When realizing that everything is routine, when realizing that everything ends in boredom and in some form of dissatisfaction, human beings look for something. There are two strands here: the first are those who look for that “something” in things… in things, in places, in objects, in people; they are those who have a non-religious bent. And there are those who are looking for that “something” in religiosity. Something being sought in the world and something being sought outside the world.
Some of you have heard of it, and nowadays it’s very popular. It is the question of this philosophical line that seeks to approach this encounter with something outside this routine context, this common context, this context of repetition. They point to the possibility of living happily by learning to deal with the world: how we react to the world is something that depends on the quality of our thoughts, our ideas, our beliefs, and it is how we react to the world, to situations in life, the way how we react to it, depending on that quality of thought we bring, that will determine whether we will be happy or not.
This is called stoicism – the pursuit of happiness within a philosophical principle.
So, for the philosopher, the encounter with a certain quality of life, of harmony of life, of peace, of happiness... I am not sure what is meant for happiness within this context, but it is something like a kind of psychological adjustment, mentally, to this condition that presents itself. This we call happiness: a mere adjustment to a given situation, depending on the quality of thought we have. That’s called stoicism, and people nowadays are into it, they're crazy about it!
So, this is a path to happiness within this principle, this search still for something in the world. Added to that, we have psychology, which also goes along a path telling you that it is possible for you to achieve that peace, or that happiness, or that “thing,” that “something,” by changing your thoughts.
So, within psychology, we have several other strands. There is, for example, positive psychology, which speaks of the “Flow State” as a state in which the mind and body are in tune, in harmony, in non-conflict, in non-contradiction with life as it is shown.
So, let’s, through a psychological discipline, through a psychological technique, reach… let’s achieve this, let’s work to reach this condition of this so-called – within positive psychology – “Flow State.”
So, it’s the search for something outside of the routine, outside of the ordinary, stress, this pain that human beings have been facing, have been living for millennia, along this path. So, it is the search for something still in the world, in the world of objects, in places, in people, in accomplishments or in frustrations.
Realization within this challenge in the world, having this approach of searching for something outside of this condition by psychology or philosophy – this is one strand. The other strand is the religious search. Then there are those who are looking for something not in the world but outside of the world – it is the religious search. And the religious quest is to connect to a certain official religion. You spend a period of time to try to find that other thing searched, sought by you, which, within religion, is called Truth or God.
No one knows what That is, but everyone uses the expression. One imagines something about it, as in philosophy itself one imagines something about truth. In religion, one imagines something like God. It’s an idea, it’s a concept, it’s a belief. Nobody knows what that means, what it really represents.
But on Google, the most popular word, which is the most searched for, the most looked for, which is the most studied, which is the most known, is the word “God.” There is a lot of competition because everyone is looking for, everyone wants to know and everyone researches, and everyone teaches about it. So, the use of the word “God” ... So, in religion, there is this search. So, you look for this thing called “truth” and “God” within that religious quest, and it doesn't get resolved. Internally, you are still an anxious, worried, stressed, bored creature, living in a state of internal confusion, which only you yourself know.
You try to share this with a mental health professional and he prescribes some medication, he prescribes a new technique of therapy, psychotherapy, or indicates some changes in behavior, but it doesn't resolve either. And here we are, the human being… all of us here, looking at this. Since it is neither found in the world, in this search for that something in the world, nor is it found in this search for something outside the world… This search for something in the world is materialism, it is existentialism, and there are many names for it. And in spirituality – this is what this quest for religious life is called.
And, after all, what are we looking for? That’s the question. What are we looking for? Those who have seen – not those who have found it, but those who have realized it – the end to this dilemma, the end to this confusion, the end to this boredom, to this boring state of life, where you go on living despite all the achievements in the world or achievements out of the world – still the situation continues... Those who found it, no; those who have verified, in themselves, the end of that, the end of this search for something there or on the other side, on one side of the river or on the other side of the river… those who have realized This give us their testimony.
There is Ramana Maharshi giving us his testimony. There is Eckhart Tolle giving us his testimony. There is Krishnamurti giving us his testimony, and there are countless others who have realized the end of it, the end of the search. How does this search end? How does this quest end? You know what we are saying here. Some of you have already been married more than two, three times… So, a man is a desire, a woman is a desire, but also a house, a very beautiful house, dreamed of, with the furniture of dreams. This is all a desire! We all know what we're talking about here.
We keep changing houses, we keep changing husbands, we keep changing wives, and we acquire, over the years, through an arduous effort, a struggle, a strong struggle for these achievements, through great self-discipline … study a lot, a few years at college, then a doctoral degree, then a postdoctoral degree, a master’s…
After long work, long struggle, we achieve all of this and realize that we keep changing. So, let’s emphasize this a little bit more here so we can go ahead with you.
But there is an end to that, there is an end to this search for what is outside and there is also an end to this search for what we believe is inside. Son, the ones in the wing of those who are looking outside say it is outside. Part of this movement of how to react to life, which is still psychological, is still outside there. If it’s something that depends on this “me,” this “I,” this “you,” then the idea is that something is outside, it’s something outside that you have to deal with. And there are those who say it’s something inside, that you'll find something inside, and then you project an image of something inside: it’s the Divine, it’s the Supreme Being, it’s the Higher Self… So, there are the shadows and the light. Light is the Supreme Self, the Higher Self, it is the inner God, which we have been hearing about since childhood.
But all this is still part of an idea, it is still part of a belief. And then, after you dedicate yourself for many years, you realize that the thing has not been resolved. Desires and conflicts still remain. You've fulfilled one wish, but another soon follows. You have a husband, but you see the husband of the other, more handsome one... This is an internal complication that you have to deal with, because, then, you find out that it wasn't the lack of a husband; then, the mind says it’s about changing husbands! And so we change religions, change cars, change houses, change God – it’s because we believe first in one, then believe in the other, and it never ends.
And what do the Sages, the Realized Ones, have to say to us about this? What is missing? Is something really missing and that’s why there is this search? How does this quest end? Does it end when we find it or does it end when we realize that the seeker element is the problem? Is it the lack of something in the material world or in the spiritual world? What is really missing? Is it a lack of something or is it an excess of something?
The Truth is in realizing what is already here, not something to be added to what is here and now. It is not a matter of what is outside or what is inside. Reality is the Realization that this illusion, the illusion of duality, is indeed an illusion. We face duality as a fact. Yes, it is a subjective, psychology fact, but it is not a fact of Reality. Let’s clear this up.
We deal with the world by being “someone,” seeing ourselves as “someone,” feeling like “someone.” So, there is this dissatisfaction, there is this incompleteness, there is this state of contradiction, of conflict, of suffering, which compels us to seek… “pushes us to seek” – but who? That sense of “I” in each of us.
So, this world outside is a psychology fact; this is a psychology fact. It is not a Reality! It is not a Reality, but it is a psychology fact. We need to find out how to deal with it, with this psychology fact. This psychology fact is what sustains the suffering of human beings, as I said just now: boredom, this sense of routine, repetition, continuity, feeding new expectations of a better future, of better fulfillment, of a better house, of a better desire, of a desire that will fulfill...
All this happens because of this psychology fact, which is a fraud from the point of view of Reality. From the point of view of Reality, there is no such thing! The fact is... from the point of view of Reality, the fact is: Life is what It is, and It is complete when this subjective condition, when this psychological fact condition, which is this duality condition, disappears. That is the Truth! It’s no use quoting Jesus, Buddha... We have to discover this for ourselves, which is this illusion of the sense of “someone” present dealing with life, which will continually sustain this search for something always on the outside, to see oneself complete. And that is impossible, because conflict is the nature of duality.
As long as there is this duality, there will be conflict; as long as there is a sense of “I,” as long as there is this “I,” there is the other to be desired, there is something else to be pursued, there is the idea of God, which is just a belief, an image. We are not denying the Reality of God, we are denying the idea of God. The idea of God is a concept, a belief. It’s like looking at a card in the deck and saying, “Here’s the king.” No, not the king! This is a figure, an image, an idealistic representation, it is not reality. Can you take the deck and find the king of diamonds, the king of clubs – is that it? –, of hearts and spades, but the king is not there. You look at a chessboard and you also find the king. What is the real king? Where is the king?
This is how we represent God or Happiness: as an ideal. So, it is not possible to find Happiness neither in positive psychology nor in what is understood by “Flow State.” My vision on the Flow State is completely different. The Flow State is the Natural State of Pure Consciousness, where there is, in fact, no separation between You and Reality, but it is not the state that comes and goes, as proposed by positive psychology; it is the Natural State, where the sense of “I,” of “me,” the ego, is no longer present.
So, neither by positive psychology, nor by the philosophy of the stoics, in stoicism. The Reality of Happiness is not a belief, it is not an idea, it is not a concept. We can talk more about that. This is experiential when the sense of duality is no longer present. And what is needed for this to happen? The end of the seeker! The seeker’s end is surrender, the surrender of the illusion of a present identity – that is surrendered, that is given up. You surrender yourself, you are truly in His Hands, you are surrendering, you have stopped resisting, you have stopped fighting.
So, this is very basic, it is very simple to understand that Life is Omnipotent, Truth is Omnipotent, the Unknown, which someone calls God… I call “The Unknown;” I would call “The Nameless One” and sometimes I call him God, but He is the Most Powerful! So, if Life shows you that something is out, something has to be surrendered, something has to be given up, something has to give up continuing... and that understanding remains because of this Birth of a New Mind, of this Intelligence, which is based on Self-awareness. Then it’s simple we understand what surrender is. You will surrender, you will surrender, you will give up the illusion of this “me,” this “I,” this ego.
So, when that ends, when that disappears, then You, in your Natural State of Being, of Pure Being, are no longer looking, neither outside nor inside. That’s the end of the ego, that’s the end of the “I.”
For this surrender to occur, the vision of Self-awareness is necessary, and Self-awareness is not possible if you do not self-observe. It’s no use to keep searching! This quest has to end, or you'll keep searching for the rest of your life! It happens in materialism and it happens in spiritualism.
In spirituality, people search for the rest of their lives and remain unhappy, they continue to suffer, they continue to feel incomplete because it is the presence of the ego in them. So, it’s no use in accomplishing something in spirituality; there is also no point in accomplishing something in materialism.
So, it doesn't work! It does not work! As long as there is a sense of separateness, whether in spirituality, whether it is positive psychology, whether it is stoicism… as long as there is a sense of separateness, the illusion of “me” is there, and the fallacy, the lie, that something will make you happy. Nothing will make you happy! The presence of this “me” is the absence of Happiness. It’s no use listening to it, it’s necessary to look, observe, become aware of it here and now. This is real surrender, this is real surrender of this “me,” this “I,” this ego. OK? That’s right!
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