August 28, 2024

How do I get rid of suffering? Observer and observed thing. How do I get rid of anxiety? Duality.

The beauty of these meetings is that here we are, with you, exploring this subject, the subject of the end for this identity present, which is the “me,” the “I,” the ego. So, we do have the answer to this issue, when it ends, when the ego ends, when the “I” is not present, when this sense of duality, of separateness, this feeling of you and the other, you and the world, you and life. When this is no longer present, we have the answer to the question “How do I get rid of suffering?” It's the same answer to the question “How do I get rid of anxiety?” That's the end of this sense of separation.

What is the end to the sense of separation? Note, here is the revelation of the end of suffering, the end of anxiety, the end of fear. “How can I get rid of fear?” The end of that observer, who observes something, the observer who sees something. This observer is the one who sees something separate from him and wants to do something with it. Let's clarify this for you.

We're so used to living in this sense of separation that we find it difficult to get close to something as basic, as simple as what we're dealing with here. When you see something, there's you and what you're seeing. So, at first, the idea in us is of a separation between the observer and the observed thing. That separation between the one who sees and that which is seen. From a physical viewpoint, this is our idea of the experience that is here, right now.

Now, let's take a closer look at this, since we're investigating the nature, because that's what we're doing here in these meetings, we're investigating the nature, the structure, the basis of this condition of human suffering, because the only way we can go beyond this suffering is by taking an investigative approach to what it represents. And since we're doing that, let's see it here in another way. Let's see it clearly.

When you come across a flower, when you look at that flower, what you have in mind at that moment, at that first second of the encounter with your look, in those one or two seconds, is just contact. It's a contact without the separation between you, as the observer, and what is being observed. There is contact, there is a vision. There's no seeing the flower, there's just a vision. This can last a second, two or three seconds. In the fourth second, a thought arises about the flower.

When a thought arises about the flower, and the thought is, for example, “what a beautiful flower,” “a flower like that would look very nice in my garden,” when some kind of thought arises, when some thought arises at that moment of that look, when the thought arises, at that moment the separation arises. In that separation there is that see. So, at that moment, you're seeing the flower.

You have a thought about the color, the shape, the idea of an object. You have a thought about how interesting that flower would be in your garden. You have the name of that flower, if you have any botanical knowledge. If you have some knowledge about that image, which is the flower, you have its name. If you have that memory, you have the name. At that moment, there's you and the flower, so there's that see.

Can we discover the instant free of that see? Can we be at that instant with just this look? The look at whatever experience is arising at that moment, being with it in the look, without this seeing, without someone in it. So we have, for the first time, a contact free of this observer.

So, what is this observer? It's the one who sees. When you see, you have a name, you have something to do with it, you like it, you don't like it. There's this observer and the observed thing, then we have this separation, we have this duality. Notice, that's how we are dealing with the experience at the present moment. When the present moment shows itself and this sense of someone arises to like, dislike, evaluate, compare, accept, reject, judge that instant, that moment, that experience, so we have duality, we have the observer and the observed thing.

Notice how important this is. Here is where we have the whole problem of human beings. When we deal with experiences, we are dealing with experiences from the observer, who is the experiencer. Then, the experience is not the experience, it is the experience for “me.” So, there is a sense of someone present in the experience. That sense of someone is the experiencer. There is someone present in this look, thus it's not a look, it's someone seeing. That’s how we have functioned in life.

So you have a question: “How do I get rid of suffering?” Approaching suffering without the observer; approaching suffering without the sense of an “I” to dislike it, to want to get rid of it, to want to do something with it. When this is present, this element, which is the “I,” the observer, is able to classify the experience.

So, what is the real way of approaching experience? That's what we're dealing with here. The real form of this approach is the approach without the experiencer. Then, what's the real way to get rid of suffering? It's to be aware of the fact that we can approach the experience directly, without this background of liking and disliking.

There is only one real way, get that, to approach experience: it is without this center, without this “me,” without this “I,” without this observer, without this experiencer. So, this is the real way to approach the end of suffering. Note that this liking and disliking is particular. Observe that it's particular whether this experience represents suffering or not, here.

We're always particularizing the experience, and when we particularize it, we're left with this liking and disliking. If it's dislike that prevails in this particular experience, that's a problem. If it's liking that prevails in that particular experience, note, that's not a problem. So, notice how our ego, our “I,” this observer, this experiencer, is situated in the experience.

Notice, we want everything that can give us pleasure. For us, that's not a problem, for us, that's not suffering. We reject, we repudiate, we want to get rid of everything that causes us pain. For us, that's suffering. So, when people ask, “How can I get rid of suffering?” they're asking, “How can I get rid of everything that causes me pain?” It's as if they were saying: “I have no problem with pleasure, but I have a big problem with pain. Then, pain for me is a problem, pleasure for me is not a problem.”

What we don't realize here is that it's the particular vision of a center that sees itself as separate from the experience, which is the observer with its observed thing. If it's pleasurable, the observer wants more. If it's pain, they want less or to get rid of it altogether. So, what is the truth of the end of the problem? The truth of the end of the problem is the truth of the end of the “I.”

In a practical sense, most people, because they are not aware of the illusion of being a person within experience, what they have been doing for millennia of human history is looking for a solution to suffering or looking to escape suffering. The solution we seek is a temporary, palliative solution to that pain. And running away from suffering is also, of course, a palliative solution and an attempt to escape the experience without understanding what the experience represents.

Here we have to investigate this. The end to suffering is also the end to the illusion of fulfillment, of the satisfaction that pleasure brings us. That pleasure brings us fulfillment and satisfaction in that instant, but in the next moment, that pleasure is being denied. And when that pleasure is denied to us, we have pain. So, what we call pleasure still carries that pain.

Thus, we need a comprehension of what experience is. We have to have a vision of what this experiencer is inside the experience, sustaining this psychological condition of separation, of duality between the observer and the observed thing.

Note, all this is happening inside each one of us. There's nothing out there causing us suffering. What causes us suffering is this sense of duality present within each of us, this sense of the observer having its own particular vision of the world. When it's pleasure, it wants more, when it's pain, it wants to get rid of it. Thus, this is exactly how we have been functioning. Notice: all of this needs to be comprehended.

“How do I get rid of anxiety?” Notice, we want to get rid of anxiety, we want to get rid of fear, we want to get rid of depression, we want to get rid of what causes us pain, we don't perceive the internal game of continuity in this model of duality present in each of us, of continuity and the search for pleasure. This search for pleasure, this search for continuity in pleasure is still a form of pain. We don't perceive that the element of duality and separation is present.

What we are seeing together here is the end for this model, the model of the continuity of this observer and the thing it observes. We need to discover what this Natural State of Being is, where there is an awareness of what is present without the observer. This observer, who condemns, compares, judges, wants more, seeks more or desires more.

Thus, we have the end for this duality. It is at the end of this duality, at the end of this sense of separation, that we have the end to all problems, all confusion, and all emotional disorder. It is here that we have the end to anxiety, the end to depression, the end to anguish, the end to this sense of the “I” present, this “me,” this ego. Thus, you have contact with life without this center.

So, how do we approach it? By becoming aware of this internal movement, of a thinker present creating an idea, an evaluation, a judgment, an acceptance, a rejection about the experience. Then, it's thought that is sustaining this model of separation. It's possible just to look, to become aware of the experience, to become aware of the experience without accepting, without rejecting, without seeking pleasure or trying to escape pain; to become aware of what is present here, without separating itself.

Thus, this direct contact with the so-called suffering, when there is no duality, no separation, no model of thought, no curtain that sustains this separation between this “I” and the non-“I,” between this observer and the observed thing, if there is an end to this curtain, which is constructed by thought... Notice what an important thing we have here: thought is something that comes from the past, that evaluates on the basis of past experiences, of liking, disliking, identifying this as pleasure or as pain. If we have the end for thought, we have the end for the thinker, the end for the observer.

So, in this contact, the end to this psychological condition of suffering, confusion and disorder becomes possible. The vision of this is the revelation of Self-Awareness. The end to this psychological condition, where suffering is present in this center, which is the “I,” the emptying of this is the Revelation of your Natural State of Being pure Consciousness, pure Happiness, Real Love, which is Meditation.

So, a contact with life as it is, without the sense of this “I,” which is the center, which is the observer, which is the thinker, which is the experiencer, the Truth of this Revelation is the Truth of God, it is the Truth of your Natural State of Being, which is Consciousness. What we have here is that the nature of your Being is Happiness, Love, Peace, it is the nature of the Divine Truth. And there is no suffering there because there is no illusion, because there is no separation. Then, this is the Truth known as Advaita, Non-separation, Non-duality. We are aware of What is when the sense of that “I,” which is separate, is no longer present.

So, that's the subject here with you, always on this channel. We have online meetings where we go deeper into this. Then, through questions, answers and this encounter with the Revelation of this Silence, which is present when this sense of separation ends, this is what we have within online meetings that take place on weekends. These meetings take place on Saturdays and Sundays, so here's an invitation for you. You see our WhatsApp link in the description of the video to work on this, to go deeper into this and make it real for you in this life.

We also have face-to-face meetings and retreats. If this is something that makes sense to you, go ahead and let us know in the comments: “Yes, it makes sense.” Please, leave a “like” and subscribe to the channel. Okay? And we'll see you. Thanks for meeting us and see you next time!

June, 2024
Gravatá-PE, Brazil
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