How to live free? What is this Freedom to not suffer? Yes, I said this: Freedom to not suffer. A human being wants Happiness. He wants something that will give him an internal and external condition where he will never again be touched by suffering. So, what is Freedom? What is Happiness? How is Free Life, in Happiness, possible? I want to speak in the next minutes about this.
A Free Life, in Happiness, is a Life where the sense of “I” is not present. So, your intention for Freedom and Happiness is the true impediment to Happiness and Freedom. That sense of “someone” in this intention…The sense of “someone” in intention is the impediment of Freedom and Happiness.
Freedom, Happiness, is the Nature of your Being, the Nature of Truth about who You are. However, the “truth” about who you are, in the moment, is, in fact, the “truth” of your beliefs. Jealousy is part of it, the intention of Freedom and Happiness is part of it, fear is part of it, worry is part of it, this internal restlessness, this model of chaotic repetitive and chattering thought pattern within you is part of it.
That is the “truth” of what you are now, what you present to be at this instant, but there is something beyond this. It is not the “truth” of what you are now, it is the Truth of your Divine Nature, of your Real Being; not this “being” which presents itself now, that wants something different, that is looking for something different, that feels like a slave and is searching for Freedom, feels unhappy and is searching for Happiness.
So, what you are here and now needs to be investigated. You approach it and look at what is happening here, in this model of thought, emotion, feelings and perception of the world. The particular view you have of people, of the world, all that image you have of life, this is present because of ignorance, the illusion about who, in fact, you are. You become aware of this “truth” that you are or what you present to be. Looking at this is Self-awareness.
So, Self-awareness is the way in which we have to approach the truth about who we are. At the same time, Self-awareness is the Perception of Reality which transcends “someone” here, being known – this personality, this “me,” this ego, this background of experiences, remembrances, memories, this bundle of ideas and psychological conditioning. The Perception of Reality, the Truth about You is Self-awareness. This discards this conditioning, that puts an end to this model and so Reality arises, What is beyond this “me,” this “I,” this ego.
The problem is we are not conscious, not aware of this background of conditioning; we are not aware of it. Because of the lack of this self-investigation, you are not aware of this conditioning, of this background of conditioning. It is the psychological conditioning which we bring.
Thus, the religious view, the philosophical view, the psychological view, all of this religious, psychological view, all these images in relation to the world and others, all this particular way of seeing oneself in this context of so-called human life, is something based on this psychological conditioning, which we are not aware, are not conscious. So, the lack of awareness of this conditioning places us within this limitation, this self-centeredness, in this egocentric model of existence, in this egocentrism.
So, the question “what is to be free?”, “what is to be happy?” or “what is happiness?” … Happiness is Being, to be Happy is Being, and Freedom is Being, and Being is Consciousness, it is the Vision of Reality; to look at life without background, to look at life without a personal and particular background, to look at life without this “I,” to look at life as it is, without this conditioning.
So, this base, that is conditioning… this base disappeared! When there is Freedom, there is no conditioning; when there is Happiness, there is no conditioning. The presence of Freedom and Happiness is something which is there when the ego is not, when this “me,” this “I” ...What is this “I”? What is this “me”? What is this ego if not this conditioning, this structure of conditioning? This is what makes us see the world within these particularities, these peculiarities, within this sense of an existence that separates itself to evaluate, to judge, to compare, to reject or to cling to and hold on and try to sustain what is desired.
So, we reject what we don´t want and we cling to what we want. That what will give us pleasure, we seek, we want more, so we grab, we try to hold on; and what we don't desire, don't want, we want to get rid of, to be far from. So, what prevails is always this background of conditioning, the sense of an “I” present in life here and now. That is being under bondage, bondage to the illusion of this ego-identity.
Freedom is Being and not “come to be,” Happiness is Being and not “come to be,” Love is Being and not “come to be.” All our human experiences are based on this conditioning, what we call “happiness,” which is not Happiness; which we call “love” but is not Love; “peace” which is not Peace; “freedom” which is not Freedom.
We don't know the Truth about God, but we have many theories, many beliefs. Our religious conditioning gives us a whole basis for talking a lot about God without even having any real approach to that.
We only use words and expressions that we have learned over all these years, that we have read in books, that we have heard from priests. So, we have a facade of religious life.
There is no heart of this Communion with the Divine Reality, which is the Real Religion, this connection with the Divine – this Religion is this connection with the Divine –, there is not that… What we have is a religious conditioning, rules, practices, rituals, ceremonies, prayers, but an empty thing, because it is born of that conditioning.
Our whole life, within this principle of psychology that we apply in our relationships… all these principles of psychology are within this conditioning. The principles of religion that we apply in our lives are within this conditioning. The principles of human relations, which we apply in our relationships, are within this conditioning.
The way we see ourselves, the way we see the world, the way we see God, the way we see the other is within this conditioning.
So, there is no Freedom, there is no Happiness, there is no Love, there is no Peace… Moments of pleasure, satisfaction, achievement, but [that] is something very personal, very particular. If that is touched by life, as indeed it always is touched by life... Life is a mysterious and challenging movement. Some things that come into your life… by Life itself, that too is taken away.
When that arrives, your ego, the sense of “I,” of “me,” rejoices, interprets it within that background of conditioning and tries to cling to that experience of pleasure, but soon that is taken away by Life itself, by Existence itself. Then comes the pain, the suffering, the despair, the affliction, the confusion.
At that moment, this whole principle of religious conditioning solves nothing. In fact, at that moment, you will pray. We pray in a moment of despair, never in a moment of joy, pleasure, fulfillment, satisfaction – this is not the time for prayer. We pray when we are pleading, needy, in need, in pain.
So, our practices, or our involvement with the Divine, are always to receive something, because we are needy, in neediness, we need something. Your real contact with Truth is contact with What that is God. This is present when the sense of “I” is not there, when that conditioning is not there, when that particular, personal, egoic way of relating with God, with the world, with the other, with oneself, is not there.
Do you understand that? It is always a selfish, particular, self-centered, self-interested, self-interested way of dealing with others, dealing with God, dealing with oneself, dealing with life. It is always the ego at the center of all experiences in this psychological conditioning, and this is not seen.
Self-inquiry, self-observation… “Who am I? Who am I? What is this ‘I’”? That was Ramana Maharshi’s approach. He placed this as the direct basis for the Awakening of your Being; to ask yourself “who am I? Who am I? What is this ‘me,’ this ‘I'?” So, you have the opportunity to face this background of conditioning and look at it.
So, in this self-investigation, you have the opportunity to get closer to that look.
When there is self-investigation, Self-awareness shows itself, and with Self-awareness, True Meditation is revealed. So, there is an emptying of all the content of psychological conditioning, of this “I”, this “me,” this ego.
So, this is the “truth” of what you present yourself to be, what you show yourself to be, being literally discarded. And when there is the end of the “I,” of the ego, and the emergence of something entirely new, which is the Presence of Reality, which is the Presence of God. And, in this Presence of Reality, That what is present is no longer “my life,” this “your life”; it is the Life of God, of Consciousness, of Reality, That which is Nameless, Indescribable, the Truth of your Being!
This is the subject we are working on here with you within the channel. Does it make sense to you? If this is something that makes sense to you, leave your “like”, subscribe to the channel... We have online meetings – I want to remind you here – and face-to-face meetings and also retreats. If this is something that makes sense, then there is the invitation. OK?
And we'll see you soon! Thanks for the meeting!