What does it mean to be conscious? Being conscious… The way we approach the present experience – it’s quite interesting for us to investigate that.
We are, in these meetings, deepening this thing, discovering… discovering in ourselves, with ourselves, what it means to be aware, what it means to live the experience, the experience of this moment.
In general, the program, the form, the model, the programming in us, what I’ve called psychological conditioning, is like this: in contact with an experience, coming across it, we already bring a photograph. So, it always seems like it’s a contact of recognition since we always bring a photograph of past experiences, and that’s the narrowest, most limited way of being in touch with the present moment. This is how we process experiences.
Life is something here and now. Whatever is arising is arising in a new way; it’s the first time this is happening. When, for example, we have contact now and tomorrow we meet each other, in fact, 2 photographs will meet, the one you took of me and the one I took of you. This is what we call being conscious, this is how we process present-moment experiences.
This psychological condition in us is a deformity; it’s not something natural in our Being. This is how we process all information. This information is a record we have as files we bring. We make use of it for merely mechanical life. That’s a technical way of putting it. We could call it a merely egoic life, putting it from a psychological viewpoint.
Every movement of the present “person” is a movement of the “I,” this movement of memories, files, and photographs. Then, what is present is the egoic action, the egocentric movement, and the movement of the “I.” The tragedy of this is that our life is entirely trapped in the movement of the limitation of an illusory identity, as if it were real here, at this present moment, doing things right.
Our work together here is to discover Life now, as It appears, as It is when the “I” is not present. So, the Freedom to live is the Freedom to be free from the ego, this egoic model, these activities, these relationships based on this background, which here we’ve called the psychological conditioning.
All the unhappiness present in us is because the whole the Beauty, Grace, and the Truth of this present moment is annulled when the sense of ego is present. In other words, my relationship with you, based on this photo I took of you and you took of me – happened yesterday, and now this encounter is taking place – this relationship is always a relationship based on this egoic model; it’s always the sense of “I” present in this experience, in this contact, in this relationship.
Then, what do we have? Unhappiness. Is it possible for us to discover an action free of the ego and therefore an action free from the past? Is it possible for us to discover a new way – which is no longer about being conscious, in this old model of how we function – to have a new looking, a new hearing, a new feeling when the other is present? And, here, the other can be a person, nature, objects, a thought arising, a feeling... Looking at it in a new way, looking at it without being conscious… I'm going to call this being Consciousness, rather than being conscious.
To be conscious is to take these records, these photos, this background of conditioning, this model of memory and make this encounter, which, in fact, is not happening. It’s not an encounter, it’s actually a clash. As I've been saying: you don't meet the other; you clash with him or her.
The sense of the ego present, in this model of demand, desires, hope, hopelessness, fear... this meeting is always a clash! Our egoic relationships are tedious, tiring, boring, and repetitive. It’s a model of life where what predominates is, in fact, suffering and unhappiness since what is present is the ego in its demands, this “I” that needs you, wants something from you, that is demanding something from you.
So, human relationships are within this base. Our human relationship also with nature, with objects, our so-called human relationship with feeling and thinking... There’s always this confusion, there is always this tangle.
Thus, these photographs are not organized; they don't have a coherent model. Life here and now carries Plenitude, Totality, a Truth we don’t know when we position ourselves based on the past, based on memory, based on these records. So, we have to discard from our lives this model of “being conscious” to be Consciousness. And Being Consciousness is possible when the ego, the “I” is not present.
So, my contact with you is actually my contact with the Joy of being Consciousness since This is what I can recognize in What You are, This is what I am, then, there’s no separateness.
This sounds very strange to us because we were programmed, conditioned, to see the world from this perspective of separateness: there’s I and there’s you; there’s you and your demands, beliefs, opinions, judgments, comparisons, desires, and fears, and there’s I… Me with my fears, desires, comparisons, and demands.
So, our meetings are these meetings in this relation of separateness. The beauty of Spiritual Enlightenment, Spiritual Awakening – those are the terms people use, right? But, actually, it’s the Flourishing of your Being, of that Being-Consciousness, your Natural State.
The beauty of this Being-Consciousness, which some call Enlightenment, Awakening of Consciousness, is that, in this contact, what prevails is Silence, Intelligence, Compassion, Love, Care, an Appreciation free from ulterior motives, from secret desires. It’s always the Joy of being Consciousness. That Joy of being Consciousness makes your eyes shine with that Joy of looking at the other and seeing Yourself.
Unless you are disturbed, someone very far from the norm, the normality, when you hold a baby in your arms and look into its eyes, you don't want anything from that baby... unless you are out of normality. But, in general, you hold a baby and look into the baby’s eyes… you don't want anything! It’s just the joy of being with the baby in your lap. It’s not the comfort the baby receives, it’s the Joy of the comfort of being Yourself because at that moment the sense of “I” disappears: you don't demand, don't want anything, you're not demanding anything, asking for anything... The baby won't give you anything. The baby just partakes of your Joy of having it there. The baby is that Joy and you are that Joy. I don't know if you're holding him or if he’s holding you because it’s an instant of the absence of the sense of ego, the sense of separation.
We all have moments like this in life where the sense of “I” is not present. And there’s an enchantment, a sense of beauty, gratitude, comfort, care, Divine Presence, naturalness, and freshness at that instant, at least for a few seconds, until you don't get bored, or it seems that the child had bored you... but, at least for a few seconds, there’s a moment of encounter with What is inexplicable: the instant of the New, the Unknown; it’s the moment of Beauty, whether it’s a child, a small animal, a pet, or a child’s smile when looking at you... It’s just a smile, there’s no intention, no motivation, nothing to gain, to be exchanged; something gratuitous, free, without desire, without fear.
For a few seconds, the sense of “I,” the ego, the egoic consciousness is not present; for a few seconds there’s no egocentric activity. At that instant, everything is Being, Consciousness, this Presence.
I want to invite you to this Awakening of your Essential Nature, to have eyes like that in your life, moment by moment, for everything! We only have a few moments like that in contact with nature, in contact... the moment you see a bird perched on a tree branch... For a few seconds, there’s a looking free from the “I.” A tree gives you nothing; there’s no impulse, no desire, no stimulus to any egoic activity. That instant is the instant of Consciousness, the instant of Presence.
This is Meditation without the meditator, without the practice of meditation. You don't prepare yourself for This; you don't know when This is going to happen. This is an unknown new moment. It comes as a touch, an invasion of something outside your premeditation, your “me,” your “I,” your ego. This is outside your photo cards, your “kept” files; This is outside the “I.” This photo card, this archive, is what I’ve been calling psychological time; that’s where your ego lives, your “I” lives, and the “person” you believe you are has existence.
So, what is Awakening, Enlightenment? It’s to remain free from your “I,” your “myself,” “myself,” “I know,” “I want,” “I don't want,” “I like,” “I don't like,” “I accept,” “I don't accept,” “I forgive you,” “no, I won't forgive you” … to live free from that sense of an “I” present with needs, lack, and motivations. Does it make sense or not?
This is Meditation! This is Meditation! It’s to remain as Being-Consciousness! This is the real way – which is not a formula, a path, a method, or a system – it’s the real way to remain free from all forms, all formats of approach to Life as It is here and now.
People want to find out what Meditation is. They actually carry Meditation already in them. This is a common experience for everyone! This has been with you since childhood, but throughout your life, you have lost it. You got into the forest of civilization, into the world of desires, dreams, projects, conquests, the attempt to win, to achieve, and also to get rid of; you got into the woods, along the path of choices, and lost your Natural State of Being-Consciousness, which has its own way of conducting you, because You are that Presence, You are that Consciousness. That human form, body-mind, is that Presence, that Pure Being-Consciousness.
Surrender to Truth – what we now must do. We have to abandon what we've done, we have to unlearn what we've learned, we have to get out of this wood, this forest, this old ancient journey, and go back to the Truth we are here and now. And that gives you the real lead, to this body and mind, to a loving, happy, blissful, peaceful, and also prosperous life.
So, it’s not about you looking for different ways of obtaining results from imagination*, dreams, an “I” projecting itself to accomplish things, to live This, this Completeness of being Consciousness. This is already here when the sense of “I” is not present. So, everything that is necessary and real for this Life of Plenitude, Happiness, Love, and also Prosperity, is already present when the sense of “I” is not.
So, mentalization to make dreams come true, projects, objectives, goals... the 5-year goal, visualizing objects glued to the fridge, the famous “The Secret,” none of this makes the slightest sense for What You are, which is Being-Consciousness, the very Source of everything, everything, absolutely everything!
So, this is the formula-free way of being here and now, in this contact. Listening to the other in this way, hearing a speech like this, relating in this way, feeling what is going on inside and outside yourself without this background, this programming, this conditioning, this illusion of being conscious... This is what we’re doing in these meetings: discovering the Truth about who we are. The Revelation of That is the Truth about what God is, what Life is, and what Consciousness is. Ok?
That’s the subject. Let’s stop here!
No comments:
Post a Comment