One of the very thematic subjects here is this subject of fear. Note that no matter how much you say you are not afraid, if there is something fundamental, like the backbone of the person – this person we believe we are, this “I” that we believe we are –, the backbone [of that person] is fear. Perhaps you are not aware of how much fear you carry. We are, in the ego, in that “I”, creatures laden with fear. From birth to death, in life, what we experience most is fear. You just see that, you just become aware about that; the difficulty is to become aware; the difficulty is to observe the inner movement of this consciousness that we have.
Our consciousness has as its content all past experiences, memories, remembrances, knowledge, and this consciousness has recorded very clearly its moments of insecurity, fright, dread, and fear. I say this because that consciousness, which is the consciousness of the “I”, is afraid of disappearing. If there is something present in a very patent, very clear way – although, with difficulty, we approach to observe it and become aware of it – it is this question of this fear that the ego has, that the “I” has to disappear. Since childhood we have been preserving this sense of egoic identity. By preserving this, we are always sustaining that characteristic present in us, which is the characteristic of fear.
The human being is afraid; he is afraid of the past, he is afraid of the challenge of the present moment, he is afraid of the future, he is afraid of the husband, the wife, the children; afraid of divorce, afraid of marriage, afraid of getting sick, afraid of getting old, afraid of dying, afraid of the dark; he is afraid of the physical dangers, of the psychological challenges he faces in his relationship with the other. The fear of being hurt, of being offended, all of that is within that self-preservation of the “I”, which is basically fear. So, fear is in our lives in a very clear, very patent way, we just need to become aware and observe that our motives, our reasons, our impulses, our motivations in this search for pleasure, in this search for reward and gratification within achievements, within acquisitions, all of that is based on fear.
So, fear and pleasure might seem like different things, but in reality we are dealing with the same phenomenon. The pursuit of pleasure is the escape from pain – I mean that psychological pain which is the pain of the “I”. So, in this search for satisfaction in pleasure, our constant search, our interest, for example, in desires, the search for fulfillment in desires, which seems to be a simple search for pleasure is, in fact, the attempt to keep away anything that causes us pain. So, we are in a constant search for security, physical security, emotional security, psychological security in our relationships, in our goals, in our projects, and all of this is fear. There is not this natural flow, free of fear, because we are not psychologically, internally free of the mind.
The mind is the structure where the ego sustains itself – the conditioned mind, this programmed mind. In fact, we are a memory that is the result of a culture that has been trying to survive for millennia, because there is fear – the fear of “welcoming life as it is”. One of the classic signs of this in us is this model of the conditioned brain, more precisely the conditioned intellect. We are always judging, evaluating, measuring, adding, subtracting, seeing if it is advantageous, and all this happens because of this fear. This self-interest, this self-centeredness in the “I” – what makes us human beings self-centered, always centered in ourselves, in search of advantages, of personal accomplishments – this sense of “I” needs to survive. And to survive it has to win, it has to fight, it has to strive. All this is within this conditioning, this conditioned intellect, this programmed way of living life, of feeling alive in life.
The point here is that in this life in fear, in the self-centered, ego-centered life, in this self-centeredness, in this self-consciousness – and here self-consciousness is the consciousness of the “I,” this awareness that you make of the world, in reality, is a projection of that “I” –, you see yourself as an entity that has separated itself from the world, that has separated itself from the other, that has separated itself from life, that has separated itself from the Reality that is beyond all that, which is the Divine Reality, which is the Reality of God. In this condition, which is the condition of the “I”, our life is a life in suffering, because there is this struggle, there is this search for gratification, for reward, for pleasure, there is this search for distancing ourselves from everything that makes us suffer. This search for distance is present because of fear. So, the psychological, emotional, sentimental and physical condition of the human being is one of suffering.
All that we have known from the cradle to the grave is a life of suffering, because it is an “I”-centered, ego-centered life. Here, in our meeting, we are investigating what fear is. Why are we in this fear? Who is that in fear? Is there any separation between “me” and fear? And when we ask what fear is, a verbal explanation, a theoretical explanation, an approach to mere words… Here, we may have mere words; in a book we may have mere words; in a lecture listening to someone, we can only hear words. Does an approach through words, does mere theoretical, verbal knowledge of it, give us this view of what the truth of fear is?
To understand fear, we have to approach it. The fact is that we cannot approach fear if our whole conditioning movement is fear itself, happening in an unconscious, mechanical way. There is no awareness of this very unconscious movement going on, which is the movement of fear.
So, an approach to the truth of fear does not come from theory, it does not come from listening to lectures, it does not come from reading books, but it is something that is born when we study ourselves, when we learn to observe in ourselves all this movement in search of security, seeking protection, seeking evaluation, judgment, comparison in our relationships with each other, with Life happening around us. By observing this movement in us, we can become aware of this “I” and therefore the presence of this fear, because this idea that “I am afraid”, that “I feel fear”, that “I have been experiencing fear”, this is a completely false idea.
There is no “I” feeling fear, there is no “I” being afraid, there is no “I” experiencing fear, just as there is no “I” in fulfilling desires, there is no “I” in achieving satisfaction, fulfillment or pleasure. There is no “I” separate from this experience! That “I” is that very experience! This is within that self-centeredness.
Experience is not separate from the one who experiences it. So, we already have a different approach. We're not going to study words, we're not going to learn this from a psychologist, we're not going to learn this from a philosopher, or a motivational speaker, or a priest. Learning about ourselves requires a careful look at what goes on inside each one of us, because it is this internal movement of present fear that has placed us in an ambitious behavior, it is the fact of this presence of fear, which it is the unidentified “I” itself, which has driven us to the egocentric movement, for the egocentric movement, to the self-interested movement.
In that self-interest, we are envious creatures, we are greedy creatures, we act in a self-centered way. So, we are aggressive, violent, possessive creatures. We are acting in a relationship with the other from this “I”, which is this fear in movement, in a way where we are disguising this fear. And, in this relationship, although we have the presence of kindness, affection, care, in the relationship with the other, but since this relationship is actually self-centered, centered on the ego itself, on this basis of an “I”, which is fear itself, there is no Love, there is no Peace, there is no Freedom, there is no Happiness, there is no Divine Truth.
So, we need to discover the Truth about who we are, or the illusion that today appears to be ourselves – I mean this illusion of “I”, the sense of being someone, which is the sense of ego, in that ambition, envy, desire, constant search for pleasure, in this confusion of kindness, care, affection and pleasure in relationships with “love”. Becoming aware of this element, which is the “I” element, the ego element, in this movement... becoming aware, perceiving this, is seeing the truth of this illusion, the illusion of this separatist center, which lives within this duality: “me and the other”, “me and life”, “me and the world”, “me and God “, “me and desire”, “me and fear”. All of this is part of this conditioning, this programming of being “someone”. This is the result of a culture, a civilization, a humanity, all of human history – for millennia human beings have been living like this, and we are continuing to do so.
This work consists of waking up, of going beyond this condition of ego-identity, and therefore this is the end of the “I”, which represents the end of fear. And if fear ends, all those self-centered expressions, in that ego-identity, in that illusory identity, also disappear. Thus, the work consists in becoming aware of this movement, which is the movement of the “I”, of the ego, of this “person that I present to be”, “that I manifest to be”, which is always present in this conflict, in this contradiction, in this experience of living.
So, we spend a lifetime in this self-centeredness, in this egocentrism, in this model of egoic identity, and this is a state of sleep, of unconsciousness. That’s why the expression “the Awakening of Consciousness” is very relevant in this meeting. Here, it is about the Awakening of Consciousness! This Awakening of Consciousness is the end of this “consciousness”, which is egoic consciousness, which is the consciousness of the “I”, which is in the state of sleep... in reality, of dream, which is trying to continue alive in that dream.
This is how this “I”, this dreamer, in this dream of separate existence, tries to maintain itself, tries to stay alive. Then everything frightens him, everything terrifies him! So, the basis of this dreamer is fear. When that ends, we have the presence of something unknown, something outside what thought knows, what the mind knows, what this duality “me and not me” knows; we have something other than that particular center, that “person”.
That is the purpose of this work with you: to show you that it is possible to Realize the Truth of your Being, which is the Reality of God, a life beyond the “me”, a life beyond the ego, a life beyond fear, and, therefore, a life beyond suffering. All this suffering, linked to this fear, which always puts you in a position of search, for more, and more, and more... which represents every form of attachment, control and search for fulfillment and satisfaction, something merely egoic, personal, this is what keeps us in this condition of psychological suffering, emotional suffering and also physical suffering, because this very structure of fear comes from this idea that we have this body; and when the body becomes ill, there is fear. It is not the sick body that is afraid, it is the “I” in this illusion of being inside the body, identified with the body, that carries this fear. So, there is suffering. Suffering is the fear.
When the body is sick, it is fragile, it is fragilized, it has some weakness, some frailty or a part of the body feels some pain, but soon we have this sense of an “I” present in this experience, in this idea “I am the body”, and that is suffering. So, suffering is present – this physical suffering – because, in the idea, in the thought, in the belief, there is an “I” present that fears losing this body in death, or identified with this body, in physical pain, feels this anguish, that depression or even anger at being sick, frustration. All this is suffering. Are we together?
The point is to become aware that there is a Reality outside of this idea “I am the body”, “I am in the world”, “I am someone”, “someone” that is now here and that, suddenly, can disappear and lose everything that he has acquired, that he owns, that he controls, that he claims to love, but in fact, they are sources of gratification for his own ego, sources of pleasure for his own “I” – this is what we call “loving”, “to love”. All this needs to be investigated.
This work consists of this investigation, this approach, this study of ourselves, in understanding this movement of the “I”, which is fear. It’s not “me in fear”, it’s fear, and fear is “me”. Without the presence of the “I”, there is no fear; without the presence of the “I”, there is no envy, there is no ambition, there is no conflict or contradiction of desires; without the sense of an “I”, there is no past, which is fear; nor future, which is fear; there is no idea of being alive and being able to die, which is fear. This is present in this “I”. Without the “I”, there is no such thing.
So, we are facing something wonderful, something indescribable, unnamable: the Presence of the Divine Reality, which is the Presence of your Being. So, our work consists of an approach at this level: looking at what is happening here and now, discovering What is the Truth beyond this “I”, which is this conditioning, which is this programming, something that has been with you for a long time, thirty, forty, fifty years – the time of this physical body.
Without awakening to the Truth of your Being, without this Awakening of Consciousness, living in that “I” consciousness, which is the ego, is living in that condition of suffering, that condition of fear.
So, this is our work here with you, on this channel: the Truth of your Being, the Awakening of Consciousness, through Self-Awareness, through True Meditation, in a practical way. Then, the Awakening of this Consciousness takes place, which is also called Spiritual Enlightenment – this is our purpose in these meetings.
If this is something that makes sense to you, leave it in the comment “yes, it makes sense”. Please, leave your “like” and subscribe to the channel. You who watch these videos, but forgot to subscribe, go ahead and subscribe to the channel now. I want to remind you about our WhatsApp group. We have meetings on the weekends. You can join our group and participate in these weekend meetings. In addition, we have face-to-face meetings and also retreats. OK? So, in addition to these online meetings, we have face-to-face meetings and also retreats.
If this is something that makes sense to you, see you! Thanks for the meeting! See you next time!
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