GC: Hello everyone! We are here for another videocast. Again, Master Gualberto is here with us. Gratitude, Master, for your presence.
Master, today I am going to read an excerpt from Joel Goldsmith's book called: “The contemplative life.” In this book Master, Joel makes the following comment: “The contemplative life goes from one step to another until the final stage is reached.” Master, can you give us your vision about these stages of spiritual evolution, about how to evolve spiritually?
MG: So, Gilson, here it is about becoming aware of the Truth that is already present, it is not a process like, in thought, we believe. In our ideas, in our concepts, within this model of the world that we live in, we always think about continuity, progression, achieving, obtaining, growing, evolving. That's the idea we have. When we deal with that which is in time, we take that into account. When we look at a plant, we realize that it grows, it evolves. A small plant becomes a large tree; It's just a small plant, then it grows into a big tree. So, a tree starts very small and then it evolves, it grows.
When we deal with Divine Reality, we are not dealing with something in time. So, this language, within spirituality, needs to be investigated, because we are not dealing with something that is in time. We cannot reach Reality. Who is this that would reach Reality? So, we also need to have a new approach, right here and now, on this subject. That which is in time has continuity in time or disappears in time, but that which is not in time is neither reachable in time nor disappears in time. The Reality of this Being, which is God, which is the Truth of each one of us, is something that is present.
Here, the work is about discarding the illusion of this egoic identity, of this particular center, which is the “I,” the ego, which lives exactly in this movement of time, of achieving, of becoming, of obtaining. So, the Vision of Reality, Gilson, is not in time, It is not progressive. It is Real when illusion is no longer there. The work here consists of discarding illusion. A change occurs in this body-mind. This change in the body and mind is something that takes place, yes, in time, but the Reality that is present, that transcends this body and mind, is outside of time. So, the work consists in the awareness of illusion, and not in bringing Reality to this moment; and not in reaching Reality at a given moment.
So, it's not about achieving That in the future, it's not about bringing That from there to here. Divine Truth is present. It has never been absent. It is, in fact, the only Truth here and now. Thus, Gilson, the work consists of discovering or verifying What is here, and not achieving something. All this language is the language within this model of common spirituality, in this search for those who are in this search. The Truth reveals itself exactly when this search is no longer there, when the one who seeks has disappeared.
One thing, Gilson, is the work that is necessary right now, for this realization of That which is present here. That's one thing. Another thing is the search, it is the quest, it is something that concerns time, what will be done in time, what will be accomplished in time; it is the waiting for something in the future, or the seeking of something in the future, or the working in the future to accomplish It. The work is in this moment and, in it, there is no time. It is, exactly, a work for the end of that time, then the Divine Reality shows itself, the Divine Reality reveals itself. That's it.
GC: Master, it is interesting... In this speech by the Master, I remember that, the first time I heard the Master saying this... “What do you mean? It is the end of the search, but there is work to be done.” And I heard this in a video, but later, through these meetings that the Master provides, the Satsangs, which are the intensive weekend meetings, where the whole Saturday and the whole Sunday we spend with the Master helping us in this investigation, then I was able to have a vision, a clarity, an understanding about exactly what the Master said now. As this work is done moment by moment, it is not something I will work on now to achieve something in the future. No, it’s just this instant, this moment, this “seeing the crazy thought bringing images, thoughts, sensations.” And it's a Grace as this sharing of Presence that the Master brings ends up facilitating and giving us the chance to realize this, right, Master?
MG: The idea, Gilson, of something to be achieved represents the search for an experience. The work is now, and it is not about achieving an experience. People live, in their minds, in this egoic mind model, in a project of becoming. So, this pattern of idea of achieving something is very typical of the egoic mind. That something is an experience! What you can have in the future, within a so-called “spiritual” work, are experiences, but these experiences are mystical experiences, which give you a meaning, which give you a meaning, even within this model, which is still the model of the known mind, the egoic mind.
So, you can have so-called “spiritual” experiences, within a work, to obtain something, but that something that you obtain within a spiritual experience is something that will disappear, because it is not real. What is real is not an experience. What is real is not something you get. It's important that we understand this, Gilson. Everything you have has only appeared and will disappear because everything you have is not You. What is You, in your Being, is not something you have, it is That which You are, therefore it cannot be the result of an experience.
So, notice what an interesting thing is here. People want to have experiences and they can obtain esoteric, mystical, spiritual experiences, carrying out work called “spiritual work” to achieve this. So, in this quest, you get these things, but all of this comes and, because it is not real, it will not sustain itself. It is not real because it is not That which is immutable, as is the Nature of Being. It is not Real because it is that which appeared and, if it appeared, that which appeared will disappear.
So, this is not something to be achieved. Your Being is the Reality to be verified. As it is not about time, in time, it is now, because it is not an experience. One detail: verification is also not made by someone in the movement of verifying, it is the Realization when that “someone” is not there. This is why the work consists of discarding illusion, and not in a movement to do something, to achieve something or to get rid of something. Here, we become aware of the illusion of duality, of separation, of the belief in a present entity, which is this sense of an “I,” which is the experiencer.
Investigating all this is Self-Knowledge, becoming aware of the Truth of this is Meditation, then Reality, which is the Divine Reality, which is the Reality of God, the only Reality present, shows itself. See, we're dealing with something much, much simpler than all this complication that was given to us out there in the name of this Truth to be revealed in the future. Everything we learn within this model of spirituality is completely wrong, because it is still within this movement of becoming, achieving, obtaining, having experience, experiencing, feeling. In other words, the experience for “someone” in the experience, the feeling for “someone” in the feeling.
So, it is a continuity, it is continuation of the same movement, still, of the “I.” Of course, now it is more spiritualized, it is more special, it is differentiated, it moves in the world in a different way, but it is still this center, which is the “I,” the ego. This is not the end of the confusion; it is not the end of everything. We still have the element of ego-identity in its continuation, in its perpetuity, in its movement of time, in its continuity. So, yes, it can progress, grow, expand, evolve, but that's it. It is still a movement within time and, therefore, it is still a movement within the known. What we are dealing with here is the end of the known and, therefore, the end of the continuity of this identity, this “me,” this “I.” OK? That's it.
GC: Master, we have a question here, quite about this topic. The subscriber asks the following question: “Please, could you explain a little more about it? What do you mean I don't need to improve? Don’t I need to be a better human being?”
MG: Yes, being a better human being is great. In fact, all we human beings need is better human beings, because, as human beings, we are living a very complicated life and creating a lot of disturbance, a lot of confusion, a lot of disorder in the world. So, better human beings is what everyone needs to be, it's what everyone seeks to be. This is perfect, but this is not God Realization. A better human being, no matter how good he is, is still a person, he still has some level of stress, anxiety, contradiction, conflict, fear, conflicting desires; he still carries a weight, which is the weight of this sense of being someone within life, within experience; he still feels himself like an entity separate from other, from life, from the world, from God. In other words, he is a better person, but he is just that, a better person.
Now, being a better person is great, but being a better person is still being a person. That's not what we're talking about here. We are talking about the end of the illusion of an identity present in experience, for the Realization of the One, Unique, True Reality present, which is certainly not a person, two or three, or about 8 billion on the planet. Being a better person doesn't solve it. It only improves the condition of the world, but the world continues in a condition of suffering, still of problems, still of pain.
Our work in life, Gilson, is not to become the best person we can be, that we need to be. In life, our appearance in this dream scenario called “human life” is to discover that this is a dream. The real purpose of life is to see Life outside this dream of humanity, outside this dream of a person. So, this is the end of the illusion of a present identity being someone in the experience. This is the Realization of the end of this illusion of the sense of separation between you and life, between you and the other, between you and God. It is the end of this illusion of being a person who was born, grew up and will die.
The awareness of the Reality of your Being is the end of the illusion of the “I,” it is the end of the illusion of psychological time, it is the end of the illusion of the movement of becoming someone, of becoming someone, of getting rid of this heavy, difficult sense to be also someone. So, for the future or the past, or the past or the future... The awareness of the Reality of That which is Being-Consciousness-Bliss, which is the Real Nature of each one of us, this is something that is outside time. Divine Reality is the Reality of the end of the known. He who has realized his Being is not a better person, he is a Sage, he is the one who has realized his Natural State, he is the one who lives the Divine Reality in this life. He and life are one! This is something that is beyond anything that thought can imagine. So, the best person anyone can be is still a person, and here we are dealing with the end of illusion, of separation; we are dealing with you about the Realization of your Being, the Realization of God.
GC: Master, this idea of improving as a person, of evolving, is very widespread in spirituality, in religions, and I had a huge burden, exactly, within this idea of evolving, of improving as a person, of helping others. And I arrived at the work with the Master, when I found the Master, the Master found me, it was as if I were really carrying a backpack of bricks, with this weight of having a duty to do something, to help the world, with a life purpose, a mission. And then, the Master, with this extraordinary vision, the Master brings this lightness and, really, this different vision of life, of how the ego, this thought, to perpetuate itself in time, it creates these little stories and ends up just postponing its own identity, that is, suffering. And then, when, in a Satsang, which are these online and in-person meetings, “a penny dropped,” something changed in consciousness: a state of lightness in knowing that the purpose of life is itself, as the Master already said. Can you talk a little more about this, Master?
MG: Yes, Gilson. The purpose of life is the Realization of Life, of Life in Life, for Life. Your Real Nature is Life, it is the Nature of God, it is the Nature of Being. This sense of identity present in this idea of being someone in experience is a concept, which is exactly the concept of being a person.
Yes, this person can and should improve as a person. If one feels that way, that one needs and has to improve, that's great, but there comes a time when you look at yourself and say, “There has to be something beyond this sense of a person here. There must be something outside this sense of life of ‘someone’, this ‘me’, this ‘I’.”
There comes a time when the level of dissatisfaction in you as a person is so great that, no matter how much you accomplish things, you continue to feel like it’s not solved yet. So, this work is for those who have already realized that they are already a good person or are improving every day as a person and, even so, still feel incomplete, incomplete, in a void, as if something were missing, and a clear feeling within yourself that this thing is not outside and that there is no point in believing that you will find it outside.
This work, Gilson, is for the person who has already realized that there is no such thing as Real Love out there, this Real Peace out there, this Real Happiness out there, in material achievements, in attainments, in power, in fame, in having a lot of financial resources, having a lot of prestige, having a lot of money, having a lot of public recognition and acceptance; the one who has already realized that this is not it. There has to be something outside this model, which is the model of the known. For those who feel this way, this work makes some sense.
For those who don't feel it, this doesn't make any sense, and that's quite understandable.
Here, in this work, Gilson, we are not trying to convince anyone of anything. Either we become aware of what this work points to, where it is indicating, what it can represent for you... or you become aware of it and feel it – and this makes a lot of sense when we feel it –, or, if it doesn't make sense, it does not make sense. I usually ask: “Does it make sense to you?” It’s not because I always wait for someone to say, “It makes sense.” I don’t expect anything, I just ask: “Does this make sense?” If it makes sense, OK. If it doesn't make sense, it doesn't make sense. And I know that this work, Gilson, makes sense, yes, when it's your moment. When it's your moment for it to make sense to you, it does, which is the moment when you are touched by something outside the known. This something is the Presence of Grace, it is the Presence of Mystery, it is the Presence of the Divine, whatever name we want to give to That which is outside, exactly, the egoic mind and this model of person that we know. It's like that, Gilson.
GC: I find it incredible how the Master always pushes us inwards, removing all the crutches of scriptures or a book, a sacred scripture... And the Master: “No, there is no point in believing or disbelieving in what the mind can conceive.” And the Master always pushes us exactly inwards, for us to look, and look not wanting to seek this projection of a God or an “I Am,” as is so widespread in spirituality, but to look at this madness of thoughts and this identification.
MG: Gilson, this only makes sense when it makes sense! I can't, for example, come to you here and say “let's eat?”, if you're not hungry. If I say “ah, let's eat!”, but you're not hungry, that won't make sense to you. You’ll say “look, I’m just going to watch you eat, because I’m not hungry.” So, I can't force you to be hungry because I'm hungry. If I want to eat, I will eat, but I can’t force you to eat because I want to eat. This work is like that, I can't convince you of a hunger that isn't there, of a thirst that isn't there. I cannot convince you of an inner need for awareness of Truth, of Wisdom, if that is not there. If that is there, it is a hunger and a thirst for Truth, for Wisdom, for Divine Reality, and if that is present, I cannot convince you either for it or against it.
So, this work here is a work like that. We share it with you, but only if you feel hungry. If you don't feel hungry, you can quit. Leave it, turn your back and walk away, you don't have to eat because I want you to eat or because I feel like you have to eat. That does not exist! In general, people live, Gilson, in the world, as victims of a propaganda model. They end up being convinced of something based on a belief model. This is how we have been conditioned to live in this world. So, philosophically, psychologically, spiritually, religiously, we are the result of a propaganda of human culture, so we believe in all kinds of things. This doesn't make any sense to us.
There comes a time when you realize that your beliefs don't make sense to you. Why don't they make sense? Because you were convinced! At some point you were hypnotized into believing them, but because they don't fill your hunger, they don't quench your thirst, there comes a time when you say, “No! There’s something that’s not working well.” When you start to feel this, it is because something has really become clear within you that nothing that has come to you has been real until then. The way I see, Gilson, this is the time for the Real Awakening. Until then, we are in an “awakening,” as many people are “awakening” out there. It is full of people in the world “awakening.” All kinds of esoteric, mystical, so-called “spiritual” experiences, even experiences with extraterrestrials, people are having and saying they are awakening.
Here, the word “Awakening” has a very specific meaning: it is the Awakening of your Divine Nature, the absence of the sense of “I,” the absence of the sense of separation; it is the flourishing of Wisdom, the Vision of Reality. This Vision of Reality, which is Wisdom, is not the knowledge of things, it is the awareness of a One Present Reality, that this Reality is the end of all confusion, it is the end of all suffering, it is the end of all the madness, as you just put it, of all this mess that the egoic mind has been living in for millennia. So, this is the flourishing of God, it is the flourishing of Life, it is the flourishing of Love, it is the awareness of the end of suffering, of all confusion.
GC: Master, our time has come to end. So, for you who are watching the video and have this thirst, have this hunger for the Truth, here is the invitation: get closer to this work with the Master. In the first comment, pinned, there will be a link to the WhatsApp group with information about the intensive meetings with Master Gualberto. These are weekend meetings, a whole Saturday and Sunday, where we can, in this sharing of the Master's Presence, quench our thirst, satisfy our hunger, with something that is beyond what is known, beyond what our crazy mind can imagine. So, the invitation is in the first comment. And also leave a “like” on the video, leave a comment asking questions for us to bring to the next videocasts.
Master, gratitude for this meeting.
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