GC: Hello everyone! We are here for another videocast. Again, Master Gualberto is here with us. Thank you very much, Master!
Master, today I am going to read an excerpt from Joel Goldsmith's book called: “Consciousness is what I Am.” He says the following: “The only problem anyone has ever had is the ‘I’, and if there was no ‘I,’ there would be no problem. The troublemaker is the personal sense of ‘I’.”
Master, what is your vision about this “I,” about the ego? How to free oneself from this personal sense of “I”?
MG: It is necessary here, Gilson, that we once again be careful not to confuse the experience of the moment with a person present within the experience. The sense of a present “I” has as its principle the thought of an entity in time, moving in space, within an action in experience. So, what basically is the “I”? It is the sense of an experiencer experiencing. Thought in us has created the illusion of the continuity of an identity that is, at all times, doing things, thinking things, feeling things.
So, there is in us a feeling, thought and sensation of being “someone” within the experience, because thought is continuing this plot, this story. If you didn't have a memory, Gilson, you wouldn't know your name. If you didn't have memory, you wouldn't know your story, you wouldn't have any idea of being born and walking towards death with the end of your body. If you had no memory, you would have neither the past, nor the idea of a present, nor a concept or an imagination of a future.
So, see: everything is basically thought. It is thought that sustains the continuity of the “I.” So, what is the “I”? Thought. And what is thought? Memory. So, it's everything that this body-mind, which we call “Gilson,” went through, recorded. And when this body-mind called “Gilson” expresses himself, he uses the pronoun “I” to tell the memory of this supposed “person” who is there. This is the “I”! The “I” is a fallacy, the “I” is a fraud, the “I” is an imagination of thought, which is sustained because memory is sustained. Was this clear? The name, the story, the experiences... it's all within thought, which are recollections and memories. This is the existence of the “I,” this is the existence of the “person.”
The point here, Gilson, is that this “person” is in trouble, because it sees itself separate from Existence, seeking to survive within all experiences. It feels like someone who is alive, having things, experiencing things, knowing things, accumulating things that it doesn't want to lose. Who is it? The “person.” But what is a “person”? It's thought.
So, naturally, all the problems we have are the problems that the “person” represents, that the “I,” the ego, represents. The beauty of your Natural State of Being is that there is no “person” in that State of Being, and in that State of Being, which is not personal, there is something present that is not in the known, that is not in thought, that is not in time, which is not in memory. So, the Awareness of Being is the Realization of Truth, or whatever we want to call it: God Realization, or Enlightenment, or Awakening… But basically, it is the end of the illusion of the sense of a “person” within the experience of life.
So, see, Gilson, life keeps happening. The body is present speaking, feeling, eating, talking, and living as, apparently, everyone is living, but without the illusion of an identity present in the experience of life. So, there is Life, and Life does not have a particular, egocentric center, which is the “me,” the “I,” living from its experiences, its memories, its remembrances, and trying, naturally, to hold all that, controlling all that, keeping all this for itself – which is basically suffering.
A typical example of “person’s” suffering is fear. It is a very broad, very vast subject, the different forms of fear that “people” have. But how could it be otherwise, since fear is sustained precisely by the thought of possessing, of controlling? Something that the “person” cannot do, because there is no control in life.
Life is something extraordinary, it is an extraordinary mystery! It is not under the control of the “I,” the ego, but it wants to control. This “person,” this “I,” this ego wants to control based on what? Based on thoughts! So, thoughts generate fear, different forms of fear. So, the basic fear is this: Losing your power, your control generates all other forms of fear, including fear, for example, of death, which is the fear of this “I” ceasing to exist, losing what is most precious to it, which is the body, the mind, all accumulated pieces of knowledge.
So, it is something that needs to be investigated, we need to go beyond, Gilson, this condition of identity, which is the identity of the “I,” which is the identity of the “person.” This is the end of this psychological model of being “someone.” It's not the inability to remember, it's not the inability to remember your name, the house you live in, your family. This is something that is in the brain, it is just a function of the brain, but it is no longer at the service of an egoic identity. In your Natural State, you are free from this weight, which is the weight of the ego, of the “I,” which is the weight of a psychological identity in memory.
So, the end of this illusion, this memory, which I have called “psychological memory” – which is what sustains the illusion of this false identity, which is the ego, the “I,” the “person” –, the end for this is the beginning of something entirely unknown to thought, which is your Natural State of Being – I will repeat –, where memory works perfectly, where memory has a perfect place in this dream of life, in this dream of the world, but there is no more suffering, because there are no more problems, because there are no longer fear and conflicts linked to the issue of fear, like desire and everything else. That's it.
GC: This speech from the Master is always revolutionary! And while the Master was talking about how much this “I,” this ego, is just a thought, a memory came that, during an online Satsang with the Master, in the first online meeting I participated in… as the Master was sharing, bringing these revolutionary speeches and sharing this Presence, That which is beyond words… then something came up that became very clear, very clear, how the “I,” this ego that… wow, it’s just a thought! It is a thought in which the thinker comes and there is all this entanglement, all this suffering, which is the human being, which is humanity.
Now, in Satsang with the Master, in the sharing of this Presence of the Master, it is very easy... it is “very easy,” in quotes, but, in this sharing, I realize that I enter into this atmosphere of the Master and it is very clear to realize that the ego is just this thought.
Sometimes, outside of Satsang, it gets a little more difficult, in the rush of everyday life. Then, within this theme, Master, I wanted the Master to share the importance of participating in online and in-person meetings to be able to be in this Master's atmosphere and delve deeper into this self-investigation.
MG: Contact with the Reality of your Being is contact with Silence. It is not contact with speech, but it is contact with Silence. Unless this speech is full of Presence and Silence, bringing Silence to you as you listen to this speech, for that true listening – and this listening to the speech is to have a comprehension of what is being said – there is no purpose in the speech. The beauty of an online meeting, of a face-to-face meeting, is that we have it much more fluidly than, naturally, in a video. So, I have been inviting people to come to a meeting where they can give themselves the opportunity to have contact with this Silence. So, nothing better than online meetings and, especially, face-to-face meetings.
In a video... you sometimes watch a video and there are people around you, and you get distracted. Within an online meeting, where you are entirely focused on that, and you are asked to focus on that, it is something completely different from watching a video. I realize that this, Gilson, is like approaching a book. When you read a book, you cannot talk to the author of the book, nor ask questions, nor have him draw your attention to some point he mentioned there, in the book. When you are reading the book, there isn't the presence of the author drawing your attention and giving you answers if you have questions about that subject. In an online Satsang, in an in-person Satsang, it is totally different. You are not only called to have this attention, but you also receive answers to questions you have, which are very private. Furthermore, there is something present within these encounters that we generally don't get in a video. In a much more direct way, we have this within online meetings. So, there is something that happens within these meetings that only by participating in that one can discover. So, here's an invitation.
GC: Master, we have another question here, related to the subject. Julio César… he asks the following: “Master, if I am not my thoughts and emotions, what am I?”
MG: It's a good question. The point is that we can ask good questions; what is difficult, or perhaps impossible, is to have all the answers coming from the other person. This is one of them. You cannot have an answer to that question, an answer given by another. This answer is only real when it is a discovery you make. The interesting thing about this question is that the answer to this question is the real realization that this “asker” is not there and that this question is just a question that thought is formulating. When that thinker is not there, there is no longer that thought, therefore, there is no longer that question. Then, the answer reveals itself.
The awareness of the Truth of this Being that You are, is a revelation that only this Reality of Being can demonstrate to Itself there, when this sense of an “I,” of this “me,” of this “you,” is no longer present. That's like asking where God is. The Reality about this is that Divine Truth is never absent, but the awareness of that Truth does not show itself as long as the illusion of an identity overriding that Reality is present.
So, what is the Truth about God? It is That which is present when the “I” is not. What is the Truth about you? It is the Truth that the Reality of your Being is the absence of that “sense of the person” that the thought, in your head, says to be you. So, the Revelation, Gilson, of the Truth about who we are is a direct, incommunicable, non-transferable verification, and that nothing, not anything outside of ourselves, can bring us, can give us. It is the Awareness of Truth, of the only Truth present, when illusion is no longer there. Becoming aware of this requires Self-Awareness. Studying yourself is discarding yourself.
See what an interesting thing: studying yourself is not becoming aware of the truth that your thoughts say about who you are. Studying yourself is becoming aware of the Truth that everything thought says about who you are is completely false. So, the Truth of Self-Awareness is the end of this “I” to know oneself. So, we have the Revelation of the Truth of Being. That's why we use this expression here, Gilson, in a different way than psychology, philosophy, religions. We are using the expression “Self-Awareness” in the sense of realizing what is. The realization of what is, of what is – which is what we appear to be – is the end of it.
Then, there is no “someone” left to know oneself; Truth remains revealing Itself in Itself, by Itself. This is the Presence of God's Truth. When This is present, there is Love, there is Wisdom, there is Freedom, there is Happiness, but there isn't “someone”: someone loving, someone happy, someone free, someone aware of God… There is no such thing! The Awareness of Truth is the end of illusion. Your Natural State of Being is Intelligence, it is Love, it is Truth, it is God, it is Wisdom, and it is beyond everything that thought can idealize, can believe, including about That. The discarding of thought, with all the knowledge it brings, is the Revelation of That which is beyond the known, which is beyond thought.
So, when we use expressions like: “Love,” “Truth,” “Freedom,” “Happiness,” none of these can be linked to what thought knows within the known model. We are talking about something else. We are talking about something that is outside of what thought prescribes, what thought believes, what thought idealizes; of That which is real when the thinker is not there, when thought is not there, when the “I” is not there.
So, who am “I,” since I am none of those things? You are That which is nameless, indescribable, and, therefore, who can answer? Who is left to respond? This is the point! The one who knows, Gilson, the one who knows has nothing to say. Those who don't know have a lot to say.
Generally, we are making statements, and we are making statements because of the state of psychological ignorance in which the ego lives. When there is no longer this ego life or these psychological states of this identity, there is nothing left to say. Life is indescribable, nameless.
Our work here, Gilson, consists not of describing Reality, but of becoming aware of illusion. The awareness of illusion is the end to illusion, and when there is no more illusion, Reality is Present. But Reality is not describable, it is not nameable, it is not within explanation; it is a discovery, it is the discovery of Reality, in Itself, for Itself.
I know this language sounds strange, but it is very difficult to talk about this subject without speech, and it is very difficult, or even more difficult, to use speech and say anything here about this Reality, because This is beyond speech. That's it.
GC: Master, as you said a while ago, that's why the meetings, the weekend intensives, both online and in person, the Satsangs, that’s why they are so profound, because, in addition to being a whole weekend, Saturday and Sunday, there is this dynamic, where, yes, the Master uses speech, but there is the dynamic and, in many moments, the Master is in this complete State of Silence, because as the Master tells us and we go experiencing, it is not possible to understand what the Master says on an intellectual level. On an intellectual level, it’s useless, it’s just more intellectual blah-blah-blah. In Satsang, in the sharing of this Presence that the Master provides, alternating between speech and silence, at some point something different happens. So, it's Grace.
Master, regarding this topic of Full Attention, we have a question here from Odilon. He asks the following: “Does this mean I have to keep a neutral mind during the present moment of experience?”
MG: It is not about the neutral mind, but the mind aware of itself. When the mind is aware of itself, it becomes silent. So, when there is this silence, because the mind is aware of itself… When it becomes aware of its entire movement, it becomes still, it becomes silent. And, in that silence, we have the presence of this revelation of something outside the known.
So, note: having Attention is not giving attention. It's not about you paying attention. You paying attention is effort, it is still a movement of a restless identity trying to do something. So, it's not about paying attention, it's about Attention. Attention, Gilson, arises naturally when there is a simple and natural interest in being attentive. Notice that, when you want to listen to someone and there is real interest, you don't make an effort. You only make an effort to listen to him when you want to do something else too. You have another intention, you want to do something else, so your energy is divided. Your attention, which is now “your attention,” is divided between listening to that and doing the other thing or listening to the other thing, so, at that moment, effort is born. But when you simply have the natural interest in following a speech, notice: your brain quiets down; it calms down because your attention is effortless. So, in this interest of listening, there is an absence of effort. In this absence of effort, in this real interest in following, the brain quiets down, the mind quiets down, and something reveals itself.
So, Attention is not a matter of paying attention and, through effort, doing something, much less trying to keep the mind neutral. How would you be making the mind neutral? In a natural way, Attention quiets the brain, silences the mind, and something new emerges. I repeat: there is no effort and it is not about neutrality. It is simply an internal movement of natural interest to listen, to look, to perceive the experience in this Stillness, in this Silence. So, we have the presence of Attention. It is at this moment that this Full Attention reveals itself. This Mindfulness is the Presence of Silence. In this Silence, something unknown arises and this something unknown is outside the egoic mind, it is outside the movement of thought.
Gilson, this is like looking at a child's face, at a baby's eyes. Notice, you do this so naturally and without any effort that, in the moment, for a few seconds, your brain quiets down and your mind becomes silent. When you look at that baby, at the baby's eyes, there is so much softness, beauty, and silence in that encounter that your brain does not agitate, there is no internal agitation in your brain; it quiets down. At that moment, for a few seconds, you are in Mindfulness, without any effort!
Note, this is not a practice, it is not a technique. That's why I've been saying: it's not about technique, practice, nor seeking Mindfulness, absolutely! Do you know what we lack, Gilson? It is a deep, real interest in Truth. When this is present, this Being that we are flourishes, because there is this internal disposition towards Stillness. We are human creatures, in the ego, very focused on different interests and the only real interest, which is the interest in Truth, we have none. We have several other interests, so there is no way to reconcile these different other interests with the interest in Freedom, with the interest in Truth, with the interest in the Awareness of Self-Knowledge.
So, fortunate is the one, blessed is the one who has a deep, very honest, sincere inclination and who is truly “burning” for Liberation in this life. When we are at that point, that is the point where Grace finds us. This is why it is said: “When the disciple is ready, the Master appears.” It's real! This is when we are ready for this Revelation! You don't go to That. That comes to you, and That comes to you because there is this deep, real interest in this Real Awakening, of Grace Itself, bringing this deep interest in Itself. Then, something happens. You asked a question and I delved a little deeper into this question. I hope that is clarified.
GC: Perfect, perfect, Master.
Master, gratitude. We have already come to an end. And here's the invitation for you who are watching the video, who have this real interest in Truth, this fire in your heart for God, here's the invitation... In the first pinned comment, there will be the link to the information group about Satsang meetings, which are both online and in person, where over an entire weekend, in this sharing of Presence that Master Gualberto brings us, we can have comprehensions beyond understanding, beyond time, beyond this egoic identity, this madness of being someone. And it is pure Grace, it is something that frees us from this prison, from this crazy mind that humans have. So, gratitude, Master.
Leave a comment, give a “like” too, and we’ll see you in the next Satsangs. Gratitude Master!
MG: Okay, until next time.