Here in these meetings, we've been considering various issues with you because they concern this fundamental change that is necessary in our lives since we don't understand the reality of life as it actually is. Notice: there are two very important aspects to investigate here. The first is the life we know, and the second is Life as it really is.
Life as it is differs from this life we know since this life we know is the life where we have to investigate these issues, the issues of problems, confusion, disorder, suffering, these various aspects of the personality present in this condition, where this life is present within this pattern, within this format.
So here, we've been investigating this matter of the Awakening of Consciousness with you. Notice: there are several issues we must investigate and we have deliberately returned to them time after time after time.
Because, in general, at first, our approach is not a clear approach, even because our approach is an intellectual approach, already within a conditioned intellect format, which is the intellect that we have, that we know. And approaching these subjects requires more than an intellectual approach, of words and verbal information.
Notice: there is a difference between understanding something and comprehending it. For example, you can understand how an aircraft flies. You study the laws of aerodynamics and learn how an airplane sustains itself in the air during flight. That's because you've studied the laws of aerodynamics. So, you know what an airplane flies like, how it holds itself up in the air. And yet, despite understanding this, knowing this, you are not a pilot.
A pilot requires knowledge that is not just theoretical, knowledge of the law of aerodynamics. A pilot has knowledge beyond that. It's not theoretical, bookish, verbal, or intellectual knowledge. They have an experiential approach to how that machine works, how an aircraft works in practice.
So, you can theoretically know a lot about aviation, a lot about the science of flying, theoretically, intellectually. You may even know how to give lessons on the subject, and all you can communicate in those lessons is a theoretical, intellectual, verbal knowledge of the subject. None of this makes you a pilot, someone who can fly an aircraft.
Thus, there is a difference between understanding something and having a direct comprehension of it. You understand what it's like to bake a cake when you have a recipe. You know all the ingredients, you know how long the dough has to rest, you know the cooking time, the baking time, the preparation time for that cake, and yet you've never made it.
It's one thing to directly understand what the cake is, how to make the cake, but it's another thing to have an understanding of how to make a cake, the ingredients that a cake has, and all kinds of knowledge about making that cake.
So, in practice, experientially, you can comprehend something; intellectually, you can understand that. Here, when we deal with you about the Realization of the Truth of That Which Is You in Your Essential, Real Nature, we are not talking about understanding, about an approach of words, of concepts, of ideas.
We've been trying that for many years. People have read a lot about it. So much so that when you come across this channel and start listening, the feeling you get is that there's nothing really new being said here. And, in fact, you're right.
As far as language, speech, words or expressions are concerned, all of this is easy to recognize. However, we are addressing the truth of a direct approach with you, not of the understanding. You already have the understanding, you've read many books, you know the subject, you know the subject.
Where is this knowing, this knowledge? In the intellect. And this intellect in us has a formation. This formation is what I've called intellectual conditioning. So, we have an intellectual conditioning, in other words, a psychological conditioning, of this subject and of various other subjects, as well as several other conditions in which we are psychologically living.
When we talk about the importance of Self-Awareness, we're talking about taking a fresh look at this psychological condition of being someone, in this pattern of conditioned intellect, of conditioned mind, where work is needed in practice because we already have theory, people already have it. The books deal with theory, the religious books, the sacred books, the lectures we've already heard, the ones we keep hearing, all this gives us, intellectually, a greater collection, a better understanding, but all this remains at the level of the intellect.
Look how important it is for us to have a new vision here, a new look at all this. The beauty of a meeting like this is that we are showing you how the end of psychic suffering becomes possible in this life. That's right: the end of all forms of psychological suffering.
We have, for example, the issue of anxiety and depression. You see, these are psychological states linked to this condition of the identity of the “I,” of the egoic identity. No matter how much you’ve read or studied about the subject, it remains at an intellectual, theoretical, verbal level. None of this can rid you of this psychological condition. That’s because there is no direct understanding by listening to lectures or hearing others talk about it.
We need to have direct contact with this psychological condition in which the “I,” the ego, finds itself, in this particular life of the “I,” of the person. So, looking directly at these states: anxiety, depression, or anguish. People suffer. Suffering is present in each of us as human beings, in this life, in this particular life of the “I.”
“How to deal with injustice?” There is pain present when you suffer an injustice. What is this injustice? Who is this element in us that suffers from being wronged, from being rejected, from not being accepted, from not being understood, for breaking the contract with it? Who is this element here that suffers from boredom, loneliness, anguish, fear, anxiety, or depression?
There are countless conflicting internal states present in this condition of life, which is the life of the “I,” which is the life of the ego. This is not a matter for stoicism to resolve, nor for psychology to solve. It's important to say that.
We have been looking for different ways to find an answer to this condition of being a person, an “I,” an ego, someone present, which we are, and we are looking for a solution to this, in different ways. Therefore, we must have a look here, right now, at this condition in which we find ourselves. We have to figure out how to deal with it directly, not with theories, within stoic philosophy, psychology, within a theological vision, that is, religious.
This is a matter for each of us. We need to learn to become aware of the movement of this “I,” to know ourselves, to understand the movement of thought, to become fully aware of this movement of the “I,” which is the movement of the person. This requires the presence of a gaze at this instant, where we have attention for all this internal movement, which is the movement of consciousness. So, this Full Attention on all this movement here, at this instant.
So, the subject of this Mindfulness, of this direct gaze, is not a subject for theology or philosophy. It's a matter for each of us to discover what Mindfulness is. It's not in stoicism, it's not in philosophy, it's not according to psychology, it's not according to this or that system, technique or practice.
Discovering what Mindfulness is: a direct, clear, simple look, without the commitment of this internal movement of this element that looks from separation, from division, which is this observer, which is the “I.” Note that when you look at something, you look from a place. That place is the place of conclusion, evaluation, acceptance, rejection, liking or disliking.
Notice that we spend a lifetime involved in this model of being someone. Thus, in dealing with life as it happens, we are always evaluating from this observer. This explains these states of conflict and present suffering. This is present because there is this pattern of separation, where there is this rejection of that which is present here at this moment.
We need to investigate in ourselves, here and now, all this movement of thought, feeling, emotion, perception, the way we feel and think and, of course, the way we proceed in life. Learn to look without the observer.
We have several videos here on the channel showing you that this observer is the element that separates itself from experience in order to evaluate, to compare, to judge, to reject what is present here. So, these frames of suffering in the “I,” in the ego, are always arising and we don't know how to deal with it.
The sage of Arunachala, called Ramana Maharshi, showed us that, through Atma Vichara, that is, this gaze in Full Attention, note, in this total, complete attention, on all this movement of the “I,” there is a direct understanding of “who I am.” Ramana Maharshi called this Atma Vichara. Learning to become aware of the very movement of the consciousness of this “me,” this person.
Thus, we are here together exploring this with you, going deeper into this subject with you, discovering how to go beyond this psychological condition, where the sense of a person is present. That person is the one who, in life, you see as separate and having a particular life.
Notice, Life has this aspect, as it is. But the “I” element, the ego, this “me,” this person, brings to this Life the idea of a particular life, which, when faced with what happens, always has an internal disposition of egocentric evaluation, in that like, dislike, accept, reject. So, suffering is established, conflict is established.
Conflict and suffering is something present in the ego, not in Life. It's in the life of the “I,” not in Life. This life of the “I” is this life centered on this format of being someone. The human being is living in an artificial condition of life because they are living this unnatural artificiality of being someone, where you see this separation between Life as it happens and this element in conflict with it.
Here on this channel we are investigating this with you, going deeper into it. Once we are free of this psychological condition, we are free of suffering: real life. Our subject here is the blossoming of this Natural State of Being, which some call Spiritual Enlightenment or Spiritual Awakening.
So, that's our subject here with you on this channel and also on our other channel, called “Marcos Gualberto.” You can find the link to our other channel here in the video description.
Also, and much more importantly: we have online meetings that take place on weekends. Saturday and Sunday together, we sit down and investigate these issues through questions and answers and by getting in touch with Meditation. Here in the description of the video, you also have the WhatsApp link to participate in these online meetings.
We also have face-to-face meetings and retreats. If you're here for the first time, you've just watched this video and it makes sense to you, leave your “like” here, subscribe to the channel and see you. And those of you who are already with us, leave a comment and the like too, OK? And see you next time. Thanks for the meeting!
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