Hello guys! Welcome to another meeting here on our channel. You know… within this channel, we are investigating with you this issue of Spiritual Enlightenment or Spiritual Awakening. And today I want to talk about the importance of Self-knowledge within this process of Recognition of the Truth about who we are. First of all, we need to realize the complication we get ourselves into within this misidentification, within this mistaken identification with the egoic mind. If we are going to investigate this important question of the Realization of That which we are, which some call Spiritual Enlightenment, others call Spiritual Awakening, we have to enter this path through Self-Knowledge.
It is the Self-knowledge that will reveal the psychological condition in which, in fact, we find ourselves at this moment. That condition puts you in this illusion that there is a you here, in this moment, and life happening. Therefore, there is life around you and you are at the center of it.
So, this sense of “I,” which is the sense of the present ego… around that ego sense, life is happening. So, if we are going to investigate the Truth about who we are, we have to look at the relationship between the Self-knowledge and egocentrism. After all, what is this egocentrism? Not a dictionary definition here; It's not really a dictionary definition.
Here it is a Recognition, and this Recognition is possible when you look within yourself, when you observe what is happening to you.
In this trajectory of Truth, in this walk towards this Revelation of Happiness, of Love, of Freedom, you need, necessarily, to perceive this condition of a separate identity, to see this movement of egocentrism present – this occurs when there is the Revelation of Self-knowledge.
Self-knowledge means learning about yourself.
Here, I refer to the Self-knowledge not given by someone, by a psychologist, by a psychoanalyst, by a book. Self-knowledge is that knowledge that is born within you, from the Perception of this Reality that presents itself as your Life, as your Existence, and for that, you need to learn from yourself, you need to learn the art of looking inside yourself.
The point is that from childhood we were not taught, we were not taught about it, we were not taught about it.
They gave us information, they gave us knowledge, they gave us different teachings, but not what I have considered here as essential, which is this teaching about who we are, the Truth of our Being, the Truth about us here and now.
So, there is no Self-knowledge, and if there is no Self-knowledge, you cannot investigate nooks and crannies, what is on the surface and what is on a deeper, more hidden level about yourself.
So, this whole movement of Consciousness is not understood when there is no learning about ourselves. That's what we need! We need to discover the Truth about who we are! The truth about who we believe to be, the vision of the truth about who we believe to be, the truth about who we identify ourselves to be, the truth about who we mistake ourselves to be, the understanding of this will reveal to you the Ultimate Truth of your Essential Nature, of your Divine Nature.
Therefore, the process is the process of this Recognition, the Recognition of this condition of ego identity, of separate identity, of egocentrism, of attitude towards life in a totally and completely inadequate way – of confusion, of psychological disorder, of insanity. We have to investigate this, investigate calmly, seeing these nooks, these meanders, seeing the surface of it and also seeing the depth of it. To look within yourself, to become fully aware of yourself, is to learn the truth of what has been shown to be "your life."
What I can tell you here is that all the confusion, all the suffering, all the disorder is present because of this state, this confused, chaotic, narrow, limited state that the egoic mind has produced and with which you have identified. Thus, the human being has identified with this condition. Despite being able to naturally go beyond that, you don’t, because there is no work on yourself in that direction, for that purpose.
Our meetings have that purpose here. It is possible to go beyond the illusion of this egoic sense, this sense of duality, where there is life happening and the illusion of an "I" present at the center of it all. This is not a definition of egocentrism, it is not a verbal definition, it is not an intellectual definition, this is a fact, it has been that way. Life settled within this condition is all that we have perceived. On the outside, there is confusion, there is disorder, there is war, there is suffering; and on the inside, it is all there.
In reality, this whole external world is just a reflection of this internal world. If there is confusion within you, if there is suffering within you, if there is fear within you, if there is violence within you, in your relationship with the world around you, this world around you will revolve around just that, because this external world is a reflection of what you carry inside yourself.
Going beyond that means going beyond that egoic sense, that sense of separateness, going beyond this condition of separation between you and everything that is here and now, in this instant, in this present moment.
So, when we talk about the ego, this present sense of identity, when we talk about egocentrism… In Vedanta, we have the expression “Advaita” – that's right there in the Vedas, in the Indian scriptures. The last part of the Vedas is Advaita Vedanta. It deals exactly with this condition of dualism, of separation, something produced by the illusion of a mistaken identification with the mind... if you mistake yourself wrongly for the mind – and here I refer to the egoic mind, this whole pattern you've been receiving since childhood. This psychological pattern created an isolationist self-protection. I mean this psychological self-protection, this illusory search for psychological safety, not to be hurt, not to be sorrowed, not to be offended, not to suffer. However, this hasn't worked. In fact, this has been the very cause of it all.
So, you have identified with this psychological pattern, with this pattern of psychological formation. This created this illusory center around which life has to revolve, has to happen. This is something completely false!
So, this identification with the sense of “someone” present here in this experience, this is not real. This can be perceived by Self-knowledge, it can be perceived directly by self-investigation. Direct perception of this is possible when there is this observation of all this movement of the mind, this mind within this process, holding that duality, holding that separation. The idea of this “I” is basically an idea, an idea surrounded by a set of memories, remembrances, what has already become, in this body and mind, a conditioning.
This condition puts you in a relationship with the world around you without realizing the Truth which is present here and now. So, there is a judgment, there is an evaluation, there is a comparison, there is an imposition of intentions, of motivations. It is always this sense of “I,” in an inadequate way, relating to Life as It is, as It happens.
So, suffering is present. This psychological confusion is inevitable, these internal states of unhappiness are inevitable. Jealousy is something like that, envy is something like that, the craving for more, the desire, the contradiction of desire, fear, the different fears, anxiety with its different conditions, depression with its different conditions, all of this revolves around that false center, unfolds in the presence of that false center.
So, this is the constant condition while this framework of egocentrism is upheld, maintained.
Learning about yourself is looking at it, and there is a correct way to approach that, and that is through self-observation. You have to observe yourself. Self-observation gives you the condition for this Recognition of Yourself, for this learning with yourself that is Self-knowledge. And when this is present, you can now have access to a direct work on yourself. I have called it the True Meditation.
Meditation is becoming aware of Yourself here and now. Through self-observation, there is this Recognition, then the Self-knowledge happens. Without Self-knowledge, you have no Meditation. I've been calling it the True Meditation because, in general, people use the term "meditation" for something they practice in order to become calmer, more balanced, more relaxed, less stressed. In fact, this is a form of hypnosis given to yourself. And why do I call it self-made hypnosis? Why would I call this a form of self-hypnosis? Because this works only in a therapeutic sense, but it doesn't solve it. This does not put an end to this sense of egocentrism, it does not put a definitive end to this sense of stress, anxiety, depression, fear, various fears.
So, hypnosis is a therapeutic resource, self-hypnosis is a therapeutic resource, but you can spend your whole life within it, and it becomes more of an element of escape, of alternative, of a temporary exit from crisis states, psychological crisis, psychological disorders, psychological suffering, but there is no cure.
We need to discover the art of learning from ourselves, the Meditation art. Meditation is this approach to yourself in this moment.
So, you don't take a moment to relax, to create a self-inducing stillness. It is evident that a kind of stillness happens in these moments, but it is the stillness of self-induction, it is the stillness of self-hypnosis, it is the stillness of this temporary escape from suffering, and we have to be very honest about that.
There can’t be an end to suffering as long as the egoic sense prevails, as long as this illusion of psychological conditioning remains within us as a living thing. It's cultural, it's social, it's educational, it's humanistic, it's something within our civilization, this psychological condition. There is no Love, but there is possession, control, which generates jealousy, which generates various internal sufferings. This is something common to all! The different fears, the different forms of suffering with which, with the passage of time, we get used to.
When the weight is too great, when the weight is too heavy, we look for something, some shade, some form of refuge from this condition, but the condition is there, it is still there. You have refuge, temporarily, but that doesn't work.
When the practice of meditation is no longer there, when you are no longer breathing in that particular way, when you are no longer sitting in that position, when you are in your daily life, when you are in your daily living, going to work, going to the office, to the work, driving your car, when you are in the relationship with the family, with the children, with the world around you, this sense of “I” is present, this sense of separateness is present and if that is there, conflict is there, because this sense of duality is present. This is what Advaita Vedanta deals with; this is what those who have Realized the Truth about themselves talk about.
Our proposal to you is not to put it in a theoretical, verbal way, teachings. We want you to learn with yourself to look within yourself, to discover, through Self-knowledge, the Real Meditation art. Meditation is that encounter with Silence, with True Peace, with the Real Stillness, and that is present when that duality is broken, when that sense of separateness is broken. So, when that is broken, when that is undone, the sense of that false center, that “me,” that “I” disappears.
So, this egocentrism is an illusion sustained by this mistake, by the mistake of this duality, this sense of duality present, which, basically, is not real either.
But you cannot start from that belief – it becomes one more belief. You need to verify this for yourself, that what we are saying is that the only Reality present here and now is this Consciousness, the Divine Truth, your own non-dual Being. There is no sense of duality, there is no sense of separateness. The only Reality is Life as It appears, yet this model of thought creating the past, creating the future and bringing it into existence here and now…
So, the melancholy, the anguish, the guilt, the regret, the sadness, existential frustration, these are all creations of thought, bringing the past or the future to this instant, to this moment, sustaining this sense of separate identity.
And here we are discovering that this has no Reality, this is not Real, but we need to discover this in an effective way, in an experiential way.
That’s why our proposal here, within these meetings, is to discover together what the True Meditation represents. The True Meditation is that encounter with this Divine Truth, which is the Truth of your Being. We have here, on our channel, a very extensive playlist talking about this issue of how to carry out this process in daily living, in everyday life – this Real Meditation art. Only that can break this egoic sense, can destroy the illusion of this false center, and therefore that is the end of egocentrism. Naturally, that is the end of suffering, for this "me," for this "I." This is Spiritual Enlightenment, this is Spiritual Awakening.
So, visit our playlist here, have a look at these videos, investigate it with us, delve into it within yourself. We have another playlist that I've been talking a lot about, which is “Kundalini Awakening,” which is a process that takes place along with this flourishing of this Meditation art. This is something that becomes responsible for the psychophysical change of this organism, this body-mind, so that this State of Spiritual Enlightenment, the Spiritual Awakening settles down.
OK? If this makes sense to you, leave your “like,” subscribe to the channel… Reminder: we have online meetings too, and face-to-face meetings, including retreats. If this is something that makes sense to you, let's work it out together.
OK?
Thanks for the meeting! See you soon.
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