For this question (How to practice meditation?), there is a lot of confusion in people's minds. They want to discover a method, a technique, a formula, a way to approach meditation. And, indeed, there are several formulas, techniques and methods, but none of these represent the truth about Meditation.
Here, for example, when we mention the word Meditation or when we investigate this here with you, we are talking about the truth about Meditation. The truth about this is that your Natural State of Being reveals itself as a natural state where Meditation is present when the sense of “I,” the ego, is not. This is your Natural State of Being.
We have all experienced moments where the sense of “I,” of ego, was not there. We only had some very vague memories of it after that state. Especially because this state leaves no record. Let's clarify this to you here.
There is nothing more natural in life – and here we are faced with something very paradoxical – than this state of Being already present, here and now, in each one of us, which is Meditation. And it's simple for us to confirm this when, for example, we are in nature or on the beach, swimming in the sea, sitting, watching the waves crash on the rocks, watching a sunset.
At that moment, two very simple things occur that are already present in us: it is the presence of this Natural State of Being, where the “I” is not. There is, psychologically, no internal situation creating any level of suffering, conflict, contradiction and problem for you. At that moment, there is a complete emptying of all this content of the “I,” of the ego. This is Meditation.
So, Meditation is that which is present when the ego is not. And this happens in a very natural way when you are in a contact like this, with nature, sitting there on that mountain, looking at the valleys below. At that moment, you are in direct contact with the Reality of your Being, and that is Meditation. Your Natural State of Being is Meditation.
So, your mind is naturally meditative. The problem is that we are constantly alienated from this state, due to a background of conditioning that we bring, where our entire relationship with life, with the world around us, with the experiences occurring, are always based on an illusion, the illusion of someone to experience, of someone to classify, to name, to observe, to think about, to do something with what is here. So, there is this separation. In this separation, conflict, suffering and problems are naturally present for this “me,” for this “I,” for the ego. Alright?
So, the whole question is this. When people ask, “How to practice meditation?” If you want a technique, you can acquire a technique. While practicing the technique, the mind can calm down. You can discover a way to artificially enter into these mechanisms of the brain and create a condition of relaxation, de-stress, of silence. As long as the practice is there, this is present. But after that, everything goes back to the way it was before.
In other words, this movement of psychological restlessness is present, of mental agitation is present, of internal chatter is present, because this does not resolve this issue of the end for this identity that is the “I,” the “me,” the ego. While the truth of Meditation is the realization of the Reality of your Being, here and now. This requires no technique, it requires no practice, it requires no method, no system.
What is necessary to go beyond that condition we had there on the beach, and which is no longer there, is the awareness of Self-knowledge. So, this is where the importance of the truth about Meditation, of real Meditation, comes in. Not from the practice of meditation, but from Meditation in an experiential way, from Meditation in practice. This requires this attention; a deep, meaningful, full attention, a Mindfulness on the entire movement of thought, feeling, sensation, perception, of everything that is present here, at this moment.
As people do not know, do not understand, have not yet learned the art of Being, as this has not become clear to them due to this model of unconsciousness, of ignorance in which they find themselves in living, in this model of separation and duality, they only find a moment of relief from this center, which is the “I,” the ego when they go to the beach, when they go for a walk in the forest, when they take a stroll. But we are still faced with something that is not natural, because you cannot live like that. You have periods like that. You don't live on vacation.
And the thing about the mind is that it is constituted in such a way that even on vacation, when you are in a place like this, it is only for a few seconds that you have an experience free from that center, which is the “I,” which is the ego. And after you experience that, what there is, is memory, because that is gone. And if you have the memory, an experiencer had tried to record that moment. So, partially, something remained as a memory record, but it wasn't that instant, it wasn't that moment.
So, even in contact with nature, for a few seconds you are free from this center, which is the “I,” the ego, but soon the egoic mind, due to its model of continuation, repetition, habits, returns and takes over the brain again. And you may be in front of the most beautiful landscape, but the ego is present, chattering, bringing back memories of the past, putting back inside you, at that moment, your office, your workplace, your workshop, the problem of dealing with clients, with patients, all kinds of things.
So, we need, in life, the art of Self-awareness, to become aware of the movement of the “I,” here and now. So, you are at work, you are dealing with your family, you are dealing with some issue, involved in some activity, on a day-to-day basis, at the same time, you are bringing awareness to this movement, which is the movement of “I,” of the ego, which is the movement of this present identity. So, at this moment, you are bringing awareness to this movement, which is the movement of this “I,” this ego, this illusory identity with its subjects.
Observing the movement of thought at this moment requires this attention, this mindfulness to this movement. See, this doesn't require any technique, any effort, any practice. When there is a real interest in becoming aware of the movement of thought, this real interest is enough. A thought arises, a feeling arises, an emotion, a sensation, a way of feeling, a way of perceiving and, in that instant, because of this interest in looking at this movement, just looking – see –, this is where the truth of Meditation lies.
It's looking without interfering, without doing something, without liking or disliking, without judging, without evaluating, without condemning, without trying to free yourself, without trying to hold back: just looking. The inclination of the egoic mind is to seek pleasure in memory, in remembrance, which is thought. And when this happens, the identity of the “I” is alive in memory.
That's what we've been doing. This is how we are living our lives, without the slightest awareness of disidentification from this illusory center, because there is no Meditation, because there is no Self-awareness, there is no such attention, so we do not have the truth of Meditation.
When a thought is bad, we want to get rid of it. This reaction is a reaction of this center, which is the “I.” So, it wants to get rid of these thoughts, or else, it wants to hold on to thoughts of pleasure. This is the condition of egoic identity. This is how we are living our lives.
When a person asks, “What is Spiritual Awakening?” It's the end of that. It is the end of that condition where there is an identity present, which is the “I,” the ego, separating itself from the experience and, naturally, in this separation from the experience, it is living within a self-centeredness of the illusion of an identity present in the experience, seeking to deal with life the way it wants. But that's not how it happens.
Life is as it is, and this sense of “I” is an illusion – self-interested, self-centered, having a particular view of the world. In this self-centeredness, it is sustaining all forms of contradiction and conflict, living violently, unhappy, living in emotional and sentimental disorder, due to all these conflicts that thought sustains in this illusory identity.
So, looking at this, becoming aware of this psychological condition, which is the condition of pattern, of history, of program, of psychological human conditioning, becoming aware of this is the end to all of this. This is Spiritual Awakening or Spiritual Enlightenment.
So, this issue of Spiritual Awakening is something that becomes possible when there is this awareness of Self-knowledge, which implies the presence of Meditation. So, this issue of practicing meditation is not someone doing it, it is not about this “I” in practice, as people seek.
Here we are telling you that attention… When someone asks, “What is mindfulness?” See, what is Mindfulness? It is this interest in looking at this entire movement of thought, feeling, sensation, perception, without intervening, without interfering with it. So, becoming aware of what Mindfulness is, is becoming aware of what the truth of Meditation is.
So, the only real way to get closer to the truth about how to practice Meditation is to discover what the truth of this Mindfulness is. So, the answer to the question, what is Mindfulness, is the answer about this awareness of Being-Consciousness and, naturally, Bliss, something present in Meditation.
So, there is no separation between this Attention and this Meditation. However, there is no “someone” in this. It is exactly the absence of this movement of the observer, the thinker, the experiencer. To become aware of thought and not identify with it, because it is pleasurable. To become aware of thought and not identify with it trying to reject it, to repel it, to get rid of it, because it is painful. Becoming aware of thought without the thinker is the end of this condition of continuity of thought and, therefore, of the thinker.
So, an approach to the truth of life, without this sense of “I,” of the ego, of a present identity, being the thinker, the observer, the experiencer, the contact with this Reality of life without this element is the Real Awakening.
It is in this sense that we use the expression here, Spiritual Awakening. See, it has nothing to do with what people say about this so-called spiritual awakening. People out there care about all kinds of things that have nothing to do with it. Here we are talking about the flourishing of your Natural State of Being, which is Consciousness, Bliss.
It is present when Meditation, as your Natural State of Being, is here, anywhere, in the midst of any activity, in living, in everyday life, moment by moment. Here lies this awareness of Being-Consciousness-Bliss.
So, this is our topic here with you and also on our other channel called “Marcos Gualberto.” You can find our link here in the video description to also check out our other channel. We are working on this with you.
Additionally, we have meetings that take place on weekends. These are online meetings – here in the video description, you have our WhatsApp link to participate in these meetings. So, on the weekends, Saturday and Sunday, we get together and, through questions and answers, in this contact with the Silence of Meditation, we can work on this together.
We also have face-to-face meetings, we do retreats. So, if what you just heard is something that makes sense to you, go ahead and leave it here in the comments: “Yes, it makes sense,” leave your “like,” subscribe to the channel and take a look at our other channel. And we'll see each other. Thanks for the meeting and see you soon!
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