this Self-Discovery, of discovering your Real Nature, your Divine Nature. This Nature has no name. It also has no form. It wasn't born and It doesn't die.

All your debate, all your struggle, all your confusion, all the dramas of this so-called "my life," that you say "my life," all revolve around this false identity, this false center, this illusory identity, of this so-called "ego," which is, I repeat, an imagination, a fiction.

The work of discarding this illusion begins with this attention to yourself, with the observation of what is happening here and now in this mechanism, in this organism. Not in this "person"... There is no "person." What exists is this organism, this mechanism and this whole process called "mind."

So, there is mind and body, and this can be seen by observation. Once verified by observation, this false center is unveiled. Then, illusions disappear, such as the illusion of choices, the illusion of actions, the illusion of the presence of a thinker...

The beauty that lies in the end of confusion, the psychological confusion this false center has sustained for millennia. In India, they call this Liberation. Yes, Liberation. Liberation is the end of this illusion. It is the realization of the Truth. This way, there is the end of this imaginary center. Then, Truth reveals itself, Freedom reveals itself.

That's what Enlightenment is about! Realization of Truth is this! This is God's Realization! This is something possible here and now. This is possible in this realization of the Truth that You are, here.

December, 2021
Gravatá-PE, Brazil
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What is self-investigation?

Here we go!

Here, what is self-investigation? This expression "self-investigation" would be better used as self-observation, since here it's not about trying to find out something secret, which was hidden, which we don't know. It's not this! It's not like that!

So, the expression "self-investigation" isn't an appropriate expression for this work. Here, the best expression would be "self-observation," since what we are dealing with isn't a secret. It isn't hidden. It's not something really veiled.

We are dealing with something present. Although it's present, it's not recognized. And for this recognition, self-observation is enough. Then, you need first to observe yourself, to find out these "layers" which, apparently, hide, which are apparently veiling, your own Being. Here, it's about the acknowledgment of your own Being, and your Being is not veiled, is not really hidden.

Then, the word "self-observation," and we can interchange that with self-investigation… It's ok. That's fine. However, it must be seen under this proposal. Start observing yourself. Start observing your reactions. Start observing the thoughts present, the feelings present, the emotions arising along with these thoughts, as well as the sensations arising… Once you start becoming conscious of yourself through this self-observation or self-investigation, What is here "shows itself," What is already present here "reveals itself."

So, the purpose is to work on this. Human beings have been suffering for millennia because of this lack of self-observation.

We live as human creatures, identified with the old psychological conditioning model. So, this condition is a self-projection condition idealized by beliefs, idealized by imaginary motivations. Then, this misidentification state is the suffering state.

Self-Realization, and this is when this self-observation becomes important, which we may now also call self-investigation as we understand what it represents, this is something essential, fundamental. Observing yourself, observing what's going on, and disidentifying with this, in order to recognize yourself in your own Being is essential. Identified with thoughts, feelings, emotions and sensations, you are identified with an illusory personality, with a false identity.

This false identity, this illusory identity is the basis of all the suffering, all the contradiction, conflict and misery. The Realization of your Being is the end of this mistaken identification with this false center.

Some people call it Enlightenment or Realization of God. So, discovering What We Are means the simple acknowledgment of What is already here, here and now, present, when this false center is no longer operating, when this illusion of a separate identity is no longer present.

Then, self-investigation is the basis for Meditation. I talk about Real Meditation, not about what has been known as "meditation."

Real Meditation is only possible in this self-observation. So, this so-called "practice of meditation" isn't real Meditation. Meditation has the purpose of showing you the Truth of your own Being, of clearing this Truth of your own Being. For that, the way needs to be paved. This egoic mind needs to be seen. It needs to be recognized. It needs to be verified. Then, self-observation is the end for this identification with the egoic mind condition, and this is the base of Real Meditation.

Right now, I've been talking to you about this, the importance of Meditation and what Real Meditation represents. So, we can never separate self-investigation or self-observation from Meditation. The work happens simultaneously. If there isn't self-observation, there isn't Real Meditation, since Real Meditation is only possible when you become aware of yourself, of all this internal movement, which are thoughts' movements. Disidentified with this movement, disidentified with these thoughts, feelings, emotions and sensations, it's possible the recognition of something that transcends mind and body.

That's when Meditation is possible. I talk about day-by-day Meditation. I mean Meditation in a different way of this concept known as meditating. Ok?

December, 2021
Gravatá-PE, Brazil
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The art of Meditation

After all, what is this some people call "meditation?" What is this thing called meditation? What is the importance? What is the value? What does it really matter?

First, we need to understand what Real Meditation is. Nowadays, this word is a very known and used word. We call meditation various techniques or practices to quiet the mind, to silence the mind. So, this is what has been called meditation.

When I use the expression "Meditation" in these meetings, in Satsang, I put it in a different way, completely different from this. When I talk about Meditation, I mean Real Meditation. Real Meditation is not to silence the mind. It is not to quiet the mind. Even because, through a technique, through a practice, through this so-called "meditation practice," it is possible to achieve this result, but it is not in this sense that I use the word "Meditation." To me, Meditation doesn't have that purpose.

Real Meditation is what is present as the expression of your own Being, as the very expression of your own Real Nature, your Divine Nature. So, Meditation, as I talk about, is something possible when the way is completely paved. It is necessary to pave the way for Real Meditation to express itself.

Meditation is your own Natural State. So, it's not a practice. It's not an exercise, something technical, mechanical you practice to get this result. So, Real Meditation is possible when the way is completely paved, so that It can flourish. So, Meditation is an art. It is the art of Being, of Being What You are.

The basis for this Meditation is self-observation. So, to observe yourself, to observe what goes on inside, to observe your reactions, to observe thoughts arising, feelings arising, emotions arising from thoughts, the reactions as memory responses, as thought's responses, the sensations... When all these are observed, in this self-observation – what some people have also called self-inquiry – we have the real basis for Meditation. Meditation as an art, as the art of Being.

So, Meditation is an art, the art of Being, of Being What You really are. That, which is really You, is disidentified, free. It is not contaminated by this sense of personhood, by this particular conditioned vision sense. It is not contaminated by psychological conditionings, by these belief patterns, by these patterns of internal disorder. Something so common in this confused state, which is the egoic state.

Therefore, Meditation is the end of confusion, but you don't go up to Meditation. Meditation is something that flourishes when this way is entirely paved.

Your Freedom isn't in controlling thoughts or in silencing them. Your Freedom lies in observing them, in becoming aware of them. Once you are aware of thoughts, they are no longer controlling you. Once you are aware of the entire movement of thoughts, thoughts vanish by themselves. They stop reinforcing a present identity.

See, it is in this reinforcement of that identity that lies the confusion. Because you are not aware of thought's movement, when it comes, it captures you. It's the same with feeling. It's the same with emotion. It's the same with a physical sensation. Whatever captures you, it ends up giving you a false identity.

So, your suffering lies on this false identity, something that takes place in the lack of self-observation. And without this self-observation, there is no Meditation.

So, notice: Meditation is an art! This way, the art of Meditation is simply Being! Being is to be free from this false identity, this false "me."

So, in Zen, for example, the expression is: "Meditation is Enlightenment." Then, notice: there is no distance between your Divine State, your Natural State – which is your Real State – and Meditation. So, it's not a practice. It's not an exercise.

So, are some meditation practices (so-called "meditation") comprehensible? Yes! Are they good? Yes! Psychologically, physically... but that's not what we're dealing with here.

When I point out Meditation, I'm talking about something that blossoms, something that awakens, that flourishes, based on this self-inquiry, based on this self-observation. Without this base, you don't have that real quality of Meditation, you don't have Real Meditation.

Then, Meditation is Being. It doesn't require time, place… You are driving the car; you are walking; you are eating; you are lying down, before sleep; you're lying down after you've finished sleeping, and there You are in your Being! This is Meditation! So, Meditation is something present in your Natural State.

Of course, for this to "evolve" to that point... and here the word "evolve" must be put between quotes, since it's not something you're going to develop to get there. I use this expression only in a didactic way so that you understand there is a whole process of self-observation internal discipline.

So, while you don't exercise this discipline of self-observation, of observing the internal movements of thoughts, to no longer be entangled with them, to no longer mistake yourself with them, nothing will happen. There will be no Real Meditation until then. So, there's a whole "process."

Be aware of yourself! Now, notice: becoming aware of yourself is something that, curiously, doesn't take time. Then, this word "process" isn't appropriate either, since that's something you do here and now. If you don't recognize this here and now, through this self-observation, there will be no Meditation, and this doesn't require time.

So, your job in this art of Being, which is Meditation, is to become aware of yourself, here and now, aware of everything that goes on. And as you become aware of that, there is a break, there is a disidentification, a disidentification with this false center, this character. It's when the Freedom of your Being, which is Silence, which is Peace, which is Truth, which is Love, reveals Itself.

This is your "union with the Divine". Actually, it's your Recognition of Being One, One with the Divine. There is only Him! So, we can call it Consciousness, Truth, God, Being, and we can also call it Meditation. So, Meditation is Being, and Being is Consciousness, and Consciousness is God, and That's Peace, That's Love.

In India, there is an expression for this. They call "Ananda", which means Happiness, Real Happiness.

December, 2021
Gravatá-PE, Brazil
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The presence of Silence

Some days ago, someone said: "Listen to the Silence!" But notice: mind's absence is this Silence's presence. Mind is basically noise, sound, uproar. Mind's absence is the natural presence of Silence. To remain in your Being is to remain in the absence of the egoic mind, which means remaining in Silence. Silence is the Divine Nature, while the mind is noisy. Silence is the presence of Stillness.

People are very attracted to this issue of Meditation since they believe Meditation will bring Silence. Actually, true Meditation won't bring Silence. True Meditation is the presence of Silence. When you are before Silence's presence, you are Meditation's Silence. So notice, it's not that Meditation is going to bring Silence. Silence is the presence of Meditation, and this Silence is the presence of your Being.

You won't give rise to Silence. Some people talk about silent mind, but mind by nature is not silent. So, it's even possible for you to silence the mind, but it'll be mind's silence: an unnatural silence, an unreal silence. Here, it's not this Silence we are talking about. We are talking about the Nature of Consciousness, which is Silence. This is not mind's nature.

The work of Meditation is essential since Meditation reveals this Silence, reveals the absence of all psychological content. In the absence of all this content, there is Peace, there is Love, there is Truth. Then, Truth is present, Love is present, Peace is present, in Meditation, which is the presence of Silence, which is the nature of Silence.

If I say to you, "Listen to the Silence!" I won't be saying something real since when "you" are not present, Silence is present. So, it's not possible to have "you" in the presence of Silence. So, Silence cannot be heard by a separate entity. This separate entity is not real. Therefore, "you" are not real!

Sometimes we come across moments when the sense of separation is not present. You're on a beach, you're on the edge of a river or lake, or you take a look and see the sky, you see the clouds, at that moment, you look at a mountain range, and in this look, this "me" disappears. At that moment, there is Silence since at that moment, there is Presence.

This is the Natural State of Meditation. There is no programming, there is no strategy, no technique, nothing is done, nothing is sought. Only, you are present, and this "being present" is so complete, so full, that the sense of an "I," of a separate entity, is gone. There it is the presence of Silence.

There is no "you" listening to Silence. There is Silence in the absence of this "you." This is Meditation! This is the work we are proposing. Realize your Being. Live in Silence, in the Silence of your Essential Nature! That's the end of any form of conflict. That's the end of any form of suffering. That's the end of all the racket mind produces. This is the real Silence. It is the real Nature of Consciousness. This is the Truth about You. This is the Truth about God. This is Meditation.

December, 2021
Gravatá-PE, Brazil
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All problems are illusions

The fact is: not accepting Life as It is means living in conflict. This "life in conflict" is living with problems. Now, the non-acceptance of Life as Life is, represents an illusion. So, problems are illusory. So, all problems are illusions.

When the mind faces what is and confronts, rejects, fights, resists, it is cultivating illusory problems. This is the condition of the egoic mind.

The problems you have in life are not problems. What you have in life are appearances that will soon disappear. Appear for a while and then disappear.

So, what you call a problem is the mind resisting these appearances. Therefore, all problems are illusory, because they are all based on what the mind is building and thought is holding. It is thought in resistance. It is thought fighting. It is thought in conflict.

So, all problems are illusory, because they are all based on this fight, this conflict, this resistance, this proposal built by thought. They are thought's ideas. They are constructions of thought.

You may face adversity, complexities, difficulties, but they are not a problem, they do not represent suffering. Suffering arises, appears, when the mind projects something onto it. Then, you are faced with a problem, an illusory problem constructed by thought.

What in fact is present is an adversity, a complexity, a difficulty, a challenge, but thought turns that into an internal conflict, based on fight, based on resistance. So, you're faced with a problem. But all problems are illusory!

That which is here and now, will soon disappear, because the nature of everything is to change. So, don't turn a given situation into a psychological problem, into a suffering, and that's what the ego has been doing.

Your work of discovering the Truth about Yourself is the work of discarding that ego-identity. Therefore, it is the discarding of the end of suffering, of this psychological suffering, of these illusory problems, which are all constructed by thought. Is that clear?

The next time you face a difficulty, you are facing just a difficulty. Don't turn it into a problem by creating any resistance. Welcome that without resistance. That's when you are facing just a difficulty and not a problem. You will not be facing suffering, a psychological conflict. But it is necessary to bring consciousness to that moment. It is necessary to bring attention to that moment, so that there is no resistance, so that the conflict does not settle, so that suffering does not establish itself.

This is how one lives intelligently, without conflict, without suffering, without resistance, without this sense of separation between this "me" and what is shown, without the duality between "me" and this appearance, which, in this case, is a difficulty, a challenge, an adversity, a complexity. All right?

December, 2021
Gravatá-PE, Brazil
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