GC: Hello, everyone! We are here for another videocast. Again, Master Gualberto is here with us. Gratitude, Master, for this meeting. Master, today I am going to read an excerpt from a book by Joel Goldsmith called “Practicing the Presence.” In an excerpt from this book, Master, Joel says the following: “Christ is the True Identity, and recognizing another identity besides Christ is moving us away from the Christ Consciousness.” Master, how to recognize our True Identity, how to get closer to the Divine Consciousness?
MG: It's a good question, Gilson. How to get closer to the Divine Consciousness? How can we recognize our True Identity? Here, the first thing is to abandon the idea that we can do this through effort, intention, will, wanting. The real way we can approach this is through the awareness of observing the movement of the “I” itself. It takes no effort, it takes no skill, it takes no practice. This requires attention to the movement of this “person,” this “me,” this “I”!
So, our notion is mistaken, it is erroneous. It is wrong from the very foundation, because we believe that, being someone, we can have an encounter with this Truth, which is the Truth of this Being or of the Christ. So, thought imagines Being, thought imagines Christ, thought imagines this “Higher Self” as being this Real Identity. And all of this, Gilson, is within imagination! Imagination is just thought. The awareness of the Truth of Being is not within this intellectual knowledge, this intellectual approach.
Therefore, we need to look, observe, become aware of this movement that we demonstrate to be, that we are in this mistaken identification with this thinker, with this experiencer, with this “I,” with this “person.” This whole model of thinking inside our head, this whole model of thinking that we have, this whole model of feeling that we have, all of this is part of this “I,” this “me,” this “person.”
We can only have access to the Truth of Being when this entire content – which is the content that forms this identity, which is the identity of the “I” – disappears.
The work, Gilson, is to become aware, to have an approach by observing this entire movement of the “I.” Observing the movement of the “I” shows you how this “I” moves. This “I” is fear, envy, ambition, conflicting desires, the search for fulfillment, for achievements in projects, in dreams, in all kinds of things that make this “I” remain within this egoic continuity. So, becoming aware of the movement of the “I” here, in this moment, is the real way to get closer to the end for this “I”; it is the true way to have an emptying of this content, which is the content of the “I.” And when there is this emptying, That which is beyond the “I,” beyond the ego, beyond imagination, beyond thought, reveals itself.
So, what is the way to get closer to the vision of Truth? By having, first, an understanding of this illusion that we believe to be, that we demonstrate to be, that we appear to be, and this requires studying ourselves. And this “studying yourself” is observing all this movement of the ego. This approach is the approach to Meditation. So, the awareness of Meditation, which is Real Consciousness, is the emptying of this psychological content, which is the “I,” which is this egoic consciousness, which is this consciousness of the person.
So, it is not about studying sacred books, esoteric practices, mystical practices, all kinds of things done within this so-called “spirituality.” Here, it is about the awareness of observing the movement of the mind itself; becoming aware of how you work, how the mind works; becoming aware of that thought with that thinker behind it, that feeling with the one who is involved in that feeling; becoming aware of this emotion and this emotional “I” behind this emotion; perceiving this model of identity that separates itself from experience and sustains itself as a present identity. To investigate the nature of this “I” is to know the nature of the illusion of this egoic identity. Be aware of this! In this “becoming aware” there is, naturally, an emptying of this content, an emptying of this illusion, of this entire model of psychological conditioning.
So, everything that culture, civilization, religion, politics... everything that society has given us, which has given this formation to this center, which is the “I,” the ego, all of this needs to disappear. So, there is a Divine Reality when that is no longer present. This Reality reveals itself due to work on ourselves. Becoming aware of this very movement of the “I,” of the ego, due to the Power of this Grace, the Power of this Silence, this Presence… A work occurs in this structure, in this mechanism, then something reveals itself, and this something is nameless, indescribable.
It seems to me, Gilson, that here it is very important that we, first, completely abandon any idea of what This represents. And this is very difficult, because all the ego does is project This, imagine This. That is why it uses expressions such as “I Am that I Am,” “the inner Christ,” “Higher Self”, “the Truth of this Conscious Communion with God”… These are expressions that thought constructs, and this is part of memory, still within that thought, in that structure, which is the structure that is still the structure of the ego, which is still the structure of the thinker.
So, the formulation of these thoughts is still part of the imagination of this illusory “I,” this ego, this “me.” We first need to abandon all this, abandon all these formulations, all these ready-made formulas, all these clichés, all these beliefs. We need to have a closer look at what is happening here, right now. What is shown here? Is it fear, is it jealousy, is it envy, is it attachment, is it some level of suffering, is it anguish? What is shown here, now? Is it this pain of loneliness? What do we have here? Without running away from it, without imagining something else, without making statements in words, because all of this remains only on a verbal level, on a sentimental level, on an emotional level, but it does not constitute real work.
The real work is just to become aware of what is happening here and observe, free from this center, which is the “I,” the ego; to learn the art of Self-Awareness, the art of getting closer to yourself without placing the “I” element, ego, within it. This is what we have been dealing with, Gilson, on the channel and also in face-to-face meetings and online meetings: how to work on this within yourself, how to become aware of what is here, without any imagination, without any belief, without any concept about it.
So, contact with this is the end of this condition, but we need to come into intimate contact with these internal states of the “I,” the “me,” the ego, learn to look at it, learn to come into direct contact with it, without this sense of separation, without this sense of duality, without the desire to impose, without imposing on what is being seen here, in this moment, anything else. Just look, become aware, get closer to this “me,” this “I,” this state that is present here; to look, observe, without separating yourself as being the experiencer of that experience, as being the thinker of that thought, as being the one who is moved within that emotion.
So, it doesn't matter what is emerging here, right now. When we come closer to look, in this attention, in this gaze free from this sense of “someone” to intervene, to interfere, to do something with it, something happens. So, having this approach is the basis of Self-Awareness, which is the basis for the Truth of Meditation to reveal itself. This is the real way to have an approach to the Divine Reality, the Reality of God, the Reality of Being.
GC: Master, within this point, within this investigation, it is very common – and I learned within this path of studies –, for example, studying something at an intellectual level “Ah, it has no value, it is only at an intellectual level.” Now, it is often discussed in spirituality that when there is a feeling or emotion attached, that this would be a reality. And, with the Master, it became clear this is one more game of the ego, because it is looking for a good sensation, a good feeling, reading good things, and when it has a bad feeling, a bad emotion, it wants to escape from this emotion. So, it is always separating itself from experience, always in conflict and division.
MG: This is very simple, Gilson, because our conditioning is always a conditioning from an experiencer. This experiencer is the “I,” so the “I” lives on experiences, the experiencer lives on experiences. And, since we were children, we cultivate pleasant experiences, keep them with us, and the bad ones we reject, we want away from us.
When we enter this path, this so-called “search” for this Realization or this search for God, we continue within the same criterion, the mistaken criterion that we are an experiencer to have experiences. Before, we had common experiences of everyday life, now we are having experiences within spirituality. If they are good, they are adding something to “me,” “I” am growing spiritually, “I” am evolving spiritually, “I” have rich and profound experiences, and if I am not having them, I need to have them and I am in search of them. So, we are taught within spirituality that we need these experiences, because the idea we have is of someone to reach, to obtain, to accomplish, and, therefore, to evolve. And nothing better than experiences that are increasingly rich and profound! However, this is a mistake, because we are dealing with the same ego.
Then, the ego can become spiritualized, which is what has happened. It becomes a spiritual, spiritualized ego. It goes through increasingly rich and profound experiences and it has revelations and becomes increasingly spiritual. But what is behind this? The sense of an experiencer, who still sees itself as separate from experience and always seeking new experiences, because those that already were, are already gone, we need new ones, and others, and others, and others...
So, this search or this so-called “growth” … the inclination of the ego is to always be searching for more. There is an incompleteness present, there is a dissatisfaction present, there is a model of desire present, so the “I,” this “me,” this so-called “spiritual being” never feels full, because it is always searching for more, and more, and more... and, naturally, still having its conflicts, its internal contradictions, its suffering, its problems... and always in this yearning and in this search for more, and more, and more, and it doesn't end! So, we are always within the ego, Gilson!
In fact, this is a circle that you create. You are just going in circles when you are on this so-called “quest.” This search is the experiencer's search for new experiences. These new experiences become old and it has to keep looking for others, and others, and others. So, there is always the sense of separation, there is always the sense of duality: the experiencer and his experience, the seeker and God, yet to be found; and He is never found! You just go through experiences and have new experiences, with the illusory feeling that you are going somewhere and, in fact, you are still stuck in this movement of search continuity.
The Reality of your Being is the end of time, it is the end of the continuity of the search, it is the end of the experiencer with experience. So, there is something that is unknown to the experiencer, which reveals itself when the experiencer is not there; there is something unknown to the experience when the experiencer is no longer there. That something is the Reality that transcends time, that transcends the search, that transcends this so-called “spirituality” or this so-called “spiritual being.” So, this Reality is not within the known, and this is not a feeling, it is not an emotion, it is not a sensation, and it is not an experience. This is something outside the model of this body-mind and therefore of the mind, thoughts, images, imaginations, feeling, sensations, emotions, emotional perceptions, experiences… It is beyond that! It is something that is not within the known!
When this is present, there is no more seeking, no more seeker, no more experiencer, no more experience. It is the end of the illusion of time, it is the end of the illusion of “I.” It is something possible to be verified without the ego, but it is not something, here, possible to be described, put into words. This is revealed when there is the Truth of Real Meditation, which is the end of psychological time, which is the end of the seeker, which is the end of the experiencer, which is the end of all experiences, where we have the Reality of That which is timeless, of That which is outside the nameable, the describable. That's it.
GC: Master, I remember that before I started, before I met the Master, before the Master found me, I was a collector of experiences. And I was even taught to, when I had an experience, write down the experience, detail it, to keep it vivid in my memory! And also, as soon as I got closer to working with the Master, I found it very strange, because the Master never talks about experiences that the Master had, and all the teachers I had along the way repeated experiences: “I had experience, last night I had this intuition, etc.” And the Master didn't have that! And the people who accompanied the Master, who accompanied him, also did not share experiences.
And I found it very strange at first, because I had a very strong conditioning to collect experiences that will take me somewhere. And then, obviously, being in Satsang with the Master, I see: the Master is always something new, he is never the same! Although words may repeat themselves, something new is always emerging from this Void, and what happened yesterday, an experience from yesterday or twenty years ago, is of no relevance whatsoever, because it is just memory! So, it's something very incredible, a complete freedom from everything that has happened, because it's time, right, Master?
MG: Life doesn't repeat itself, Gilson. Everything that is repeated, in reality, can only be repeating itself in time, it can only be repeating itself because it has not been completed; It can only be repeating itself because it hasn't died, it hasn't ended. Life is something that happens with death. Death is the end of continuity; it is the end of repetition. Death is the end of what was – that is life! So, there is no separation between life and death. There is great beauty in the realization of being, at all times, dying to the past. It is the only way for life to be present at this moment. The ego, Gilson, is addicted to living in time, and time is nothing other than the past that has not died.
So, what is ego? It's the past that hasn't died! So, what are experiences? That which is the experiencer – which is just an unfinished experience – still appearing! This is the ego. The Truth is in, in this instant, understanding the beauty of dying for this instant, for this moment. Watch the ego, Gilson: we don't die to pleasure, so pleasure is always coming back as a memory, seeking to repeat itself again. What is that? It is the request of the ego, which is the experiencer seeking its continuity in memory, which is the past that should have already died, but did not! Do you realize it?
So, we don't let the ego die, because we are always giving continuity to thought. You go through a pleasant experience and you don't let it die, you keep it in your memory! So we are, in the ego, addicted to cultivating the memory of pleasure. We want to forget the memory of pain, but we want to keep the memory of pleasure. But we can't have one without the other. So, the addiction to keeping memories is the addiction to giving continuity to pleasure and pain. This is typical of the ego and we need to get rid of it. And getting rid of it, is getting rid of the experiencer! And, therefore, no experience is important, because every experience is in the past!
In the world of this so-called “spirituality,” we are educated, encouraged to seek experiences, because this strengthens this sense of the seeker. This is typical of the ego! The ego, having experience, feels special; Having no experience, it doesn't feel special. And, in spirituality, nothing is better than having increasingly powerful, more memorable and important experiences, because this makes you, when you remember them, see yourself still alive in time – in imagination, of course, because that had already gone! But this is how the ego lives, and when it shares this with others, it becomes even better, more special. All of this is the ego's specialism, it has no value! Life is now, when the death of the past occurs. If the death of the past does not occur, there is no life now, there is only one continuity: it is the continuity of the ego! We need, Gilson, to discover what it is to live in this moment, and it is only in this moment… dying every second to what was. This way no burden remains!
So, there are always new eyes for this moment, new ears for this moment, a present heart to live it, to experience it, without the past, without the “me,” without the “I,” without the ego. So, at this moment, it is possible to have this awareness of the Truth of Being. This is the Reality of God, of Christ. Not the image of Christ, the imagination of Christ, the idea of Christ, but the Reality of Real, True, Full, Complete, Abundant Life. The “I” is not there, the experiencer is not there, the past is not there! This is Life, this is Real Life!
Every movement, Gilson, of thought, is the movement of the past, and this thinker only lives in the past. Look at two people talking: they don't talk about the now, they only talk about the past. Note this! There's no talking now, there's nothing to say about now. There is only a thing to say about what happened. This is how the movement of thought is processed within each of us. And why? Because the thinker is just the past! The thinker is only thinking in the past. The thinker has no space in this present moment. At the present moment, the thinker has no value, no validity, it is ignored! So, for it to exist, it will look for the past to look for its stories.
So, two people talking, or five, or ten, each is telling one’s past; the past of a minute ago, an hour ago or ten years ago. No one is dealing with the instant, with the present moment, because there is nothing to say about the now, there is nothing to say. Thought does not work at this moment, it is the resuscitation of the past, that is, it is the continuity of the experiencer, the thinker. It's fascinating to discover that life now doesn't need thinking. You don't need to think now! You respond to the present moment without thought. What need do you have for thought? Except for technical thinking, to solve a practical issue, and you use it and let it go.
In the ego we give continuity to time, this psychological time, because we need to continue being an identity stuck in this movement of the past. This present is just a door to the future, so we are between the past and the future, between the past and the future… All this is confusion, all this is suffering, is within this illusion of the “I.”
GC: Master, it is impressive how, in this contact with the Master, this strong conditioning dissipates. I remember that my story was very important – the story in which I did this, in which I went through that… Wow, how I could not see that it was just a memory that I kept reliving now! Now, that is the only Reality. I brought back a memory! And it was very important, a story, this and that... Wow, what slavery!
MG: But that's how the ego lives. The ego loves this. Without this, it does not exist! It needs the past.
GC: Master, gratitude for this videocast, our time has ended. And for those of you watching: leave a “like,” leave a comment. And, in the first comment, pinned, there will be the link to the information group about Satsang meetings with the Master, where there is a much greater depth of this self-investigation, of this shared Presence of the Master, than the videos. The videos are just an appetizer, the meal is a complete weekend Satsang and, most importantly, the face-to-face ones too. So, here is the invitation: if it makes sense, if there is something inside you that yearns for Freedom, for a Peace that truly surpasses understanding, the invitation is made, and this Grace is being revealed in front of us. Master, gratitude. Until next time!
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