Limiting beliefs

The whole problem with the thought-based life is that it's a life based on beliefs. Thought is basically beliefs, and naturally, belief creates this self-limitation. So, all beliefs are limiting.

A life free from the egoic mind is a life free from limiting beliefs. The basis of fear is actually thought. So, thought upholds fear, and these limiting beliefs play a key role in this whole game.

I want to invite you to go beyond mind, to live outside this circuit, which is the thought circuit. The lack of the direct Acknowledgment of your Being, of your Divine Reality, puts you in this programming condition, in this psychological conditioning. Living within thought, all you know about life are beliefs, ideas, concepts.

Therefore, this so-called "person's life," this false center, this false "me," is a life grounded in limiting beliefs. This is the false identity that the person believes to be. What we call "person" is this sense of a separate identity, it's all this movement, it's this whole set of thoughts turning around this self-image, necessarily creating suffering, creating conflict, upholding fear.

Basically, this is the egoic life. Basically, this is the life for this ego-identity: fear, conflict, limiting beliefs, suffering.

Self-Realization is the Acknowledgment of the Divine Truth You are, of the Divine Truth present here and now, being your Being, being what You really are. Then, life this way is a fully conscious life, a life free from thought. A life free from thought is a life in full Intelligence, in full Freedom, in full Love, in full Wisdom. It's exactly that.

February, 2022
Gravatá-PE, Brazil
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True Wisdom

After all, what is Truth? What is Truth? When we talk about Truth, we are approaching Wisdom. But it is a question that… It is better to stay with That which is present, which is seen as being Real, to welcome That, which is the Reality as It shows itself, than to theorize or try to find a definition about that.

So, True Wisdom is welcoming Life, welcoming Life as It is.

It is possible when you understand the Truth about who You are. So, approaching Truth, which is approaching True Wisdom, is approaching Yourself.

The basis for Wisdom is the Comprehension of the Truth you are, which reveals itself now, which reveals itself here.

There isn't so much to say about Truth or about Wisdom. These meetings don't have this purpose, because we can't define, we can't put it into definitions. What we can do is to have the Acknowledgment of What we are, and assume this Acknowledgment.

This is the Truth itself; This is the Real Wisdom itself.

So, the True Wisdom is to welcome Life as It is, and, definitely, Life in Wisdom is a Life without conflict, it is a Life without suffering, a Life with Intelligence, in Peace, in Love, where that which is present is Compassion, is the Divine Truth, God's Truth.

This is Real Wisdom. This is True Wisdom.

So, it is something that is seen in Life, not in words, not in theories, not in concepts.

February, 2022
Gravatá-PE, Brazil
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Excessive Thinking

Well, for some, peace will happen when he or she gets rid of, when they get liberated of that model, the model of excessive thinking. There is something that is not clearly perceived here. Thought itself is already excessive. So why would you want to choose one amid others? Why do you want to separate the excessive from the non-excessive? Why don't you investigate the real nature of thought? What is thought?

We see thought, in reality, as a phenomenon, an apparition. In this sense, every thought is something very basic, something very simple, and in a certain way it is even utilitarian at times.

But who in you would be that capable of distinguishing between excessive and non-excessive thoughts? So why make this choice? Why not understand the process itself, which is the process of thought, and see that, in fact, thought itself is already excessive? A lot of the thoughts you have are completely useless.

So, during the day it is very typical for this so-called human creature to spend a lot of his time, majority of his day, psychologically occupied with ideas, beliefs, imaginations and daydreams, being carried by this weight all the time, which is the weight of thought, which is excessive thinking.

So, thought itself is not an imperative necessity, it is just an appearance. But an apparition that has become an addiction, a habit. Once you identify, which is what has actually happened, once you identify with this process, you are subjugated to it.

So, I would recommend that you discover, through realization, the Real Nature of your Being, which is basically Silence. In that Silence, there is no room for conflict, created and produced by thought. So, once you realize the Real Nature of who You are, the Truth of your own Being, once you realize the Silence of your Divine Nature, thought is no longer the problem.

Then, we will no longer talk about excessive thinking, we will no longer talk about the need for this identification or disidentification with thought, because once your Being reveals itself, it reveals itself as Silence, as Truth. And here, being that Truth, being that Silence, there is no problem with thought, there is no conflict with thought. So, that question no longer arises.

But while this is not revealed, a work is needed in this direction, the work of disidentification with thought. So, you don't need to get rid of the habit of excessive thinking. You need to recognize the Truth of Your Being, and This will free you from this issue of trusting in thoughts.

So, it is natural for these thoughts to disappear. So, there is something that is clearly discovered in this Realization. For example, imagination is something that ends, daydreaming is something that ends, this model of negative thinking, or negativist, constantly producing suffering, by anxiety, by worry, by the imaginary anticipation of things, which will or will not happen. All of that disappears, because it is only based on this illusion, the illusion of this false identity, the illusion of this identification with thought.

Then, all you need is to disidentify with thoughts. This disidentification with thoughts reveals the real place of thought, of this existential phenomenon. Of course, this requires a work. Put here this way, it seems basically very simple. But in fact, in practice, despite sounding simple, it's actually not something easy.

You have spent all these years identifying, or assigning truth to an identity that is false: this identity of a "me," which are basically thoughts, memories, images, beliefs, and imaginations. And all of that needs to disappear, because none of that is You. Your Being is not that.

Our work in Satsang is the Realization of the Truth about who we are. This Realization naturally passes through the disidentification of what we are not, of this false identity, this false center, this false "I." And that is of course the end of thoughts. It is in this sense that every thought is in itself excessive.

Then, this distinction between excessive and non-excessive thinking, we set aside and investigate the real nature of thought. What real space does it have? And of course, this cannot be done by thought itself. This is done, or happens, in a very natural way by Understanding the Truth about who You are. This is basically Meditation.

So, Meditation reveals That. Meditation is basically disidentifying with thought. It has nothing to do with physical posture, with practices, with systems, with methods. It is the natural disidentification that happens.

The disidentification that naturally happens, the disidentification with thoughts, by paying attention to oneself, by observing this movement. That's the end of this movement, that's the end of this inner restlessness, this whole conflict that thought produces.

And Yes, that's the end; That's the answer for the end of this habit, the habit of thought, the habit of identification with thought, of trust, of belief, of illusion, of suffering in thought and for thought.

January, 2022
Gravatá-PE, Brazil
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Thought and time

All right… We've been asked to talk about this issue "time-thought," thought and time. Excepting chronological time, which is the time we know, the time between sunrise and sunset – we have the clock time, the chronological time –, there is another notion of time that we psychologically have.

This is the notion of present, past and future. It's a notion entirely grounded in a direct relationship with thought. That's the point. So, we may say that without thought, this whole notion of time – present, past and future – disappears. What you have is chronological time, which is this time between sunrise and sunset, clock time.

However, we create time! It's the time produced by ideas, beliefs, images and imaginations we have. Then, in this notion of time we create, that thought has created, we are living in a relationship between present, past and future.

The question is: who? Who is living this? Who lived the past, who is living the present, and who will live the future since this "present, past and future" is just a notion created by thought? The fact is that without thought there is no such "me." Without thought, not only present, past and future disappear, but also this notion, this sense of an I present, disappears.

So, this notion is totally wrong, totally false. So, what we have as the reality of time is just the supposed reality of thought. Thus, thought supposedly creates the reality of time. Without thought, there is no time, and time is for this separate entity, for this "person" "I" believe to be.

Actually, this "person" all based on thought is just a story, a concept, just a belief. Every notion you have of yourself is the simple notion of memory. All you can say about who you are refers to memory, and memory is basically thought, and it's this memory that created the notion of a past for someone who supposedly lived this.

Then, this relationship between thought and time is something quite close. In fact, thought is time, time is thought. So, if the subject is "talk to us about time and thought" … Actually, when we are talking about thought, we are talking about time, and when we are talking about time, we are talking about thought since it's something always close, always together.

In reality, it's just one single appearance with different names. Here, what matters is for you to understand that this entity doesn't exist, and if it doesn't exist, there is no truth in time since this entity is based on thought, and thought is part of memory, part of remembrance, part of images; it is part of this supposed character's story.

Your Real Identity, your True Identity is timeless. It isn't in time, and therefore It is not part of thought. See, thought is just a phenomenon, an existential phenomenon, something useful as a tool of memory, of remembrance, of recollection. But remember: thought is always about remembrance. Remember that thought is always about remembrance. That is, it is always about a supposed life for a separate entity, which is not Real.

So, thought is not about Reality. As a phenomenon, it's just an appearance, useful from the viewpoint of this dream, this dream that we can call "me in the world," but there is no world and there is no "me" without thought, and without thought, there is no time, this whole notion of time disappears.

The Reality of your Being is something present here and now. It's right now and here that there is no conflict for this separate entity. This separate entity is not real here and now. When thought arises, when memories arise, images arise, when they arise, the idea of a present entity appears, and with this idea, the conflicts inherent to this "person" you believe to be also appear.

Your Being is timeless. This is the Reality of your True Identity, which isn't a separate identity. In fact, it is the Divine identity, the Divine Reality, outside time and thought. And we can go further, also outside any notion of presence in this so-called "space." The space is another matter.

Space is what we see between two objects. Your Consciousness, your Real Nature is not an object. The body is an appearance in time. Thought is an appearance in time. Thought is time appearing. The body is an appearance in thought. However, your Reality, What You are, is outside all of these.

Divine Realization is the Comprehension of the Nature of your Being, it is the Comprehension of the timeless nature, which is your Divine Reality that is free from time, thought and space. Ok? This is the Truth about You. So, present, past and future are just ideas, just beliefs, just concepts produced by thought. Without thought this doesn't appear, this doesn't exist.

This is clearly comprehended, experienced in deep sleep. There is no sense of "me," there is no space, there is no time and there is no thought. In deep sleep, Being is the Reality You are, time doesn't appear, space doesn't appear, the world doesn't appear, and What You are is still present, as pure Consciousness, as pure timeless Reality.

January, 2022
Gravatá-PE, Brazil
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Can Truth be sought?

The question is "Can Truth be sought?" See, What You are is already here and now. Therefore, if you are looking for Truth, the Revelation of Truth is in the acknowledgment of what is already present here and now.

What has been happening is a search for this so-called "truth," a search for this so-called "truth." And what you can find is still part of what you idealize, what you believe, what you seek, and, therefore, cannot be the Truth.

If it's something outside, if it's something idealized, once programmed by thought... and that's what happens in this search: you look for what you believe exists, and what you believe exists is something always outside, it's something distant, it's something idealized by thought and, I repeat, cannot be the Truth.

When dealing with Truth, if Truth here means Divine Reality, we are dealing with the Reality of our own Being, and This is something present, so It cannot be found outside.

We are before what we are here and now, so the Truth can be acknowledged indeed, but not found, once this "truth" is an idea, a concept, a belief.

Is it clear?

Your work – and this is the purpose of being together, working on This – is to have this encounter with ourselves, with What we are, with What we are now, not with what we are looking for, not with what we are seeking, as an idea, a belief.

So, we use expressions like "God," "Truth," "the Divine," "Reality"… The matter is not these expressions we use, the matter is to comprehend we are not dealing with something outside, something distant, something that can be found by our effort, by our search, by our dedication, by our seeking.

What You are, reveals Itself here. Once you become aware of all this illusory movement of being "someone," once you perceive and comprehend the implication of this illusion, of this belief – all of it grounded in thought, in which you have been living all this time – once this has been discarded, once this has been investigated deeply, and through this direct contact with your own Being, this direct communion with your own Being, through something simple like the Real, the True Meditation is, this Acknowledgment of the Truth is possible.

This Acknowledgment of the Truth is not the encounter with the Truth, it is the Recognition of It, the Acknowledgment of its Presence.

We are dealing with the Divine. We are dealing with God. We are dealing with What You are. So, we are not dealing with something in the future, we are not dealing with an idea, with a concept. We are dealing with the Truth, the Truth of Being, the Truth you bring with you, the Truth You are.

Assuming This, in this Acknowledgment – some people have called it "the Awakening" or "the Realization of God" … This Realization of God is not because you're going to meet Him, but because He finds you, and when I say Him, it's You! There is no separation between what He is and what You are. So, I would say that you are in the "search for Yourself."

This "search for Yourself," if misunderstood, will be a search based on thought. This will ward you off and move you away from That. So, here it is about going beyond thought, going beyond mind, having this Acknowledgment of What You are, here and now.

So, this is the Truth to be "seen," "perceived," "acknowledged." This is what You are. This is the Divine Nature. This is the Nature of Being. This is your True Nature.

January, 2022
Gravatá-PE, Brazil
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Duality

There is something that is not perceived so clearly by you: this sense of separation, this sense that is known as "duality." Basically, what is it? It is the idea thought produces about who you are in a direct relationship with life or the world.

So, there's this belief, there's this idea, which is basically an imagination that there's an "I" present in the experience called "life." And here comes one more belief, one more idea: the idea of a God or a Truth separate from you and separate from life. So, you have this idea: "me, the world, or life, and God." So basically, duality is that belief.

Based on this, there is this tendency, purely egoic, of striving to be more and more broad, more and more complete, more and more happy. And, in the midst of this belief, human being has lived through all forms of conflict, because if one is an entity separate from life, separate from the world, separate from God, one is basically in struggle; basically, under effort to improve, to expand, to reach, and to accomplishment these goals, having a search as a purpose, which is the pursuit of happiness.

So, duality is basically a belief produced by thought. The truth is that there is no separation. The truth is that there is no duality. What I am saying is that there is no separation between you and life, between you and the world, between you and God. As long as that belief remains, that trust in separation, separateness, duality, as long as that remains, conflict remains. In fact, it is impossible not to have conflict as long as separateness is present, as long as there is this sense of separateness.

What thought has produced, what the egoic mind has produced, is an interpretation of everything that happens. It interprets by trying to fit this old model, the model of achieving some goal, of accomplishing some purpose and of basically being happy, which is basically impossible, I repeat, as long as this illusion, which is the illusion of separation, which is the illusion of duality, remains.

What is unique about Satsang is this presentation, this sampling, the possibility for you to realize by yourself that there is no entity present here and now, separate from life, separate from the world or God.

The direct Vision of this is the end of duality. It is the end of that sense of separation. And here, of course, we are putting "duality" in this psychological sense.

When we look at life, when we look at nature, we see the opposites. They are, in fact, apparent opposites. We see positive and negative. We see light and darkness. We see all this duality of external aspects in this existential phenomenon. We see this is very natural.

So, when we are dealing with this matter of the illusion of duality, we are talking about this psychological duality, what thought is producing about what is present. Our work of Self-Realization– and this is why you are here, to verify the Truth about who You are – this realization in this work means the end of the illusion of duality, the end of this illusion that there is you, the world or life, and God.

The only Reality present is the Divine Reality. So, this is the Reality of your Being. The awareness of it, the full awareness of it, is the end of the conflict of duality. There is an example I will give here: fear, for instance. Fear is something present within that conflict. Fear is so present in the egoic mind, and it is indeed only in the egoic mind, which is the dualistic mind, which is the separatist mind, which is ego's mind producing this duality. And fear is something, for example, that ends, since there is no room in your Being, which is Consciousness, which is God, for fear. That's why this work in Satsang is something very, very unique. It is the possibility for you to become aware of the Divine Happiness of your own Being.

Then, the Realization of Truth is the end of that sense of duality or separateness. This represents the end of fear. Putting it this way, you might find it very strange when we say the expression "the end of fear." In fact, you have no idea what the end of fear represents. Basically, the suffering present in this ego-identity… this ego-identity is established, basically, on fear. We are not going to talk about that now, here, but basically, all the person's suffering is based on fear.

So, this egoic sense, which I've been calling the "I" sense or the "person's" sense, this egoic sense – which is basically this sense of duality – is all based on fear.

The Truth of your Being is the Truth of Oneness, non-separation or non-duality. This is the Truth of your Being! This is what we investigate in Satsang. That's what we work on in Satsang.

January, 2022
Gravatá-PE, Brazil
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The Secret of Happiness

Here's a question I've come across a few times. The question is, "what is the secret to Happiness?"

First, we need to discard any idea of Happiness. Happiness is something completely different from anything thought can idealize, look for, believe or seek.

When we speak of Happiness, we are talking about the Nature of our Being, we are speaking of our Divine Nature, the Truth of What we are.

What puts me now, here, with you, sharing this with you, is because I have witnessed this mistaken state in which the "person" has been living.

First, we have to completely discard the illusion of this so-called "person." If we want to have an approximation of what the Truth of Happiness is, we need to know everything about this "me," about this "I." So, if your question is about Happiness, you need to ask who you are.

What I have to tell you, and this is what brings me to these meetings, is that Happiness is your True Nature, your Divine Nature, and That is your Being.

So, what is the secret of Happiness? It is to remain in Yourself, free from this false identity, this false center, this false "I." A psychological stance, a self-centered stance in life, is a deeply miserable attitude.

Happiness is not possible for this false identity. Happiness is not possible for the ego. So, Happiness is your Being, your Nature, and that Nature, which is your Being, is Divine. It doesn't carry egocentrism. To be free, in your Being, represents Real Happiness. So, the secret of Happiness is to remain free from that illusion, the illusion of being who you really are not.

When you see yourself in that self-image, when you see yourself as a separate entity, when you see yourself as someone who needs to achieve, conquer, do, accomplish, obtain, control, choose... When you see yourself this way, you are seeing in a completely wrong way, outside your Being, outside the Truth that You are. Then it is not possible to realize Love, Peace, True Joy, this Happiness of Being.

The secret of Happiness is a Divine life, it is a life in Love, a life in Compassion, a life totally and completely free from fear. And when there is no fear, there is no suffering.

So, the secret of Happiness is the discovery of the Truth, the Divine Truth, the Truth of God, here and now, not in some distant place, but here and now, in Yourself.

Your Being is that Divine Reality, and your Being is Happiness, Love, Intelligence, and Consciousness. This is the secret of Happiness: to remain in your Being, to remain in God.

January, 2022
Gravatá-PE, Brazil
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Appreciation and rejection

Let's talk a little about this issue of appreciation and rejection. If you search for appreciation, you inevitably carry the fear of rejection.

Now we'll definitely solve this. Who, within you, is this one who loves being appreciated? If not appreciated, seen, recognized, or worst rejected or deprecated, who is this one that suffers? Who is this one?

So here we are before the most important point. The truth about this is one's self-image that feels appreciated or rejected, and this self-image is the one that searches for appreciation and runs away or rejects, repels the rejection.

Therefore, your work is to become aware of the Truth about who You are, and definitely stop mistaking yourself for this character you believe to be, for this image the mind is creating, keeping and upholding about you.

The fact is that you spend your whole life experiencing internal states of feelings based on self-image. So, your relationships are all based on this self-image. You deal with the world around you based on self-image. The matter with self-image is that it can have an extreme implication, an extraordinary and drastic implication. People even commit crazy things because of this self-image.

So, it's not only a matter of depreciation or self-appreciation. The matter of loneliness, the matter of all forms of fear, all forms of anxiety, of rejection, is something thought creates inside you and upholds based on this self-image, on the image it creates about who you are, about who you are.

So, all these are constructions of thought. Looking directly at what thoughts are producing and stopping to mistake yourself for what it says, is essential. There's no way Liberation can happen without paying attention to yourself. You need to be free from this image. You need to be free from this self-image. You need to be free from this false "me," from this imagination thought builds about who you are.

Living under this subjection is basically living in suffering. Our work together is a work of investigating this and breaking this model. It's on this basis that people are living completely unhappy since they base their lives on beliefs, ideas and the image they have of themselves, and on the image they have from others, from the world.

So, basically, a life centered and settled in thoughts is a life of conflict, a life upheld in fear. Basically, ego is fear and when we talk about ego, we are talking about this fictional character, this imagination we are treating as "I," "me." When we use this pronoun "me," in general, what thought is doing is giving itself a label, a nomination. It's the nomination of this false identity, this false image. Ok?

Disidentifying with this, that is, abandoning this identity, this identification, with this model, with thought's movement, is the end to this condition of searching for acceptance and fear of rejection. That's it.

January, 2022
Gravatá-PE, Brazil
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The need for security

See, this is an ordinary search when we talk about this search for security. So, there is a need for security. This need for security, all of it, is simply based on fear. As long as there is fear, there will be this so-called "need for security."

The basic issue here is that we don't investigate the nature of the one who feels insecure, that one who carries this condition of fear, that one who is, actually, searching for, looking for this security. The question is: "Who Am I? Who is this so-called security for? For whom is this need for security?"

See, ego lives always in fear. Fear is the egoic nature. So, this sense of separation, this sense of duality, where there is you and the world, and the world shows itself hostile to this "you" you believe to be, this requires this so-called "need," the need for tranquility, peace, comfort, which we call as "security." However, as long as there is this sense of separation between "me" and the world, there will necessarily be fear, and in this fear, insecurity.

See, I am saying that the so-called "security" that mind projects and idealizes, is impossible. So, this need for security is completely impossible, as long as the egoic mind is present.

Life is what It is, and It requires no security. It carries all this unpredictability and It is a huge mystery, which remains and will always remain, unknown to the egoic mind.

So, this attempt to look for security, for the stability of security, for the tranquility of the known, that's something impossible in the ego, it's something impossible in the egoic mind.

I want you to get closer to the Truth about yourself, and find out that in your Being there is no such need since in your Being there is no fear.

So, this fear creates the illusion, the illusion of this need, the need for living under a condition where everything is predictable, known, and where nothing, absolutely nothing that contradicts this personality, this egoic sense, happens.

Then, we are before something impossible. The Truth about who You are is the complete freedom from fear and therefore freedom from this need: the need for a "secure ego," a "secure person."

When there is Love, when there is Peace, when there is Freedom, when there is this Real Sense of Being, which is Consciousness, there is no fear, and therefore, there isn't this need since there is no sense of separation, there is no conflict, there is no suffering. This represents the end of all needs, including the need for security. Happiness is the end of it all, it's the beginning of something entirely new, something entirely unknown, which is this Freedom of Being who You are, without fear and without need for feeling secure. That's it.

January, 2022
Gravatá-PE, Brazil
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Dimension of Stillness

Here we go! There is this interest in this so-called "Dimension of Stillness." So, it's something many people are interested in. The interest in discovering what This means, what This represents. So, they aim to achieve this Dimension, they aim to achieve this so-called "Dimension of Stillness."

See, Stillness is not a target, not a goal. We are not dealing with something that can be achieved. Then, all this interest in this so-called "Dimension of Stillness," has to be understood. The basis of your Being is Silence, and Silence already represents this Stillness, but you don't achieve This, you don't achieve Silence, you don't achieve your Being.

Here, it's about realizing What is already present. Therefore, Stillness isn't a "dimension" in the sense of something to be achieved. We are dealing with something that needs to be seen, to be recognized, to be realized.

This Silence, this Peace, this Stillness, this "Dimension," as some people use to call, is actually, the Nature of Being. So, it's about the Nature of Consciousness. So, it isn't an object. It isn't a goal. It isn't a target. It is rather an acknowledgment. In this sense, here it's more about discarding what is not than the achievement of something already present. Here, the discard is concerned with the illusion of the egoic sense, the sense of separation, all the conflicts that exist in this so-called "dimension of conflict," in this so-called "dimension of disorder."

So, this interest in this Dimension of Stillness… it becomes true, it becomes real, when there is the interest in investigating what blocks the blossoming or the emergence of this Stillness, of this Dimension.

And here, it's about this ego-identity, this sense of separation, and it's very easy to see when you look at yourself and notice all this existing conflict, all this movement of the mind, all this restlessness movement created by thought, since all internal restlessness is psychological. Your Being, in Itself, is already this new and unknown Dimension, the Stillness Dimension.

So, all this restlessness is the mind's restlessness, is the egoic mind in its restlessness creating conflict, creating problems and difficulties. So, the interest in this Dimension of Stillness must be the real interest in the realization of What You are. So, warding this illusion off by paying attention to yourself, by the observation of this egoic movement, all these movements of restlessness created by thought… the direct observation of this can reveal something out of this, which is the Truth of What You are, the Truth of Who in fact You are.

So, now we can't talk anymore about the Dimension of Stillness as something to be achieved, but rather as the acknowledgment of the Truth here, present at this moment: the Truth of your Being, the Truth of What You are. It's simply that.

January, 2022
Gravatá-PE, Brazil
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Love and attachment

In general, we use the word "love" in a connotation linked directly to the sensation of pleasure, to what can be associated more with attachment than with love.

Love doesn't know the search for fulfillment, the search for sensation, the search for satisfaction or personal accomplishment.

So, the sense of personhood in relationships is attachment, not Love.

Love isn't within this duality between pleasure and pain, between love and hate. Notice that relationships, as we know them, relationships between people, are all based exactly on this, on the search, on the quest, on the form, or in some way linked to this need for psychological fulfillment in relationships. And this is attachment, not Love.

In Love, there is no person. In Love, there are no conditions. What has been called "love" in ordinary relationships, in human relationships is all mixed, these relationships are mixed with pleasure and pain, with fulfillment and the search for fulfillment, or lack of fulfillment. So, it's a matter of a psychological need, of seeking satisfaction, accomplishment and one or another form of fulfillment.

This has nothing to do with Love. So, we can call it pleasure, we can call it affectivity, complicity, companionship, but when situation changes, this relationship suffers, it also changes.

So, every relationship of the mind is always a relationship of objects. It's always the relationship of fulfillment. It's always the relationship of the accomplishment of satisfaction.

And when we talk about Love, we're talking about something timeless, something beyond mind, beyond this condition. Then, Love is always impersonal. Love is always unconditional. Love doesn't see objects. Love doesn't exist in an egoic relationship.

When Love is present, ego isn't present. When the Truth of Love flourishes and is present, there is no conflict, there is no suffering, and there is no attachment.

Therefore, Love isn't attachment. Love is something completely different from everything mind knows.

Is it possible to know what Love is?

Yes. The answer is yes, but Love can only be entirely known when the mind isn't present, when the egoic mind isn't involved. That's when we are indeed before Real Love. Otherwise, what we have, and this is very common, is this relationship based on attachment, the basis of conflict, the basis of suffering, the basis of fear.

When there is Love, there is no fear. Love doesn't lose. Love doesn't suffer because of separation. Love doesn't suffer. Love is Love! When there is Love, there is no suffering. So, Love is something completely different from what we know as "love."

Love is completely different from attachment, desire, and fear.

January, 2022
Gravatá-PE, Brazil
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The Worldly Life

The question now is about this so-called "worldly life." How to reconcile this so-called "mundane life" with the work of Self-realization or God-realization? That's another question we have here.

See, this division between mundane and non-mundane life is very artificial. I would call it "mundanity" to be identified with the egoic mind. This, basically, is mundanity. It has nothing to do with tasks or activities in the world. So, there's this idea, this belief, that in order to realize God, to work in that direction, you have to reconcile this so-called "worldly life" with this work.

What I am saying here is that there is no separation between any external activity, any activity in the world, and the work of Self-realization, which is basically observing the movement of the egoic mind inside you. This has nothing to do with withdrawing from outside activities.

The basic thing here is to be aware of yourself, to become aware of all this inner movement, all this movement of the mind, and that has nothing to do with external activities, with activities in the world. You can perform all activities, be busy with any work, with any external occupation, and at the same time being conscious, aware of each and every movement inside you.

When for example, I talk about the importance of Meditation, I'm talking about exactly that. If you are driving a car, if you are walking, if you are busy with a task of writing something or in any other physical activity, what would you call "mundane activity" – I would just call it an action, an action of Life, an event of Life... You can be very aware of all the internal movement that goes on inside you.

So, Meditation is basically an activity, or a non-activity, silent, a verification, an observation of what is happening here and now, inside you. You don't put identity in this observation. You don't put an experiencer into that observation. You don't put someone busy, positively or negatively, within that observation. You are just a witness watching the movement of the mind and don't identify with that movement. And this has absolutely nothing to do with any external activity or task in which the body is occupied. So, it doesn't matter what kind of work you are doing or what the body is busy with at any given moment.

So, when you ask about how to reconcile both, I don't see why there is any need for reconciliation, because one thing is not against the other. There is no contrast between Real Meditation and the action or activity of the body. The body is active in its tasks, and you remain in this awareness of the Truth of what is going on, here and now, within you, disidentifying with thoughts – which is basically to disidentify with thoughts. And that's the only... the only real work, the only real task to "be done." Because, in fact, nothing is done in this observation. The task or this "doing" is the observation, without saying yes or no to what is observed.

So, you don't judge, you don't compare, you don't accept, you don't reject, you don't fight what appears. You just observe, you just become aware of what comes up. Notice: "what comes up", because that will go away, while you remain as this Consciousness, being what You are, that is, a witness, a witness of this movement. So, it doesn't matter what the body is occupied with, it doesn't matter what your external life represents, what is physically happening in the world around you, nor what your body is occupied with.

Thus, I don't see this need to reconcile, because there is no contradiction between this Natural State of attention to oneself – which is something that happens without any effort, just an observation of what is happening here and now internally – and each and every physical activity, each and every external activity. So, there is no such thing as mundane and non-mundane.

Repeating this once again to you: the issue of worldliness lies in the identification with the egoic mind. If you are constantly identifying with egoic mind, you are lost in this mundanity. Once you disidentify with the egoic mind, it doesn't matter how much of the world is appearing around you and what activity you are busy with.

OK?

January, 2022
Gravatá-PE, Brazil
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Why does sadness exist?

I want to talk now about the matter of sadness, because the question that arises, which I have here with me is, "why does sadness exist?"

See, sadness is a state. If you experience states like pleasure or joy, why wouldn't you experience sadness? What is the problem with sadness?

When we deal with states, we're dealing with something that comes and goes. Feelings are like that. Emotions are like that. Thoughts are also like that.

So, when we deal with phenomena, they're appearances that appear and disappear. Why should one have any problem with this? It seems that the only problem here isn't these appearances: neither the appearance of pleasure, the appearance of sadness, the appearance of pain, nor this appearance of thought. It seems that the problem here is to mistake yourself psychologically for this, guiding an identity present in this experience. This is totally unnecessary. I said "unnecessary."

The egoic mind, in this illusion of being "someone" and taking a stand in life as "someone," puts you in a completely artificial condition. In this condition, you identify with feelings, you identify with sensations, you identify with thoughts, and naturally, you identify with states, and here the state is sadness.

Ego wants the state of pleasure and not the state of pain. It wants the state of joy and not the state of sadness. It is continually creating this division – completely illusory since, actually, you don't separate one thing from another. One thing you may not have noticed is that behind this so-called "joy," there is a hidden sadness, and behind this so-called "sadness," there is a certain pleasure or rejoicing yet also egoic.

So, what you need is to find out the Truth about who You are. And this is what gives you the Freedom to no longer identify with, no longer give identity to experiences so volatile, so ephemeral, so temporary, as states are.

For a lifetime, you've been identified with these states, you've mistaken yourself for these states, and naturally, some of them you appreciate and others you reject.

So, the matter of sadness, if you ask if it's possible to end sadness, I'd tell you that the end of illusion is possible. And when illusion ends, what generally ego calls "sadness" also disappears, but what the ego calls "joy" also disappears.

In these meetings, I've emphasized the importance of Happiness, Love, Peace, and This is what I consider Real Joy. Real Joy is not something circumstantial that still carries hidden some form of pain, some form of sadness. So, Real Joy is out of this duality between joy and sadness, pleasure and pain. Real Joy is the Joy of Being, of Being what You are. This Joy is the Joy of your True Identity, is the Joy of your Being.

Thus, Satsang reveals the Happiness of who You are. This is Real Joy, This is Real Love, This is Real Peace, and for sure This doesn't refer to states, these so-called states of pleasure, pain, joy, sadness…

Do you see what we mean?

Do you see the difference here?

Then, your problem isn't the absence of joy or the presence of sadness. Your problem is the illusion about who you are, the lack of this acknowledgment of the Truth about yourself.

January, 2022
Gravatá-PE, Brazil
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Advaita Vedanta

Let's go! "Advaita Vedanta" (English pronunciation) or, in Portuguese, it would be "Advaita Vedanta." Someone would call it "Advaita Vedanta" (English pronunciation), others would call "Advaita Vedanta" (Portuguese pronunciation). The word "Advaita" means non-duality. So, I would like to talk a little bit about this subject with you, about Advaita Vedanta (English pronunciation) and non-duality, or Advaita Vedanta (Portuguese pronunciation) and non-duality.

So basically, what is this? There is only one Reality! To put it here, in a very basic, very simple way: there is only one Reality, which is the Divine Reality! Everything else is an idea. Everything else is a belief. So, what thought produces about this one Divine Reality are beliefs.

The sense of separation or duality is something produced by thought, because there is no duality, the psychological duality that thought, in its imagination, has produced.

So basically, Truth is the Divine Truth. There is only God. There is only this Presence, or this Consciousness, and It is non-dual. This is basically, quite naturally, your True Nature. The Nature of our Being is this Non-Dual, Divine Nature. So, the Nature of Being is the Truth of God.

That's why this subject, what we deal with in Satsang, is something fundamental. See: the word "Satsang" means "association with the Real," or "association with the Truth." This association with the Truth is nothing but this realization of the non-dual Truth of your Being.

The greatness, the uniqueness of that, is the fact there is nothing separate from That which is God, there is nothing separate from That which is the Self. This is something very singular, because we are dealing here with the Happiness inherent in Divine Reality, or the Peace inherent in Divine Reality. And when we speak, then, of God, we are speaking of What You are.

The direct realization of That, this direct view of That, which is Meditation, which is your Being, which is this Consciousness, this is the end of all contradiction and conflict produced by the belief in duality, by the trust that one gives to duality, to this sense of separation. So, what You are is That which I am, and That is What God is, because That is the only Reality present. So, everything else that we witness through the senses is within this one Consciousness, this one Reality, this one Non-Duality.

Therefore, where is there space for conflict, for suffering, for this illusion of separation? See, all of this is something created by thought.

Then, you need to understand the end of thought, and here, we are talking about this dualistic thought, this thought that is creating this sense of separation.

As an existential manifestation, thought is just a phenomenon, something actually harmless, but when this thought is at the service of this belief, this trust given to this separation between "me" and the world, "me" and God, "me" and life, we have conflict.

So, I want to invite you to acknowledge This, to acknowledge the Truth of your Being, the Truth of your Divine Nature. This is possible through direct work in Satsang. You need a very clear focus on this attention to yourself, in what happens here and now, in what is creating this posture or illusory position of separation, creating this falseness, creating this illusion.

So, the work of Self-Realization or the work of the true Self-Knowledge – and here knowledge in the sense of direct acknowledgment of your Being, of What You are – has this as a purpose: to reveal the Truth of your Being, to reveal the non-dual Truth, which is your Divine Nature.

Then, Advaita Vedanta, in India, is known as the science that investigates this, that explores this subject and approaches it through an investigation, through an observation. So, there is this more theoretical aspect and there is this more direct aspect. See, the importance of self-inquiry is that it brings you face to face, in a direct way, with This. So, the science that deals with the importance of this work, in India, is known as "Advaita Vedanta" (English pronunciation) or "Advaita Vedanta (Portuguese pronunciation)."

Thus, when we are dealing with the subject of non-duality, we are dealing with this science: the science of the Truth of your Being, the science of the Truth of who We are, the science of the Truth of your Divine Nature.

January, 2022
Gravatá-PE, Brazil
Further information

Self-knowledge

Let's go! When we use the expression "self-knowledge" – and this is a subject we want to discuss –, it is necessary to be careful with this expression.

In general, when some people use this expression "self-knowledge," they are talking about this knowledge of the "me," of the "person," of the "personality." So, the intention to understand or comprehend the "I" makes these people use this expression. But, see, the Truth about Self-Knowledge is that there is no "me", any "person" or any entity present, to be known.

So, the attempt to get to know yourself, to know yourself, in this sense of a better understanding of the "personality," the "person," this "sense of person," is something that does not make sense when we are dealing with the True Recognition of What we are, because the Understanding of What we are is what we could call True Self-Knowledge. However, in this Self-knowledge, there is no "me" to be known.

Here we are faced with an illusion, the illusion of understanding or comprehending this "I," this "person," this "personality," because if you search for this "person," this "I," you do not find it. You can't find it, because it is not real.

So, Self-realization is the Verification of the non-existence of this "me." So, in that sense, True Self-Knowledge is the Realization that there is no "I" to be known, no "me" to be understood.

The interesting thing about all this, is that if you actually carry the conflict of this "I," the conflict of this "person," this separate entity you believe yourself to be; if you go after it, investigating the nature of the mind that produces all this, this egoic mind, this separatist mind, this dualistic mind, this illusory mind; if you are in search of the Truth about it, in self-observation, you see that this "I" is not real, that with the disappearance of this illusion, the illusion of this "entity," this "person" also disappears, so do all conflicts. So, the sense of "I" is the illusion that perpetuates all conflicts.

So, when one wants Self-knowledge to get rid of conflict, it is necessary to understand that it is necessary to go towards this sense of "I," this sense of "me," and not by study, not by understanding this "I." It is rather by the investigation of the Real Nature of this "I." So, it is in this sense that self-investigation becomes the most important tool.

When we talk about self-investigation, we are talking about this self-observation. The most appropriate word, I have said, is self-observation, because it is not the investigation of something that does not exist or something that is not present. So, here it is about self-observation, what is present here, what exists here. This self-observation is the True Realization of the Truth about Who or What you Are.

The expression "What You Are" is even more accurate than this "Who You Are," because there is no one. So, it is possible to Realize What You are, not "who" You are. So, in this way, we can use that word, in a legitimate way. It is in this sense: the word "Self-knowledge" is the revelation of the illusion of an "I" to be known, of a separate entity to be understood. So, the work of Divine Realization, of Truth's Realization, of God's Realization, is the Verification there is no "I" nor any "me" to be known.

It's like this matter of the mind itself, which, in general, people have. They say "my mind." What is actually present is a whole movement of repetitive and conditioned thoughts, which carry a certain pattern of movement. If this is "looked at" closely, if this is investigated, it becomes clear that there is no such thing as "my mind." There are just thoughts. If that is seen, that disappears, that so-called "mind" dissolves. And here, when I say "dissolves," I refer to this conditioning, this repetitive, continuous, mechanical and unconscious movement pattern.

So, this is the True Understanding of the "Self," of "Yourself," of this "Me," of the Truth of What "I" Am.

January, 2022
Gravatá-PE, Brazil
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