What is ego? The ego is that sense of the “I” present, at this instant, at this moment, here, within this experience. How do we function when this sense of “I,” which is the ego, prevails, when the ego appears to be the reality of our lives? Basically, in contradiction.
How does this contradiction which is the “I,” which is the ego, work? What we are here and now… we are not satisfied with that. We are not satisfied with what we are. Thus, we want to be something other than that. Then, there’s the fact, that this is what we are – what we are or what we appear to be or what we seem to be here and now, in this relationship with the world, with others, with ourselves – and we have the desire to be different from that. What we are and what we wish to be – that is the contradiction of the presence of the “I,” of the ego, and that is conflict, this is suffering.
All the internal suffering in you, all psychological suffering, all the psychological suffering present internally, in the mind, within us, is present because of this contradiction. So, there’s this movement of contradiction – what we are and what we want to be. There’s no satisfaction, there’s no completeness. Because of this conflict, because of this contradiction, there’s no Love, no Peace, and no Freedom.
Spiritual Enlightenment, Spiritual Awakening, is the end of this contradiction. Then, to the question “what is the ego?”, we have here an answer to the end of this contradiction, which is the end of the ego. There’s another very common question: “how to beat the ego?” or “how to overcome the ego?” Notice, it’s always the idea of “I am this and I want to be that,” thus, I idealize an ego-free state and I project a concept, an image of a completely ego-free state. This is where this idea – as an idea – of Spiritual Enlightenment or Spiritual Awakening exists.
I’m not denying the fact, the Reality, the Truth of Spiritual Enlightenment, of Spiritual Awakening. On the contrary, I’m saying that it’s the only Reality, the only Truth is the Truth of being Consciousness, but you don’t realize This objectifying it based on this contradiction: “I am this and I want to be that,” “I want to become something different from what I am and I’ll fight for it, I’ll strive for it.” It’s not how it works.
When we talk about the Truth or the Freedom of being Consciousness, Spiritual Enlightenment, or Spiritual Awakening, we’re talking about the end of contradiction. The end of contradiction doesn’t come from the desire of becoming something different from what I am, but it’s something that comes from understanding what I am, or what I manifest myself to be, or what I seem to be here and now, in my relationship with the world, with others, with what is happening inside, with myself… this “my” relationship, this “me,” this “I.”
Without an understanding of what this “me” is, what this “I” is, without an understanding of what I am, the Realization of Truth, of the Freedom of being Consciousness, is not possible. Therefore, our work together is to look within ourselves. And it’s important to say this: never in an introspective way, intending to change what is here, so that what is here becomes something different.
So, we come across the misunderstanding of the intention of development for this “I,” this so-called personal development. Here, it’s not about the development of the “person.” Here, it’s not about the end of the contradiction upholding the contradiction. And when we move towards a change from this “I,” this ego, from this contradiction, we’re reinforcing back the contradiction.
This sense of “I,” of the ego, this sense of contradiction, doesn’t become something else. There may be some changes to this “me,” to this ego, but these changes are changes in the ego, still in the “I.” To approach what I am here and now is necessary, observing the movement of the mind, which means observing thoughts, feelings, emotions, sensations, perceptions… observing my reactions.
If what I have in my mind is a feeling of anger, that feeling of anger is actually what I am here and now. I am angry, that’s what I appear to be, that’s what I show to be, that’s what I am. The idea of something other than this is contradiction itself. The idea of changing this, transforming this, modifying this, is the very contradiction. This is where we come across this duality – what I am and what I want to be. So, at this moment, I’m running away from this objective fact, from what is appearing here, what is emerging here, putting an ideal on top of it, a purpose on top of it. This contradiction is a waste of energy.
We need time to do this. When we speak of the psychological experience, of what arises here internally, there is no time. This is not resolved in time. This sense of psychological time is of an “I” changing, an “I” transforming – that takes time. We can’t handle the experience of anger, fear, or any sensation or thought in this way. Thus, we create the illusion of separateness. If what we feel now is fear, that’s what we are; if what we feel now is anger, that’s what we are.
A thought arises a few seconds later as that experience diminishes in intensity. Then that thought says, “I can't go on feeling angry.” When that thought arises, it has already separated itself from the experience – this is the psychological time, the ego-identity time, and this is the “I” time. This is where the contradiction lies. When we come into direct contact with the experience, without putting an experiencer into it, a thinker about it, that element that is the root, the cause of the contradiction, that doesn't accept what it is, that wants to be different... when we no longer put this element in, we can deal directly with the experience; there is no such separateness, such duality.
See this! This is something very, very subtle, something that requires an extraordinary Energy of Presence, of Consciousness! If we are here working on the end of the illusion of the “I,” the ego, we need this Energy, this Presence, this Consciousness. This Energy is the Energy of Kundalini, the Energy of God, the Energy of Being, of that Being-Consciousness.
The body needs to undergo a transformation, a change. This is possible when there’s the Awakening of Consciousness or the Realization of the Truth of your Being. This is not the contradiction, this contradiction of “I am this and I want to be that,” “I feel angry and I am separate from anger, so I can change that, I can end the anger so I don't have anger anymore”, “I feel afraid and I don't want to be afraid anymore, I want to overcome fear, I want to be a person free from fear.”
Notice what we're saying. The sense of fear is exactly the sense of a “person;” the sense of anger is the sense of a “person;” it’s the sense of an identity present in this experience creating this contradiction between “what I am and what I want to be.” And here we are eliminating that when we bring this Presence, this Energy of Perception here and now, at this moment.
That’s why we're talking to you here about the beauty of that Full Attention, which represents the Pure and Real Knowledge about yourself, True Self-Awareness, studying yourself, looking at what is here, at every single movement of feelings without separating by rejecting, trying to change, trying to modify… noticing the envy present without the ideal of not being envious; looking at the anger present without the ideal of being a person without anger; looking at the fear present without the ideal of overcoming fear…
When you look at envy, at fear, at anger, when you look at thought, and do not separate yourself, there is no contradiction, no conflict, there is no suffering. That very perception is the Energy that brings about a change. This awareness is this Attention to this “me,” this “I.” Ramana Maharshi called this self-inquiry – “who am I?”
Notice what we’re saying to you. When people read this in books – the Atma Vichara – they believe that it’s an intellectual inquiry, a sentence they must ask themselves, a question they must ask themselves: “Who am I?” And that’s not this!
Self-enquiry is self-observation, pure and direct observation in that Full Attention, in that Complete Attention. In English, the expression is mindfulness. Here and now, it is the moment of the Revelation of Truth, of What is your Being. This is the end of the illusion of the sense of the “I,” it’s the end of the illusion of the ego-sense, the end of the contradiction between what I am here and now and what I want to be; it’s the end of it!
The different religions… the tradition of religion has always spoken of the possibility of a change for the human being. Christianity, Buddhism, Hinduism, Taoism, and Sufism, always indicate that a man can undergo a profound transformation, a profound change, recognizing the Truth of What He is, the Truth of his Being, however, the intellect picked it up. So, theologians have made Scripture into a system that doesn't really work, because Scripture points to something beyond words, analysis, studies, systems and practices; the Scriptures point to the True Meditation, which occurs when the sense of the “I,” of the ego, of that “me” is seen, then there is the Flourishing, the Awakening of that Intelligence, that Consciousness.
This is True Meditation! It’s not the practice of sitting cross-legged, breathing in a certain way, and forcing the mind into a certain silence. The silence of the mind is something that is born very naturally when you look and observe the movement of the mind itself, the movement of this mental consciousness. Then, the brain becomes quiet, there’s a fundamental, essential stillness. It happens naturally, without any effort, when you observe yourself, when you pay Attention to what is here and now, without judging it, without fighting it, without identifying with it.
Therefore, our work together is to show you that the Realization of the Truth that is You, is possible, when this contradiction, which is this “I” dissolves, disappears. Therefore, that’s our job here with you.
Happiness, Love, Freedom, Peace, and the Truth of your Being is revealed when the sense of “I” is no longer present. This is our proposal here for you, within this channel. Ok?
If this is something that makes sense to you, leave your “like,” and subscribe to the channel… I want to remind you: we have online, face-to-face meetings and also retreats to work on this. Ok?
Thanks for the meeting and see you.
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