Gilson – What is God? How to realize God?
To answer these questions, Master Gualberto is here with us. Again, Master, I thank you for this opportunity to be here with us on the channel, clarifying doubts and bringing what is the experience of this Natural State, of experiencing without the sense of an experiencer.
For those who don't know Master Gualberto, by the Grace of his master Ramana [Maharshi], after twenty-one years of an intense process of self-investigation, a “bomb” exploded, where that sense of a present “I” disappeared and the Natural State settled down. [Natural State] also called Spiritual Enlightenment, the Awakening of Consciousness or God Realization.
For those who don't know Marcos Gualberto, I met him last year, after a period of quietness, where I got away from the channel, away from my studies, and it ended up that, by Grace, a video of Master Gualberto appeared to me, from his channel [“Master Gualberto”], which deals with exactly the same topic as Joel, where the focus is Spiritual Enlightenment. And in a video, where Master talks about this topic, I felt something beyond words. Then a curiosity arose, even for the name “Master.” My ego was like “what do you mean by Master?” I was curious, I saw that they had meetings both online and in person. I participated in a weekend intensive online and then I was able to “understand,” to perceive what is beyond words, what is beyond concepts. Because in the presence of Marcos a True Meditation, as he calls it, settled down, which is a Silence, a Stillness, a sensation of absence of “someone” present, but experience happening.
From then on, I've been participating in all the meetings and the feeling — which is very strong here — is that the search, this search for God that had been going on for many years in my past has come to an end. Yes, there is now work to be done. A job at every moment. A work to observe the activity of this illusory “I,” this ego, which is always judging, classifying, liking and not liking.
Once seeing this illusion, I have realized what is beyond the illusion also appears, which is this Reality, which is the Natural State.
Getting to the questions, Master — What is God? And how to Realize God? —, before you answer, I would like to read an excerpt from Joel’s book “The Art of Spiritual Healing,” where Joel says: “Reader, go to a park where young grass grows, where leaves are born on the trees or, later, when the flowers appear. Contemplate there how God is at every moment, in leaves, flowers and fruits and a wonderful thing no one asks for it to be so, no one says goodbye when He needs these things, the fruits, the green grass, the cattle on the hills, and yet God makes all these appear.”
The word is with you Master.
Master – Your question is: “How to realize God?” To this question I would say: stop interfering, stop occupying yourself with the idea of “someone” being present. When you stop worrying about it, that is, you become unoccupied, you stop interfering, the Reality of God presents itself. It’s not about you realizing God, it’s about God taking “your” place, that “your” place. You have occupied an undue place in this context of life, of existence
Gilson, the expression we use is very curious: “my life.” This “my” life contains “my business,” “my home,” “my family,” “my relationships.” That “mine” and “my” is within that “I.” This “I” is the only problem for this awareness of Truth that the only present reality is God. So, Realizing God means derealizing oneself in the “I.” So, the work of God Realization is the derealization of this “I”. It is the end of the illusion of this “I.”
This “I” is a conditioning, it is a belief, it is an idea, it is a thought, a hypnotic suggestion. It is this “I” that has “mine,” that has “my life,” “my house,” “my family,” “my possessions.” That “I” is a fraud. As long as that “I” remains present, problems are present, suffering is present, fear is present. Fear is based on this sense, the sense of a present “I.”
This “I” separates itself; it appropriates that; it is a “false center.”
A wheel has a center, every wheel has a center. It’s the axis, it’s called the axis. The force of the wheel’s movement is placed on that axle, on that center. The amount of force applied to the center of the wheel, to the axle, will determine the speed of the wheel. That center, that axis is false. Every movement of this wheel that you call “my life,” in which revolves around “my house,” “my business,” “my family,” “my body,” “my health,” “my illness,” “my life,” is completely false.
This is under this illusory axis, this false center, this false “I,” this “me.” It is the presence of that “me” that is the whole hindrance.
When you investigate the nature of that “me,” that “I,” you don't find it there. So, see: it is an axle of a wheel that does not exist. It is a center for a wheel that is not there, there is no “my house,” “my business,” “my family,” “my life.” This is an idea, a belief, it is a thought, an imagination of this “false center.”
So, Gilson, what is realizing God? It is assuming the Truth that there is only God. As simple as that. This requires understanding the illusion of this “I.” It is necessary to approach looking, investigating, observing, becoming aware of this movement of the “I,” of this illusory movement of this axis, of this false center. The direct way to it? Meditation. The direct work for this? Satsang.
The word “Satsang” means association with the Self. In India, this is used in the sense of an encounter with the Self, which is God in a form, in the form of a teacher who has realized God, who is there without this false center. There is no longer an identity present there. When you come across a teacher, a Realized One, a living Master, you are in Satsang.
In Satsang, he [a Realized Being] investigates with you the illusion of belief that you have, that you bring, about who you are. So, he questions you, he investigates your own beliefs with you. All the ideas you bring before him, he discards by showing you that they are just ideas, they are beliefs. So, you work this self-investigation with him and he, in his Presence, the state of Meditation — which is what he shows you, which means the True Meditation in a practical way — happens in a natural way.
A sage in India, Shankara, said that “The efficient boat to cross the sea of samsara, of illusion, is the boat called Satsang.” Here, at this moment, we are facing a moment of the investigation of illusion. We are observing the illusion of what we believe to be. This is Satsang. An encounter with the investigation of illusion is an encounter in which you come face to face with Truth. To see the illusion is to understand the Truth. Not seeing the illusion is keeping yourself within a hypnotic state, of egoic identification, of a dream, where what prevails is fear, suffering, and ignorance.
So you ask, “How to realize God?” Giving up that “me.” Notice what I'm saying: you're not going to find God, you can't find God, you're a fraud,
you're a fraud. It is He who finds you. In fact, you're here on this channel because you've already been found. He found you. Only God calls out to God. Only God seeks God. Only God recognizes God. Only God realizes God. So, it’s not about this “me,” this “I,” this sense of “someone” present to find something called God.
So, we remain in this flight of fancy. The ego is there. It projects God, it idealizes God, it wants God. It wants God its way. It goes so far as to say “I feel God.” What does it mean by “I feel God?” Listen to what I'm going to say: When God is there, the ego doesn't feel anything. When God is there, there is no ego, because the ego is a fraud, is an illusion. God is the Reality.
So, the ego cannot reach God. It idealizes, imagines, believes, searches. So, people, Gilson, ask: “How or what to do to realize God?”
There is no “how.” There is no “what to do.” Nothing can be done that is not already done, and what is done? God. God being who He is there.
Here, the investigation of illusion is not to build the Truth. The investigation of the illusion is to verify the illusion, and the verification of the illusion is the Truth. So, it is not an effort to reach God that will lead you to God. It is the perception of the illusion of this “I” that dissolves in this God Realization.
Gilson – Master, it’s funny how common this is and I'm talking about myself. The ego takes spiritual concepts and takes possession of that concept. For example, as the Master said, understanding that there is only God. Oh! Then the ego says, “Got it! There is only God. There is only God. I'm God. Everything is God.” But this is just a concept. It’s the ego itself with that concept – and I speak for myself. I've been on this quest for many years, the last few years focused on Joel, and I was full of “concepts of Truth,” of “concepts of God,” of “spiritual principles.” But it was “I” who was there, that is, this egoic identity “Gilson” was appropriating the Truth, appropriating the understanding of God, of feeling God, “I” feeling God.
Master, it’s only by an act of Grace, it’s only in this encounter with Truth, as you said, in Satsang [to realize this]. Because the ego, by itself, what chance would it have of being able to see the very illusion that it is?
So, I have an indescribable gratitude in this proximity with you, in these intensive Satsang meetings where, as you said, this is investigated in depth. But the investigation is not just with words. It is in this — what I call — sharing of Consciousness, this immersion in the Presence, in Your Presence — which is the Presence of Grace, which is the Presence of God —, where this gaze is a gaze where I see myself, not the “me” myself Gilson, but this Infinite Being, that one there, where there is only God.
There is no “me” experiencing or feeling God. There is God. It’s something speechless, it’s something unspeakable, it’s something, as you mentioned, “the boat that takes us through this samsara, this illusion.”
Master – There is the Reality present and it is only the present Reality. There is no “I.” There is not this “me,” this ego, this person. Here, Surrender is not the surrender of an ego, in the ego, by the ego. Here, surrender is the realization of the Truth in this illusion, in this illusion of the “I,” in this illusion of the “ego.” Then, That, which is Real, shows itself. So, the word “surrender” or “surrender” to God, this and several other words used is not within this religious terminology. This needs to be seen too.
We cultivate a lot of words and we have a lot of images linked to feelings, emotions, and sensations. Linked to words, above all, religious words. That’s comforting. This cheers us up, gives us hope, consoles us, even gives us a certain peace of mind, but it doesn't solve the problem. It does not resolve. That is not Realization yet. Realization is the end for the “me”, for the “I” that is comfortable, that loves to listen.
Notice how interesting it is: human beings love to hear about God — some, don't they? Religious people love to hear about that, but hearing is a harmless thing, very harmless. A direct work of surrender to the Truth is necessary. It is here that we now use the word [surrender]. Surrender to the Truth.
Enjoying a video like this, listening to these words and saying: “But this is very beautiful”, does not solve it. It’s on an emotional level, on a feeling level. And one detail: it becomes more of an idea, more of a concept, more of a belief.
Contact with Satsang or contact with the Reality of direct work is really something that works, because it destroys that more romantic, more sentimental thing, more involved with feeling, thought and emotion than with the Truth of self-investigation, of self-observation and abandonment, or surrender to that Truth.
We are very much into theory, Gilson. I've said it — if I haven't said it, I'll say it now — these words are to be experienced, experienced. They are not to be held in the intellect, admired. “Oh! How beautiful they talk. That boy with the mustache speaks so beautifully. That other one also in the yellow shirt speaks so beautifully.” It’s not for us to stay there. You have to live it, feel it. When I say feel it, it means letting yourself experience it, allowing yourself to. Not resisting this Truth of this Divine call for this surrender, for this abandonment. Then, something is possible. Something becomes possible and that something possible is the very Presence of Grace making it possible. God assuming the place that is His. He attracts you. He touches you and He does all the work.
What do you do? You keep quiet. You give up. You leave the scene and you leave the scene when you come across Satsang, when you come across this self-observation, this True Meditation here and now.
This is a real interest, Gilson, deep, true, for the discovery of That which is present, but it is not being verified because we remain too much in theory, in emotion or in feeling. Live This, experience It, see It, come to Satsang. Engage with the Truth.
“Whoever is not born again — in the words of Christ — cannot enter the Kingdom of God” and “be born again” means the old man has disappeared. Somehow it is no longer there for something new to arise, what is old is gone. So, the sense of an “I” – which is the past, which is this “me,” this whole background of psychological conditioning – needs to be undone. This is assuming the Truth of your Being. This is keeping quiet for God to take His place. That is God in this Realization. It is the Realization of God in God.
When that sense of “I” is not there, That which is present is the Reality of God. It’s not you present, it’s God present. There is only Him. You are not an instrument, you are not a vehicle, you are not… You are God, that is the nature of your Being. When That takes over, God is there, and when God is there, there is no more suffering. When God is there, there is no more confusion, no more problems.
Gilson – How words are in duality and the ego uses them to stay alive.
Master – Yes.
Gilson – Words, as you said: “surrender.” “Look at that wonderful ego, an ego that surrenders.” It’s not the ego. It incorporates that and says: “I surrender.” If there is an “I” wanting to surrender, who is that “I” that is surrendering? It is the activity of that illusory identity surrendering or, as you just commented [just now], being an instrument of God or a transparency of God. So, there is a “very important me” being God’s instrument. It is very naughty, this ego.
Master – We have to be careful with our words, Gilson. Words are too tricky. Words are very tricky, you know, words are dangerous. We have to be careful with words. If you intellectualize them, they take on a very peculiar meaning for the ego itself. It appropriates those words and makes them its own. Words are dangerous.
We have to go beyond words, as Joel himself said, “beyond words and thoughts.” So, what we say doesn't matter. It’s what we live outside our minds that matters. And outside the mind, what you live is not you. It’s the Truth revealing itself, because there is no you. Exactly! There is no you. Outside the mind, what is lived is not you living, it is Consciousness, it is Christ, it is Truth, whatever name you want to give it. It is God, it is Christ, it is Consciousness, it is Being.
What I noticed, Gilson, what I have noticed… I was raised in a deeply religious environment, as a child. This is my story, since I was a child, Gualberto’s story… And we are very passionate about words like Jesus, like God. Because they are words that really create an emotion or provoke an emotion, but we have to have a real understanding that the word is not quite the thing and that feeling is still personal, very particular.
There is something beyond that feeling, beyond that word, which is the Truth, which is God, which is the Christ, and when Christ arrives, the illusion ends. All this romanticism, all this mawkish thing, all this scared, fearful, prejudiced, particular stuff, which the ego itself has transformed into something for it of this so-called “religious life,” or “esoteric,” or “mystical,” or the sense of being an “instrument,” a “vehicle,” an “expression of the Divine,” all that disappears, because there is only God. If there is only God, it is only God. It’s God speaking, it’s God doing, it’s God quiet, it’s God expressing himself, it’s God completely assuming this so-called “my story.” There is no “me,” there is no more story.
Then, the sense of “I” disappears with “mine,” with “mine,” [with] “my things,” [with] “mine.” It’s so weird “mine,” “my car.” Guys, “my house,” what do you mean by “my house?” “My business,” what do you mean by it? “My family.” People, there is nothing that is yours, all of that disappears.
There are those who even say “my God,” “our God.” What do you mean by “our God?” “Oh my God?” It’s all so childish on our part. So, we need to realize the Truth that there is only God, and when there is only God, there is nothing that is “mine” or that is “ours.”
God is the Reality of everything, in everyone. There is only Him. So, now, God is the Reality of this house, this family, these businesses, this body. Look how different it is! It is not saying “my body,” “my house,” “my family,” “my children.” No! God Is the Reality of these children, this wife, this husband. God is the Reality of this Life, is the Reality of your Being. So [the question] “How to Realize God?” does not enter, because you do not go to Him, He has already arrived. Just be still. Keep still. It’s there in Psalm 46: “Be still and know that I am God.”
You are not still. You are not quiet. You are always moving. Always wanting, always seeking, caught up in ambition, envy, desires, fears, anxieties, control, manipulation, possession. You are not still. Keep still. “Be still and know that I am God.” He already Is. Just be quiet, that is, get out.
Self-observation is self-investigation. This is the basis of Self-awareness, True Meditation in a practical way. Then, God presents himself. That’s God.
Gilson – Gratitude! Gratitude, Master. Our time has already ended. Gratitude for this Satsang, this encounter with the Truth, with this State, it’s** not the best word, but with That which is beyond words, beyond thoughts.
It is true — if we can say so — Grace, this mystery of Grace.
Gratitude! gratitude!
Those who are following the video, leave your likes, leave a comment. And whoever “feels” something when focusing on Master Gualberto’s eyes, is invited to be in Satsang. On Saturday mornings, the meetings are open — free of charge — and for those interested in going deeper into this investigation and into this State of True Meditation, there is an intensive weekend [Saturday and Sunday], in addition to face-to-face meetings and, also, retreats.
Gratitude! Gratitude, Master.
No comments:
Post a Comment